Persephone

The queen of the underworld and goddess of spring, whose cyclical return brings life from death.

Persephone is the queen of the underworld after her abduction by her uncle Hades, the king of the underworld, who later took her into marriage. She is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. In ancient Greek mythology and religion, she is also called Kore, meaning 'the maiden'. Her myth represents her functions as the embodiment of spring and the personification of vegetation, especially grain crops, which disappear into the earth when sown, remain hidden for a period, sprout from the earth, and are harvested when fully grown.

Quick Facts

God of

Queen of the Underworld
Goddess of the dead
grain
and spring

Abode

The underworld

Parents

Zeus and Demeter

Spouse

Hades

Roman equivalent

Proserpina

Other names

Kore

Lore & Background

In Classical Greek art, Persephone is invariably portrayed robed, often carrying a sheaf of grain. She may appear as a mystical divinity with a sceptre and a little box, but she was mostly represented in the process of being carried off by Hades. As a vegetation goddess, she and her mother Demeter were the central figures of the Eleusinian Mysteries, which promised the initiated a happy afterlife. The origins of her cult are uncertain, but it was based on ancient agrarian cults of agricultural communities. In Athens, the mysteries celebrated in the month of Anthesterion were dedicated to her. She is a goddess of marriage and childbirth in the region of the city of Epizephyrian Locris, in modern Calabria (southern Italy).

Reader's Guide

Persephone's epithets reveal her double function as chthonic and vegetation goddess. As a vegetation goddess, she was called Auxesia, Azesia, Kore, Kore Soteira, Neotera, Nestis, and Soteira. As a goddess of the underworld, she was given euphemistically-friendly names and epithets: Aristi Chthonia, Brimo, Chthonia, Despoina, Epaine, Hagne, Malivina, Melindia or Melinoia, Melitodes, and Praxidike. In the Orphic tradition, Persephone is said to be the daughter of Zeus and his mother Rhea, who became Demeter after her seduction by her son. The Orphic Persephone is said to have become by Zeus the mother of Dionysus / Iacchus / Zagreus, and the little-attested Melinoe.

Did You Know?

Persephone's name has numerous historical variants including Persephassa, Persephatta, and in Latin, Proserpina.
Plato calls her Pherepapha in his Cratylus, 'because she is wise and touches that which is in motion'.
The name of the Albanian dawn-goddess Premtë or P(ë)rende is thought to correspond regularly to the Ancient Greek counterpart Persephatta.
In a Linear B Mycenaean Greek inscription on a tablet found at Pylos dated 1400–1200 BC, John Chadwick reconstructed the name of a goddess, Preswa.
Empedocles used the name Nestis for water, apparently referring to Persephone, meaning 'the Fasting One' in ancient Greek.

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