Persephone is one of the names given to the hypothetical planet orbiting the Sun beyond Pluto. Peresephone, asteroid 399 (the 399th asteroid to be discovered, on February 23, 1895), is approximately 55 kilometers in diameter and has an orbital period of 5.3 years. Persephone was named after the daughter of Demeter, who was kidnapped by Hades and taken to the underworld to become his queen. According to Martha Lang-Wescott, Persephone represents “separation anxiety; attitudes toward making transitions (that take one away from familiar people and circumstances); experience of feeling separate from family/others.” This asteroid’s key word is “separation.” J. Lee Lehman notes that the location of Persephone may indicate an area where skills are undeveloped. The less pleasant side of this asteroid is that it may indicate where one is an innocent yet willing victim.
(also Kore), in ancient Greek mythology, the goddess of fertility and the underworld. Persephone was the daughter of Demeter and Zeus and the wife of Hades. The myth of the abduction of Persephone by Hades and her annual return to earth from the underworld reflects a primitive conception of the periodic dying and rebirth of the plant world. Persephone was venerated by the Romans under the name of Proserpina.