24 Bright Facts About Apollo, the Greek god of the Sun.She was also constantly showered with numerous precious stones and gifts from her husband Hades. She lived in perhaps the most magnificent castles in Greek mythology. Unlike her counterpart Hera, Queen of Mount Olympus in the sky, Persephone had significant power in the Underworld. This power of hers is in perfect harmony of the notion of her being the personification of vegetation.Īs the co-ruler of the Underworld, Persephone made several important decisions concerning the souls of the dead. Whenever she was on earth, the days were warmer and farmers had bountiful harvest. Persephone’s importance in the Greek pantheon stems from the myth that her presence on earth makes flowers bloom. Other symbols of Persephone include the narcissus flower and cornucopia (also known as the horn of plenty), a representation of her role as a fertility deity. The ancient Greeks believed that pomegranate was used to mark her marriage to Hades in the Underworld. In some cases, it is the seed of a pomegranate rather. Of all the symbols associated with Persephone, the pomegranate is the commonest. In the Eleusinian Mysteries, Demeter is depicted carrying a four-tipped torch. However, in the presence of her mother Demeter, the honor of carrying the scepter and sheaf of wheat went to Demeter. And to symbolize her position in the Underworld, she can be seen carrying a scepter and a sheaf of wheat. She is often depicted wearing a beautiful robe. In almost all cases, Persephone was seen as the queen of the Underworld – the dominion of Greek god Hades. The latter epithet is a testament to the unbreakable bond between Demeter and Persephone – a bond of cosmic proportions between mother and daughter. Owing to her close relationship with her mother Demeter, some of her worshipers took to calling the two deities “the Two Demeters” or “The Two Goddesses”. However, she did have some positive epithets such as “the Maiden”, “the Venerable One”, “the Mistress” ( Despoina), and “The Pure One”. Only those in her cult could speak her real name. In some cases, it was even forbidden to utter her name. After all, her husband was the ruler of the dead. The name was most likely derived from the Latin word “proserpere”, which means “to spring up” or “to creep forth”.īeing the wife of Hades, many Greeks maintained a reasonable amount of fear of her. In ancient Rome, she was called Proserpine. For example, her name “Kore” means “the maiden” or “the girl”. The ancient Greeks had different names for Persephone. Norse equivalent: Gerd Meaning and Epithets Roman equivalent: Proserpine (Proserpina) Ritual/festival: Eleusinian Mysteries or the Rites of Eleusis Worship place and cults: Magna Graecia, Cyrene, Peloponnese, Alexandria, Eleusis, and Attica Other names: Phersephassa, Persphoneia, Kore, Periphona, Persephatta Symbol: Pomegranate, asphodel, sheaf of wheat, narcissusĮpithets: Queen of the Underworld, The Great Goddess, The Venerable One, The Pure One, The Mistress, The Two Goddesses Siblings: Aphrodite, Arion, Helen, Hephaestus, Eubuleus, Heracles, Hermes, Perseus, The Muses, Dionysus, etc.Īssociation: Demeter, Dionysus, Rhea, Artemis, Pandora Goddess of: Fertility, springtime, underworld The article below contains everything you need to know about Persephone in Greek mythology: Myth about Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld and Greek goddess of fertility What are the myths surrounding Persephone’s birth story? What symbols were associated with Persephone? And because she was the daughter of Demeter, the Greek goddess of grain and agriculture, Persephone was revered as a fertility goddess. Her role in the Greek pantheon was to preside over the dead souls in the Underworld. After she was taken against her will by Hades, the Greek god of the Underworld, Persephone went on to become the Queen of the Underworld. Persephone was the daughter of the king of the Greek Gods Zeus and the goddess Demeter.
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