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Proserpina

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.02 sec.

Persephone

 Latin Proserpina

Enlarge picture
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.

Proserpina
(Gk. Persephone) whisked away by lustful Pluto in chariot. [Rom. Lit.: Metamorphoses; Fasti; Art: Hall, 260]
See : Abduction


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
The young Proserpina ran quickly to a spot where, only the day before, she had seen a great many flowers.
Tanglewood Tales by Hawthorne, Nathaniel View in context
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