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[63] In Nonnus's Dionysiaca, the gods of Olympus were bewitched by Persephone's beauty and desired her. Persephone. Mythopedia, March 09, 2023. https://mythopedia.com/topics/persephone. 340 BCE). Persephone In Greek Mythology. 2 vols. Lament for Bion: This poem from the second or first century BCE (sometimes speciously attributed to Moschus) tells of how Persephone allowed Orpheus to take his wife Eurydice back from the Underworld. [82], The hero Orpheus once descended into the underworld seeking to take back to the land of the living his late wife Eurydice, who died when a snake bit her. Rhea-Demeter prophecies that Persephone will marry Apollo. Upon learning of the abduction, her mother, Demeter, in her misery, became unconcerned with the harvest or the fruitfulness of the earth, so that widespread famine ensued. [49] A festival called the Koreia appears to have also been celebrated in Arcadia[50] and Syracuse[51] (though the Syracusean Koreia was likely simply the equivalent of the Thesmophoria). [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. Demeter then hides Persephone in a cave; but Zeus, in the form of a serpent, enters the cave and rapes Persephone. This belief system had unique characteristics, particularly the appearance of the goddess from above in the dance. Her role in the Greek pantheon was to preside over the dead souls in the Underworld. The myth of a goddess being abducted and taken to the underworld is probably Pre-Greek in origin. Demeter had a kind and beautiful daughter, called Persephone, who she loved very much. In the Homeric "Hymn to Demeter," the story is told of Persephone's . [95] In historical times, Demeter and Kore were usually referred to as "the goddesses" or "the mistresses" (Arcadia) in the mysteries . Persephone (aka Kore) was the Greek goddess of agriculture and vegetation, especially grain, and the wife of Hades, the ruler of the Underworld. Homeric Hymn 2.9094, trans. Hades complies with the request, but first he tricks Persephone, giving her some pomegranate seeds to eat. [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]. Persephone. Published online 20002017. [98] A Handbook of Greek Mythology. She was also called Kore, which means "maiden" and grew up to be a lovely girl attracting the attention of many gods. Plato, for example, interpreted the name as she who touches things that are in motion (epaph tou pheromenou), a reference to Persephones wisdom (to touch things that are in motion implies an understanding of the cosmos, which is constantly in motion).[1]. 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. Browse 407 persephone greek goddess photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more photos and images. This would indicate that Persephones name means something like female corn thresher.[2]. The city of Epizephyrian Locris, in modern Calabria (southern Italy), was famous for its cult of Persephone, where she is a goddess of marriage and childbirth in this region. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. As a goddess of the underworld, Persephone was given euphemistically friendly names. The myth of her abduction, her sojourn in the underworld, and her temporary return to the surface represents her functions as the embodiment of spring and the personification of vegetation, especially grain crops, which disappear into the earth when sown, sprout from the earth in spring, and are harvested when fully grown. Upon discovering that Hades had Persephoneand that Zeus himself had helped him kidnap herDemeter was justifiably furious: But grief yet more terrible and savage came into the heart of Demeter, and thereafter she was so angered with the dark-clouded Son of Cronos that she avoided the gathering of the gods and high Olympus, and went to the towns and rich fields of men, disfiguring her form a long while.[18]. The fact that Persephone was married did not prevent her from being imagined as a virginal maiden. The priests used special vessels and holy symbols, and the people participated with rhymes. Persephone was born to Zeus and harvest-goddess, Demeter, and became the queen of the Underworld. 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. Persephone. Mythopedia, 9 Mar. Together with Demeter, Persephone is also depicted on the Great Seal of North Carolina, where she is shown in a pastoral setting with the sea in the background. Gntner, Gudrum. Borghese Gallery, Rome, Italy. In Classical Greek art, Persephone is invariably portrayed robed, often carrying a sheaf of grain. Aristophanes: The comedy Women at the Thesmophoria (411 BCE) parodies the Thesmophoria festival, celebrated at Athens in honor of Demeter. 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. 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. Hyginus: The Fabulae, a Latin mythological handbook (first or second century CE), includes sections on the myths of Persephone/Proserpina. [49], The abduction of Persephone is an etiological myth providing an explanation for the changing of the seasons. In Greek mythology, the goddess, as wife of Hades, is the Queen of the Underworld and takes her other name, Persephone. On an Attic red-figured bell krater of c. 440 BC in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Persephone is rising as if up stairs from a cleft in the earth, while Hermes stands aside; Hecate, holding two torches, looks back as she leads her to the enthroned Demeter. This Macaria is asserted to be the daughter of Hades, but no mother is mentioned. These include Persephassa () and Persephatta (). Her central myth served as the context for the secret rites of regeneration at Eleusis,[29] which promised immortality to initiates. However, according to Ovid, Fasti 4.510ff, the child was Triptolemus. She wears a stephane crown and raises her hand in greeting. Ovid, Fasti 4.583ff. In the reformulation of Greek mythology expressed in the Orphic Hymns, Dionysus and Melino are separately called children of Zeus and Persephone. Therefore, not only does Persephone and Demeter's annual reunion symbolize the changing seasons and the beginning of a new cycle of growth for the crops, it also symbolizes death and the regeneration of life.[52][53]. In this guise she is most often referred to as Kore, signifying both 'daughter' and 'maiden'. 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. On the other hand, she was Kore, the maiden daughter of the agricultural goddess Demeter, an alternate guise that brought her into the sphere of agriculture and fertility. Learn more about our mission. More than 5,000, mostly fragmentary, pinakes are stored in the National Museum of Magna Grcia in Reggio Calabria and in the museum of Locri. For example, she allowed the prophet Tiresias to keep his reasoning and prophetic abilities even in death. The Spring Witch by George Wilson (ca. Books Because Persephone had eaten a single pomegranate seed in the underworld, however, she could not be completely freed but had to remain one-third of the year with Hades, and spent the other two-thirds with her mother. [66], Adonis was an exceedingly beautiful mortal man with whom Persephone fell in love. Kapach, Avi. Scholia on Pindars Olympian Ode 6.160; cf. Persephone, Latin Proserpina or Proserpine, in Greek religion, daughter of Zeus, the chief god, and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture; she was the wife of Hades, king of the underworld. [103] A gold ring from a tomb in Isopata depicts four women dancing among flowers, the goddess floating above them. There were several alternate forms of the name Persephone itself, including Persophatta or Persephatta (which may have been the original form of the name), Persephonei (the Homeric form), Pherrephatta, and Phersephon. Persephone. Fossum, "The Myth of the Eternal Rebirth," pp. [74], After a plague hit Aonia, its people asked the Oracle of Delphi, and they were told they needed to appease the anger of the king and queen of the underworld by means of sacrifice. In another interpretation of the myth, the abduction of Persephone by Hades, in the form of Ploutus (, wealth), represents the wealth of the grain contained and stored in underground silos or ceramic jars (pithoi) during the Summer seasons (as that was drought season in Greece). Pinax (sculpted votive tablet) from the temple of Persephone in Epizephyrian Locris showing Persephone, holding a cock and grain, sitting beside her husband Hades. There were two sides to Persephone. In other sources, Hades, rather than Persephone, was the one who gave Eurydice to Orpheus and set these terms. Mark is a full-time author, researcher, historian, and editor. H. G. Evelyn-White. Persephone frequently appears in all forms of . [96] The depiction of the goddess is similar to later images of "Anodos of Pherephata". When Alcestis husband Admetus was told that he could put off his death if he found somebody willing to die in his place, Alcestis bravely volunteered. As the wife of Hades, Persephone was the queen of the Underworld. 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. Later accounts place the abduction in Attica, near Athens, or near Eleusis. In Athens, the mysteries celebrated in the month of Anthesterion were dedicated to her. [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"). [98][96] Kerenyi asserts that these religious practices were introduced from Minoan Crete. In some accounts, Zeus had given his consent to the abduction, the location of the crime being traditionally placed in either Sicily (famed for its fertility) or Asia. Sourvinou-Inwood, Christiane. As the two of them were led to the altar to be sacrificed, Persephone and Hades took pity on them and turned them into comets instead. [64], It was said that while Persephone was playing with the nymph Hercyna, Hercyna held a goose against her that she let loose. [76][77] Alternatively, Persephone tore Minthe to pieces for sleeping with Hades, and it was he who turned his former lover into the sweet-smelling plant. The surnames given to her by the poets refer to her role as queen of the lower world and the dead and to the power that shoots forth and withdraws into the earth. A famous relief slab from Eleusis depicts Demeter and Persephone (holding a torch) either side of Triptolemos; it dates to the 5th century BCE. Persephone also appears many times in popular culture. Though dreaded, she did sometimes listen to and grant requests. The cult was private and there is no information about it. 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. 'the maiden'), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Another alternate name, Despoina (Mistress), focused on Persephones role as the wife of Hades and queen of the Underworld. On the Dresden vase, Persephone is growing out of the ground, and she is surrounded by the animal-tailed agricultural gods Silenoi.[105]. Martin Nilsson (1967) Vol I, pp. The famous Eleusinian Mysteries, religious rites honoring Demeter and Persephone/Kore, were performed there. In Greek mythology, Persephone ("Proserpina," in Latin) is the daughter of Zeus, the god of gods, and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter. She made her dbut in around seven hundred BCE on Homer's: The Iliad and ends around the ninth century. He holds an MA in Political Philosophy and is the WHE Publishing Director. [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. [5] But there were a handful of rival traditions surrounding Persephones parentage, including one in which she was the daughter of Zeus and Styx, an Oceanid who gave her name to one of the rivers of the Underworld. It is on permanent display in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. The Orphics, an ancient Greek religious community that subscribed to distinctive beliefs and practices (called Orphism, Orphic religion, or the Orphic Mysteries), had their own unique mythology of Persephone. Gantz, Timothy. [16], The epithets of Persephone reveal her double function as chthonic and vegetation goddess. The Greek and Roman festivals honoring her and her mother, Ceres, emphasized Proserpine's return to the upper world in spring. Smith, William. He pursued the unwilling Rhea, only for her to change into a serpent. Various local traditions place Persephone's abduction in different locations. To reward the family for their kindness, Demeter set about making Demophon immortal by placing him on a fire every night. Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.37.9. More rarely, she was associated with pomegranates or poppies. 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. But Zeus transformed into a snake again and had sex with Persephone, whereupon she conceived the god often called Zagreus or Dionysus Zagreus.[28]. Theognis, Elegiac Poems 1.70112; cf. [95] Demeter is united with her, the god Poseidon, and she bears him a daughter, the unnameable Despoina. Early . Eventually, Zeus determined that Adonis would spend part of the year with Aphrodite and part of the year with Persephone.[26]. She becomes the queen of the underworld through her abduction by Hades, the god of the underworld. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1967. Other festivals celebrated Persephone in connection with the institution of marriage (rather than with Demeter and agriculture). [100] The megaron of Eleusis is quite similar to the "megaron" of Despoina at Lycosura. [32] However, it is possible that some of them were the names of original goddesses: As a vegetation goddess, she was called:[33][35], Demeter and her daughter Persephone were usually called:[35][36], Persephone's abduction by Hades[f] is mentioned briefly in Hesiod's Theogony,[38] and is told in considerable detail in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. Wanax is best suited to Poseidon, the special divinity of Pylos. Zeus agreed but told him that the girl's mother, Demeter, would never approve. However, when Metaneira saw this, she raised an alarm. Demeter would then raise Persephone alone. In the cave of Amnisos at Crete, Eileithyia is related with the annual birth of the divine child and she is connected with Enesidaon (The earth shaker), who is the chthonic aspect of the god Poseidon. Pearl Lang and her dance company performing "Persephone" in 1963. Persephone. In A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Helios, the Sun, who sees everything, eventually told Demeter what had happened and at length she discovered where her daughter had been taken. [125] Representations of myth and cult on the clay tablets (pinakes) dedicated to this goddess reveal not only a 'Chthonian Queen,' but also a deity concerned with the spheres of marriage and childbirth. Orphic Hymns: The Orphics were a Greek cult that believed a blissful afterlife could be attained by living an ascetic life. She becomes the mother of the Erinyes by Hades. In response, Demeter revealed her true identity and demanded a temple be built in her honour. At Eleusis, worshippers reenacted Demeters search for Persephone at night by torchlight. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. Robert S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 2:117981. 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. Homer, Odyssey 11.217; Hesiod, Theogony 912; Homeric Hymn 2; Apollodorus, Library 1.5.1; Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.37.9; Ovid, Fasti 4.575, Metamorphoses 5.501; Nonnus, Dionysiaca 5.562; etc. The second constituent, phatta, preserved in the form Persephatta (), would in this view reflect Proto-Indo European *-gn-t-ih, from the root *gen- "to strike/beat/kill". London: Thames and Hudson, 1951. Persephone was born to Zeus, king of the gods, and Demeter, goddess of the harvest. Hades rules over the underworld, or Hell. The Eleusinians built a temple near the spring of Callichorus, and Demeter establishes her mysteries there.[46]. Persephone is featured in several of the Orphic Hymns (ca. 8 CE). [1] The premise of the play is that the women gathered at the Thesmophoria are plotting against the tragedian Euripides. The earliest mentions of this name in literature describe him as a partner of Gaia and call him the highest god. 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. The god wears a chlamys cloak and petasos cap and holds a herald's wand ( kerykeion) in his hand. Frescoes in the 4th-century BCE royal tomb at Aegae (Vergina) in Pieria, Macedon show Hades abducting the goddess and explain the popular 'Tomb of Persephone' label. [119] In 205BC, Rome officially identified Proserpina with the local Italic goddess Libera, who, along with Liber, were closely associated with the Roman grain goddess Ceres (considered equivalent to the Greek Demeter). Ancient authors sometimes sought creative etymologies for the name Persephone (Greek , translit. 668670. 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. Greek Mythology - Hades and Persephone: The Abduction Goddess of Spring and Queen of the UnderworldArt: Kaji PatoScript: Bruno Viriato Confira nossos novos q. 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. The matter was brought before Zeus, and he decreed that Adonis would spend one third of the year with each goddess, and have the last third for himself. Persephone/Kore. In The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 4th ed., edited by Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 110910. 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. Persephone was the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. [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.
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