(British Museum, London) A tondo from a red-figure kylix depicting Persephone and Hades. [48], The 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia Suda introduces a goddess of a blessed afterlife assured to Orphic mystery initiates. Zeus, pressed by the cries of the hungry people and by the other deities who also heard their anguish, forced Hades to return Persephone.[40]. [123] Diodorus Siculus knew the temple there as the most illustrious in Italy. The Persephone and Hades myth: summary. Persephone could have been released from Hades if she had not eaten anything in the Underworld during her captivity, but at the last moment, Hades gave her a pomegranate seed. In other versions of the myth, Persephone could have been released if she had not eaten anything in the underworld during her captivity, but at the last moment, Hades gave her a pomegranate seed. Learn more about our mission. To reward the family for their kindness, Demeter set about making Demophon immortal by placing him on a fire every night. Persephone. Mythopedia, March 09, 2023. https://mythopedia.com/topics/persephone. According to a recent hypothesis advanced by Rudolf Wachter, the first element in the name (Perso- (-) may well reflect a very rare term, attested in the Rig Veda (Sanskrit para-), and the Avesta, meaning 'sheaf of corn'/'ear (of grain)'. [80][81], Once, Hermes chased Persephone (or Hecate) with the aim to rape her; but the goddess snored or roared in anger, frightening him off so that he desisted, hence her earning the name "Brimo" ("angry"). Elsewhere, such as Cyzicus,[33] Erythrae,[34] Sparta,[35] Megalopolis in Arcadia,[36] and the Athenian deme of Corydallus,[37] Persephone was worshipped with the cult title Soteira, meaning Savior.. Hades rules over the underworld, or Hell. This Macaria is asserted to be the daughter of Hades, but no mother is mentioned. Online version at the Topos Text Project. [21] The Orphic Persephone is said to have become by Zeus the mother of Dionysus, Iacchus, Zagreus,[16] and the little-attested Melino. According to some authors, Persephone was so moved by this deed that she allowed Alcetis to return to the land of the living (in the more familiar version, though, Alcestis was brought back by Heracles). Angela Sutherland - AncientPages.com - Persephone is a goddess of the Land of the Dead and sprouting grain and fruit in Greek mythology. So lovely was the music he played that it charmed Persephone and even stern Hades. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the story is told of how Persephone was gathering flowers in the Vale of Nysa when she was seized by Hades and removed to the underworld. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, Martin Nilsson. [64], It was said that while Persephone was playing with the nymph Hercyna, Hercyna held a goose against her that she let loose. Terracotta loutrophoros (ceremonial water jug) attributed to the Darius Painter (ca. Persephone had temples throughout the Greek world, many of them shared with Demeter. According to Homer, she also possessed sacred groves on the western edge of the world, near the entrance to the Underworld.[3]. The Kors Katagg (Descent of Kore), for example, commemorated Hades taking Persephone (Kore) down to the Underworld. A tondo from a red-figure kylix depicting Persephone and Hades. More rarely, she was associated with pomegranates or poppies. The Spring Witch by George Wilson (ca. Before giving her up though, the wily Hades put a pomegranate kernel in the girl's mouth, knowing its divine taste would compel her to return to him. According to Burkert, the figure looks like a vegetable because she has snake lines on other side of her. Persephone (aka Kore) was the Greek goddess of agriculture and vegetation, especially grain, and the wife of Hades, the ruler of the Underworld. In the reformulation of Greek mythology expressed in the Orphic Hymns, Dionysus and Melino are separately called children of Zeus and Persephone. The goose flew to a hollow cave and hid under a stone; when Persephone took up the stone in order to retrieve the bird, water flowed from that spot, and hence the river received the name Hercyna. Kernyi, Kroly. 2 vols. Various local traditions place Persephone's abduction in different locations. Thus, Persephones half-siblings included Demeters other children (Arion, Corybas, and Plutus) as well as the numerous children of the promiscuous Zeus (including Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Dionysus, Heracles, Perseusand many, many others). In some versions, Ascalaphus informed the other deities that Persephone had eaten the pomegranate seeds. According to several strands of Orphism, Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and his mother, the Titan Rhea (rather than Demeter). [42] Every year in the Sicilian city of Syracuse, Persephone was honored with the sacrifices of smaller animals and the public drowning of bulls. As well as the names of some Greek gods in the Mycenean Greek inscriptions, names of goddesses who do not have Mycenean origin appear, such as "the divine Mother" (the mother of the gods) or "the Goddess (or priestess) of the winds". "To what extent one can and must differentiate between Minoan and Mycenaean religion is a question which has not yet found a conclusive answer" . 8 CE). Persephone frequently appears in all forms of Greek art and literature. This is an origin story to explain the seasons. In a Linear B Mycenaean Greek inscription on a tablet found at Pylos dated 14001200 BC, John Chadwick reconstructed[a] the name of a goddess, *Preswa who could be identified with Perse, daughter of Oceanus and found speculative the further identification with the first element of Persephone. Persephone was an important element of the Eleusinian Mysteries and the Thesmophoria festival and so the goddess was worshipped throughout the Greek world. Updates? Robert S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 2:117981. In Greek mythology, the goddess, as wife of Hades, is the Queen of the Underworld and takes her other name, Persephone. [65] This was when she was abducted by Hades according to Boeotian legend; a vase shows water birds accompany the goddesses Demeter and Hecate who are in search of the missing Persephone. She was her mother's greatest . The Rites of Eleusis, or the Eleusinian Mysteries, were the secret Greek Mythology: Gods and Heroes - Iliad - Odyssey, Persephone's Pathway: Wisdom, Magick & Growth, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. Smith, William. Whatever the exact significance, the association between Persephone and agriculture is firmly established in rituals, literature, and ancient art. So I read A webtoon known as lore Olympus (I would suggest you would not read) and decided to research alittle on Hades and Persephone on the hymn to Demeter and Ovid's Metamorphoseus and in The hymn Persephone clearly doesn't love Hades but then There is the myth of Minthe by Strabo and Ovid again where Minthe is turned into a plant by Persephone because she was a concubine of Hades Persephone was not slow to notice, and in jealousy she trampled the nymph, killing her and turning her into a mint plant. Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter. https://mythopedia.com/topics/persephone, Avi Kapach is a writer, scholar, and educator who received his PhD in Classics from Brown University. [20], Persephone was the queen of the Underworld and so ruled over all mortals who had died. Myths similar to Persephone's descent and return to earth also appear in the cults of male gods including Attis, Adonis, and Osiris,[7] and in Minoan Crete. It is possible that the association between the two was known by the 3rd centuryBC, when the poet Callimachus may have written about it in a now-lost source. Accessed October 29, 2021. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DP%3Aentry+group%3D15%3Aentry%3Dpersephone-bio-1. The goddess rising symbolizes the springtime sprouting of shoots of grain from the earth. According to Greek mythology, Persephone was the beautiful young daughter of Demeter, the goddess of grain. This article was most recently revised and updated by, From Athena to Zeus: Basics of Greek Mythology, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Persephone-Greek-goddess, Perseus Digital Library - A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology - Perse'phone, Persephone - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). As a goddess of the underworld, Persephone was given euphemistically friendly names. A famous relief slab from Eleusis depicts Demeter and Persephone (holding a torch) either side of Triptolemos; it dates to the 5th century BCE. World History Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. In the religions of the Orphics and the Platonists, Kore is described as the all-pervading goddess of nature[19] who both produces and destroys everything, and she is therefore mentioned along with or identified as other such divinities including Isis, Rhea, Ge, Hestia, Pandora, Artemis, and Hecate. The priests used special vessels and holy symbols, and the people participated with rhymes. Divinities in the Orphic Gold Leaves: Eukls, Eubouleus, Brimo, Kybele, Kore and Persephone. Gantz, Timothy. Our publication has been reviewed for educational use by Common Sense Education, Internet Scout (University of Wisconsin), Merlot (California State University), OER Commons and the School Library Journal. Fossum, "The Myth of the Eternal Rebirth," p. 309. a goddess being abducted and taken to the underworld, "Nestis Meaning in Bible - New Testament Greek Lexicon (KJV)", "The Rape of Persephone: A Greek Scenario of Women's Initiation", "Hades' Newest Bride: A Remarkable Epitaph", "Life, Death, and a Lokrian Goddess. Persephone was born to Zeus, king of the gods, and Demeter, goddess of the harvest. London: Penguin, 1955. Martin Nilsson (1967) Vol I, pp. The upper register of the body shows Zeus between Persephone and Aphrodite regarding Adonis. As a result of his affair with Demeter, Persephone was born. Hence, in Roman mythology she was called Proserpina, a name erroneously derived by the Romans from proserpere, "to shoot forth"[118] and as such became an emblematic figure of the Renaissance. The World History Encyclopedia logo is a registered trademark. This seems to have been how Persephone was honored at her temple in Epizephyrian Locris. Cartwright, Mark. The story that Persephone spent four months of each year in the underworld was no doubt meant to account for the barren appearance of Greek fields in full summerafter harvest, before their revival in the autumn rains, when they are plowed and sown. Persephone, like her mum, loved nature. In Latin, her name is rendered Proserpina. Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter in Greek mythology, appears in films, works of literature, and in popular culture, both as a goddess character and through the symbolic use of her name. Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University. The site of Persephones abduction varies considerably in the ancient sources. [91], The location of Persephone's abduction is different in each local cult. Persephone was a beautiful young lady, just entering womanhood. Another alternate name, Despoina (Mistress), focused on Persephones role as the wife of Hades and queen of the Underworld. [55][52][53] This interpretation of Persephone's abduction myth symbolizes the cycle of life and death as Persephone both dies as she (the grain) is buried in the pithoi (as similar pithoi were used in ancient times for funerary practices) and is reborn with the exhumation and spreading of the grain. [22] The first, "Orphic" Dionysus is sometimes referred to with the alternate name Zagreus (Greek: ). The myth of her abduction by Hades was frequently used to . Cartwright, Mark. In Orphic myth, Zeus came to Persephone in her bedchamber in the underworld and impregnated her with the child who would become his successor. Demeter, distraught, wandered the entire world in search of her daughter. Persephone. Special interests include art, architecture, and discovering the ideas that all civilizations share. There is evidence that some practices were derived from the religious practices of the Mycenaean age. 3. Zeus approved. 477480:"The Arcadian Great goddesses", The figures are unmistakable, as they are inscribed "Persophata, Hermes, Hekate, Demeter"; Gisela M. A. Richter, "An Athenian Vase with the Return of Persephone", Suidas s.v. When Persephone's time is over and she would be reunited with her mother, Demeter's joyousness would cause the vegetation of the earth to bloom and blossom which signifies the Spring and Summer seasons. License. [120][121], At Locri, a city of Magna Graecia situated on the coast of the Ionian Sea in Calabria (a region of southern Italy), perhaps uniquely, Persephone was worshiped as protector of marriage and childbirth, a role usually assumed by Hera (in fact, Hera seems to have played no role in the public worship of the city[122]); in the iconography of votive plaques at Locri, her abduction and marriage to Hades served as an emblem of the marital state, children at Locri were dedicated to Proserpina, and maidens about to be wed brought their peplos to be blessed. As the wife of Hades, Persephone was the queen of the Underworld. John Chadwick believes that these were the precursor divinities of Demeter, Persephone and Poseidon. Persephone shared many other temples with Demeter, though she also had several temples of her own; the one at Epizephyrian Locris (a Greek colony in southern Italy) is an important example. Archaeological finds suggest that worship of Demeter and Persephone was widespread in Sicily and Greek Italy. Cite This Work Terrified, Rhea refused to nurse the child and fled. Hesiod, Theogony 912ff. Greek Religion. The myth of a goddess being abducted and taken to the underworld is probably Pre-Greek in origin. She is married to Hades who is also her uncle. In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( / prsfni / pr-SEF--nee; Greek: , romanized : Persephn ), also called Kore or Cora ( / kri / KOR-ee; Greek: , romanized : Kr, lit. There were, however, a handful of myths that challenged this persona. Eleusinian votive reliefCarole Raddato (CC BY-SA). Locrian pinakes represent one of the most significant categories of objects from Magna Graecia, both as documents of religious practice and as works of art. But when Persephone got a glimpse of the beautiful Adonisfinding him as attractive as Aphrodite didshe refused to give him back to her. Persephone Mosaic, AmphipolisNot Specified (Public Domain). When Demeter at last located Persephone in the Underworld, she demanded that her daughter be returned. Privacy Policy, https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.4880, https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DP%3Aentry+group%3D15%3Aentry%3Dpersephone-bio-1, http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e914950, https://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Persephone.html. Afterwards, Demeter gave birth to the talking horse Arion and the goddess Despoina ("the mistress"), a goddess of the Arcadian mysteries. After all, mythology is storytelling at its finest. Orphica frag. Therefore, Persephone's time in Hades would not equate with winter in the agricultural season but, rather, with summer. Persephone was known by numerous cult titles, including Steira (Savior) and Brim (Angry). Many of these pinakes are now on display in the National Museum of Magna Grcia in Reggio Calabria. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1961. Persephone was an important element of the Eleusinian Mysteries and the Thesmophoria festival and so the goddess was worshipped throughout the Greek world. In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone (/prsfni/ pr-SEF--nee; Greek: , romanized:Persephn), also called Kore or Cora (/kri/ KOR-ee; Greek: , romanized:Kr, lit. "Hermes and the Anodos of Pherephata": Nilsson (1967) p. 509 taf. [9][b] Persephon (Greek: ) is her name in the Ionic Greek of epic literature. Omissions? [95], In Greek mythology Nysa is a mythical mountain with an unknown location. 8, 95678. Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter! The Greek poet Aeschylus considered Zagreus either an alternate name for Hades, or his son (presumably born to Persephone). This is the site of the annual Eleusinian Mysteries and an early temple to Demeter and Persephone, built around the 7th century BCE. 118119; West (1983) pp. Persephone, witnessing that, snatched the still living Euthemia and brought her to the Underworld. [27] Groves sacred to her stood at the western extremity of the earth on the frontiers of the lower world, which itself was called "house of Persephone".[28]. The famous Eleusinian Mysteries, religious rites honoring Demeter and Persephone/Kore, were performed there. This prophecy does not come true, however, as while weaving a dress, Persephone is abducted by Hades to be his bride. According to mythology, Hades, god of the Underworld, fell in love with beautiful Persephone when he saw her picking flowers one day in a meadow. World History Encyclopedia. [16] Gnther Zuntz considers "Persephone" and "Kore" as distinct deities and writes that "no farmer prayed for corn to Persephone; no mourner thought of the dead as being with Kore." These festivals were almost always celebrated at the autumn sowing, and at full-moon according to the Greek tradition. Sourvinou-Inwood, Christiane. Help our mission to provide free history education to the world! This belief system had unique characteristics, particularly the appearance of the goddess from above in the dance. [50][51] When Persephone would return to the underworld, Demeter's despair at losing her daughter would cause the vegetation and flora of the world to wither, signifying the Autumn and Winter seasons. But Hades had tricked Persephone into eating somethinga handful of pomegranate seedswhile she was in the Underworld. 2022 Wasai LLC. [j] In the Anthesteria Dionysos is the "divine child". Gantz (1996) pp. Sisyphus (or Sisyphos) is a figure from Greek mythology. Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.31.1; scholia on Pindars Olympian Ode 7.153. Her mythology tells of how she was abducted by her uncle Hades one day while picking flowers. Persephone was characterized by several attributes and symbols, most notably torches, stalks of grain or ears of corn, and scepters. Demeter had a kind and beautiful daughter, called Persephone, who she loved very much. [98] [87] On a neck amphora from Athens Dionysus is depicted riding on a chariot with his mother, next to a myrtle-holding Persephone who stands with her own mother Demeter; many vases from Athens depict Dionysus in the company of Persephone and Demeter. The earliest mentions of this name in literature describe him as a partner of Gaia and call him the highest god. [40] The Homeric hymn mentions the Nysion (or Mysion) which was probably a mythical place. Submitted by Mark Cartwright, published on 24 March 2016. Article. Daughter of Demeter. Thanks to the finds that have been retrieved and to the studies carried on, it has been possible to date its use to a period between the 7th centuryBC and the 3rd centuryBC. Were building the worlds most authoritative, online mythology resource, with engaging, accessible content that is both educational and compelling to read. Farnell, Lewis R. The Cults of the Greek States. The most detailed account of her myth comes from the second Homeric Hymn, also known as the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. In his 1985 book on Greek Religion, Walter Burkert claimed that Persephone is an old chthonic deity of the agricultural communities, who received the souls of the dead into the earth, and acquired powers over the fertility of the soil, over which she reigned. Burkert, Walter. Myth and Cult: The Iconography of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Last modified March 24, 2016. The Eleusinians built a temple near the spring of Callichorus, and Demeter establishes her mysteries there.[46]. Guthrie, W. K. G. The Greeks and Their Gods. True to her double nature, Persephone was imagined as having two homes: one on Olympus with her mother, Demeter, and the other in the Underworld with her husband, Hades. Featured in a variety of novels such as Persephone [152] by Kaitlin Bevis, A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair, Persephone's Orchard[153] by Molly Ringle, The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter, The Goddess Letters by Carol Orlock, Abandon by Meg Cabot, 'Neon Gods' by Katee Robert and Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe, her story has also been treated by Suzanne Banay Santo in Persephone Under the Earth in the light of women's spirituality. Her name has numerous historical variants. She was also called Kore, which means "maiden" and grew up to be a lovely girl attracting the attention of many gods. [15] Later sources added that it was Aphrodite and Eros who caused Hades to fall in love with Persephone in the first place.[16]. She was a very important goddess to Ancient Greek people, who farmed a lot of their food. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Clinton, Kevin. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. [g] Hermes is sent to retrieve her but, because she had tasted the food of the underworld, she was obliged to spend a third of each year (the winter months) there, and the remaining part of the year with the gods above. Ancient authors sometimes sought creative etymologies for the name Persephone (Greek , translit. Despoina and "Hagne" were probably euphemistic surnames of Persephone, therefore Karl Kerenyi theorizes that the cult of Persephone was the continuation of the worship of a Minoan Great goddess. Zeus was filled with desire for his mother, Rhea, intending to marry her. [138] Whereas Melino was conceived as the result of rape when Zeus disguised himself as Hades in order to mate with Persephone, the Eumenides' origin is unclear.[139]. [131], It was suggested that Persephone's cult at Locri was entirely independent from that of Demeter, who supposedly was not venerated there,[17] but a sanctuary of Demeter Thesmophoros has been found in a different region of Locri, ruling against the notion that she was completely excluded. In Homer's epics, she appears always together with Hades and the underworld, apparently sharing with Hades control over the dead. The cycle became one of the rituals of the sacred Eleusinian mysteries; indeed, the symbols of the cult were ears of grain and a torch - reminding of Demeter's search for Persephone and that the rituals were carried out at night. When Demeters efforts to impart immortality failed (the boys mother, Metaneira, inadvertently interrupted the process when she saw Demeter holding the child in a fire), Demeter commanded the Eleusinians to build her a temple. On Attic red-figure pottery throughout the Classical period, Persephone is often shown seated on her throne in Hades. [112][k], Some information can be obtained from the study of the cult of Eileithyia at Crete, and the cult of Despoina. Exclusive to women, it was held annually before the sowing period when sacrifices were made and putrefied pig's remains were mixed with the seeds. Nonnus: In Book 6 of the epic poem Dionysiaca (fifth century CE), which relates the travels of the young god Dionysus, Demeter tries to prevent Zeus from sleeping with her daughter Persephone. [23] As goddess of death, she was also called a daughter of Zeus and Styx,[24] the river that formed the boundary between Earth and the underworld. Achilles The hero of the Trojan War, leader of the . Persephone. Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.35.5ff; Aelian, On the Nature of Animals 11.4. [47] When Demeter and her daughter were reunited, the Earth flourished with vegetation and color, but for some months each year, when Persephone returned to the underworld, the earth once again became a barren realm. Persephone as a vegetation goddess and her mother Demeter were the central figures of the Eleusinian Mysteries, which promised the initiated a happy afterlife. Hermes, Apollo, Ares, and Hephaestus each presented Persephone with a gift to woo her. However, Demeter had an obsessed love for her only . Persephone is featured in several of the Orphic Hymns (ca. On Persephone in ancient art, see Gudrum Gntner, Persephone, in Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (Zurich: Artemis, 1997), 8:95678. [124] During the 5th centuryBC, votive pinakes in terracotta were often dedicated as offerings to the goddess, made in series and painted with bright colors, animated by scenes connected to the myth of Persephone. She was a dual deity, since, in addition to presiding over the dead with intriguing autonomy, as the daughter of Demeter, she was also a goddess of fertility. Persephone, in her guise as Queen of the Underworld, was often appealed to in curse tablets and on the inscribed gold leaves buried with the dead followers of Orphism which gave instructions on how to conduct themselves in the after-life. Ovid: The myth of Persephone/Proserpina and her abduction is told differently in two of Ovids poems, the Metamorphoses and the Fasti (both ca. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. The Greek and Roman festivals honoring her and her mother, Ceres, emphasized Proserpine's return to the upper world in spring. The cult of Persephone in the Greek religion was especially strong in Sicily and southern Italy, and besides the Eleusinian Mysteries at Eleusis there were sanctuaries to the goddess across the Greek world, most notably at Locri Epizephyrii, Mantinea, Megalopolis, and Sparta. The story of Demeter, Hades and Persephone was perhaps symbolic of the changing seasons and the perennial change from life to death, to life once more, or in other words, the changes from the summer to winter months and the return of life in spring as seen in agriculture. As she wasn't one of her father's favorite children, she had no position at Olympus and used to live far away with her mother's . Persephone was born to Zeus and harvest-goddess, Demeter, and became the queen of the Underworld. Claudian: The fourth-century CE poem the Rape of Proserpina tells of the abduction of Persephone/Proserpina and her mothers search for her. Hades, living alone in the dark underworld, happened to glimpse up one summer day to see Persephone frolicking in the fields with her friends and fell instantly in love. Revisiting the Nature of Persephone in the Gold Leaves of Magna Graecia", "Locri Epizephyrii, The Archaeological Site Persephoneion, the Sanctuary of Persephone", Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. Her cults included agrarian magic, dancing, and rituals. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. By many, she was also known as Kore (the Maiden), the Greek goddess of spring. Proserpine is the Latin spelling of Persephone, a goddess married to Hades, god of the underworld. The location of this mythical place may simply be a convention to show that a magically distant chthonic land of myth was intended in the remote past.[35]. Here Santo treats the mythic elements in terms of maternal sacrifice to the burgeoning sexuality of an adolescent daughter. Sourvinou-Inwood, Christiane. In Roman mythology, she is identified with Proserpine. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. Vulci, c. 440-430 BCE. She was identified by the Romans as the Italic goddess Libera, who was conflated with Proserpina. Persephone, the daughter of Demeter and Zeus, was the wife of Hades and the Queen of the Underworld. The name pais (the divine child) appears in the Mycenean inscriptions. Eventually, Zeus determined that Adonis would spend part of the year with Aphrodite and part of the year with Persephone.[26]. This is exactly what the archetype of the beauty and the beast is based upon. For example, she allowed the prophet Tiresias to keep his reasoning and prophetic abilities even in death. [14][15], A popular folk etymology is from , pherein phonon, "to bring (or cause) death". Persephone was known for her beauty and . Upon learning of the abduction . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Her central myth served as the context for the secret rites of regeneration at Eleusis,[29] which promised immortality to initiates. World History Encyclopedia. [96] The depiction of the goddess is similar to later images of "Anodos of Pherephata". Diodorus of Sicily: The Library of History, a work of universal history covering events from the creation of the cosmos to Diodorus own time (mid-first century BCE), contains references to the myths of Persephone. [41], In Sicily, sometimes said to have been the island from which Hades had abducted the goddess, Persephone was honored in a number of different festivals and rituals. Homeric Hymn 2.3, 2.77ff; cf. Later accounts place the abduction in Attica, near Athens, or near Eleusis. . [4], In the standard tradition, Persephone was the daughter of Zeus, the king of the gods, and his sister Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. However, according to Ovid, Fasti 4.510ff, the child was Triptolemus. The focus of the poem is one of the most renowned narratives from Greek mythology - the rape of Persephone by Hades, the god of the Underworld, and the response of Demeter to her loss. On the Dresden vase, Persephone is growing out of the ground, and she is surrounded by the animal-tailed agricultural gods Silenoi.[105]. She is unsuccessful, and Persephone ends up giving birth to one of the early Dionysuses. In response, Demeter revealed her true identity and demanded a temple be built in her honour. Published online 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.4880. [135] Scholar Timothy Gantz noted that Hades was often considered an alternate, cthonic form of Zeus, and suggested that it is likely Zagreus was originally the son of Hades and Persephone, who was later merged with the Orphic Dionysus, the son of Zeus and Persephone, owing to the identification of the two fathers as the same being.
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