Persephone / Proserpina
Queen of the Underworld, goddess of spring and vegetation
Persephone is the goddess of spring, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and the queen of the Underworld. Her yearly journey between the world above and the world below was how the Greeks explained the changing seasons.
How they were born
Persephone was born to Zeus, king of the gods, and Demeter, goddess of the harvest. As a young goddess she was called Kore, which simply means "the Maiden," and she grew up in flowery meadows among nymphs, gathering flowers with her friends. Nothing in her sheltered childhood hinted that she would one day rule beside Hades over the dead.
The greatest stories
The Abduction by Hades
One spring day, as Persephone gathered flowers in a meadow, a marvellous narcissus bloomed at her feet. When she reached for it, the earth split open and Hades, king of the Underworld, rose up in his black chariot and carried her down into the dark. Zeus, her father, had agreed to the marriage without telling Demeter, so no god came to stop him. Persephone's cry was heard only by the sun god Helios and the goddess Hecate, and her mother searched the earth for nine days and nights before learning the truth.
Demeter's Search and the Barren Earth
Wild with grief, Demeter wandered the earth disguised as an old woman, carrying torches and refusing food or rest. At Eleusis she was taken in by King Celeus's family, and there she tried in secret to make the baby prince Demophon immortal, holding him in the fire each night until his mother caught her. When Demeter learned that Hades had taken her daughter, she cursed the earth so that no crops would grow. Famine spread until Zeus, fearing that humankind would starve and the gods would lose their sacrifices, sent Hermes to bring Persephone home.
The Pomegranate Seeds and the Divided Year
Before Persephone left the Underworld, Hades offered her a pomegranate and she ate some of its seeds. Anyone who eats the food of the dead must return to the dead, so the seeds bound her to his realm. Mother and daughter were joyfully reunited, and the earth bloomed again, but a bargain had to be struck. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Persephone spends one third of each year below with Hades and two thirds above with her mother, so every year the world grieves her going and celebrates her return.
Persephone as Queen of the Dead
Persephone did not remain a frightened captive. As queen she sat beside Hades on his throne, received the dead, and showed mercy that her stern husband rarely did. When the hero Orpheus came begging for his wife Eurydice, it was Persephone who persuaded Hades to let him try to lead her back to the light. She also took in the baby Adonis, whom Aphrodite had hidden with her for safety, and refused to give him back, so Zeus had to divide the beautiful boy's year between the two goddesses.
Family & connections
Symbol, animal & weapon
Fun facts
- Ancient versions disagree on how many pomegranate seeds Persephone ate: the Homeric Hymn to Demeter has Hades give her a single seed, while later writers say six, one for each month she spends below.
- Persephone and Demeter were the heart of the Eleusinian Mysteries, secret rites at Eleusis that promised initiates a happy afterlife, and initiates were forbidden to reveal what happened there on pain of death.
- The nymph Minthe, a former love of Hades, boasted she was more beautiful than Persephone, so Persephone turned her into a mint plant, which is why mint was used at funerals.
- In Orphic tradition Persephone is the mother of Melinoe, a goddess of ghosts, and of Zagreus, a young god torn apart by the Titans.
Gallery — sculpture & art
