Persephone (redirected from Persephony)

Persephone (pərsĕf`ənē) or Proserpine (prōsûr`pənē), in Greek and Roman religion and mythology, goddess of fertility and queen of the underworld. She was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. When she was still a beautiful maiden, Pluto seized her and held her captive in his underworld. Though Demeter eventually persuaded the gods to let her daughter return to her, Persephone was required to remain in the underworld for four months because Pluto had tricked her into eating a pomegranate (food of the dead) there. When Persephone left the earth, the flowers withered and the grain died, but when she returned, life blossomed anew. This story, which symbolizes the annual vegetation cycle, was celebrated in the Eleusinian Mysteries, in which Persephone appeared under the name Kore.

---

Persephone

 Latin Proserpina

Persephone abducted by Hades, marble sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1621–22; in the …

(credit: Anderson—Alinari/Art Resource, New York)

In Greek mythology, daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She was gathering flowers when she was seized by Hades, who carried her off to the underworld to make her his wife. On learning of the abduction, Demeter was so distraught that she allowed barrenness and famine to spread over the earth. Zeus commanded Hades to allow Persephone to return to her mother, but because she had eaten some (or, in some versions, just one) pomegranate seeds in the underworld, she had to remain one-third of the year with Hades, spending the other two-thirds with Demeter. This myth accounts for the change of the seasons and the annual cycle of growth and decay.

---

Persephone (Roman: Proserpine)

goddess of fertility; often associated with crops. [Gk. and Rom. Myth.: NCE, 1637]

See : Farming

---

Persephone

personification of spring. [Gk. Myth.: Cirlot, 252]

See : Spring

---

Persephone

the period of her stay (winter) with Hades. [Gk. Myth.: Espy, 28]

See : Winter