HERO’S JOURNEY

Persephone and Sayuri

By Juliette

ABOUT SAYURI

In 1929 an impoverished nine-year-old named Chiyo from a fishing village is sold to a geisha house in Kyoto's Gion district and subjected to cruel treatment from the owners and the head geisha Hatsumomo. Her beauty attracts the jealousy of Hatsumomo, until she is rescued by and taken under the wing of Hatsumomo's bitter rival, Mameha. Under Mameha's mentorship, Chiyo becomes the geisha named Sayuri, trained in all the artistic and social skills a geisha must master in order to survive in her society. As a new geisha she enters a society of wealth, privilege, and political intrigue. As World War II starts in Japan, the geisha's world are forever changed by the onslaught of history

ABOUT PERSEPHONE

Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of fertility and abundance. She was kidnapped by Hades, the god of the dead and taken into the underworld. She could only return to the land of the living if she did not eat any of the food of the dead, however she ate seeds from a pomegranate. As a result she divides her time between the land of the living and the world of the dead.

Because of the conflicts that both Persephone and Sayuri went through life as women, both of them changed their

life status.

THESIS

BIRTH

PersephoneShe is the daughter of Demeter and Zeus.Called “Kore” which means “Maiden”Persephone was the goddess of spring, she loved to play in the fields where eternal spring time reigned.

Chiyo – SayuriIn 1929, in an impoverished fishing village in Japan called Yoroido.

CALL TO ADVENTURE

PersephoneOne day she was picking out flowers with other kores.

Hades, the god of the Underworld, abducted Persephone.

Chiyo – Sayuri 9-year-old Chiyo and her sister, Satsu, are sold to a geisha house in Kyoto’s Gion district.

AMULET???

PersephonePomegranate seeds were a tempter for her.

SayuriThe Chairman’s handkerchief.

CROSSING THE THRESHOLD

PersephoneHades shows her all the sights and things on the Underworld.

SayuriMameha adopts Chiyo to be her “little sister” and gives her training to become a geisha.

HELPERS- PERSEPHONE

Persephone did not have any helpers with her, but her mom, Demeter was looking for her desperately. Demeter did not rest until she knew where her only child was.

HELPERS- SAYURI

Mameha helps Sayuri become the most famous geisha. She thinks that by helping Sayuri become a great geisha, Hatsumomo will stop being so arrogant since she is the greatest geisha and the most beautiful in her times.

CLIMAX- PERSEPHONE

All Persephone wanted was go home. She was depressed and didn’t eat, sleep and do much of anything. Ascalaphus got her to eat some seeds of a pomegranate. Some believe it was Hades. This meant that she had to stay in the Underworld, because she tied herself to it by eating the food of the Underworld.

CLIMAX- SAYURI

The geishas now claim Sayuri to be a geisha and they change her name form Chiyo to Sayuri. Mameha tells Sayuri that she needs to sell her “mizuage.”

Outbreak of World War II.

RETURN

PersephoneDemeter found Persephone and realized that she had tied herself to the Underworld by eating of the food.

Persephone had to stay in the Underworld for a third of a year.

SayuriSayuri entertains Deputy Minister.

ELIXER

PersephoneShe brings back spring time. When Persephone had disappeared, Demeter had destroyed all the vegetation. Persephone’s return created the seasons.

SayuriIn Sayuri’s story, there is not an elixer.

HOME-PERSEPHONE

PersephoneNow she is the Queen of the Underworld. She comes to her former home every spring. When she leaves ( 1/3 of a year), the other seasons happen. She has to return to the Underworld to reign.

HOME- SAYURI

Sayuri

The Chairman tells Sayuri that he knew who she was all the time; the little girl of the bridge. Since then, Sayuri becomes the Chairman’s mistress.

SOURCES

Ailia Athena “Persephone”2008 Hostmysite

Harris, Stephen L. and Gloria Platzer. Classical Mythology: Images and Insights. 4th edition; New

York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2003 Evslin, Bernard and Dorothy and Ned Hoopes.

The Greek Gods. New York: Scholastic Inc, 1966 Enfolded in the Sea: Ancient Greeks Gave First Devotion to Ocean Goddesses and Gods. by Miriam Harline