Persephone in Roman mythology. Greek mythology

PERSEPHONE

In Greek mythology, the goddess of the kingdom of the dead. Daughter of Zeus and Demeter, wife of Hades, who, with the permission of Zeus, kidnapped her (Hes. Theog. 912 - 914). The Homeric hymn “To Demeter” tells how Persephone and her friends played in the meadow, collecting irises, roses, violets, hyacinths and daffodils.

Hades appeared from a cleft in the earth and whisked Persephone away on a golden chariot to the kingdom of the dead (Hymn. Hom. V 1 - 20, 414 - 433). The grieving Demeter sent drought and crop failure to the earth, and Zeus was forced to send Hermes with the order to Hades to bring Persephone into the light. Hades sent Persephone to her mother, but forced her to eat a pomegranate seed so that Persephone would not forget the kingdom of death and return to him again. Demeter, having learned about the treachery of Hades, realized that from now on her daughter would spend a third of the year among the dead, and two thirds with her mother, whose joy would return abundance to the earth (360-413). Persephone wisely rules the kingdom of the dead, where heroes penetrate from time to time. The king of the Lapiths, Pirithous, tried to kidnap Persephone together with Theseus. For this he was chained to a rock, and Persephone allowed Hercules to return Theseus to earth. At the request of Persephone, Hercules left the cow shepherd Hades alive (Apollod. II 5, 12). Persephone was moved by Orpheus' music and returned Eurydice to him (however, through the fault of Orpheus, she remained in the kingdom of the dead; Ovid. Met. X 46-57). At the request of Aphrodite, Persephone hid the baby Adonis with her and did not want to return him to Aphrodite; according to the decision of Zeus, Adonis had to spend a third of the year in the kingdom of the dead (Apollod. III 14, 4). Persephone plays a special role in the Orphic cult of Dionysus - Zagreus. From Zeus, who turned into a serpent, she gives birth to Zagreus (Hymn. Orph. XXXXVI; Nonn. Dion. V 562-570; VI 156 - 165), who was subsequently torn to pieces by the Titans. Persephone is also associated with the Eleusinian cult of Demeter. In Persephone, the features of the chthonic ancient deity and classical Olympianism are closely intertwined. She reigns in Hades against her will, but at the same time she feels like a completely legitimate and wise ruler there. She destroyed, literally trampling, her rivals - the beloved Hades; nymph Kokitida and nymph Minta. At the same time, Persephone helps the heroes and cannot forget the earth with its parents. Persephone, as the wife of the chthonic Zeus the serpent, dates back to the deep archaic, when Zeus himself was still the “Underground” king of the kingdom of the dead. The vestige of this connection between Zeus Chthonius and Persephone is the desire of Zeus for Hades to kidnap Persephone against the will of Persephone herself and her mother. In Roman mythology, she corresponds to Proserpina, daughter of Ceres (Greek Demeter).

Favorite colors: black, red. Synonyms and epithets: Kora - maiden, Deo, mistress of the dead.

The goddess Persephone, whom the Romans called Proserpina or Kore, is best known from Homer's Hymn to Demeter, which describes her abduction by Hades. She was revered in two ways, as a maiden or Cora (meaning "maiden, young girl"), and as the queen of the underworld. Cora was a graceful and beautiful young goddess associated with symbols of fertility - pomegranate, grain, cereals, and also the daffodil, the flower that lured her. As the mistress of the underworld, Persephone is a mature goddess who rules the souls of the dead, guides those living who visit the kingdom of the dead and knows full well what she wants for herself.

Although Persephone was not alone among the twelve Olympians, she was the central figure of the Eleusinian Mysteries, which were the main religious sacrament of the Greeks for two thousand years before Christianity. In the Eleusinian Mysteries, the Greeks experienced the experience of returning or rebirth to life after death, through the annual return of Persephone from the underworld.

Genealogy and mythology

Persephone was only daughter Demeter and Zeus. Greek mythology is unusually tight-lipped about the circumstances of her conception.

At the beginning of the myth of Demeter and Persephone (told in detail in the previous chapter), Persephone was a carefree girl who picked flowers and played with her friends. But then Hades, in his chariot, suddenly appeared from the depths of the earth, forcibly grabbed the screaming maiden and carried her back to the underworld to become his bride, without even wanting it.

Demeter did not accept the situation, left Olympus, persistently searched for how to return Persephone and as a result forced Zeus to take into account her wishes.

Then Zeus sent Hermes, the Messenger of the Gods, to bring Persephone. Hermes arrived in the underworld and found her there inconsolable. But despair gave way to joy as soon as she realized that Hermes had come for her and Hades would allow her to leave. However, before she left him, Hades gave Persephone some pomegranate seeds, which she ate. Then she ascended with Hermes into a chariot, which quickly brought her to Demeter. After the reunited mother and daughter happily embraced, Demeter worriedly asked if her daughter had eaten something in the underworld. Persephone replied that she ate pomegranate seeds - because Hades forced her “by force, without her desire” to eat them (which was not true).

Demeter accepted this story and the cyclical scenario that followed. If Persephone had not eaten anything, she would have been completely returned to Demeter. And since she ate the pomegranate seeds, then in any case she must now spend one third of the year in the underworld with Hades, and two thirds of the year in the upper world, with Demeter.

Persephone later became queen of the underworld. Whenever the heroes or heroines of Greek mythology descended into the lower realm, Persephone was there to meet them and be their companion. (No one noticed her absence.

There was never a sign on the door that said “Gone Home to Mother,” although according to the myth of Demeter and Persephone she did so for two-thirds of the year.) In the Odyssey, the hero Odysseus (Ulysses) made a journey to the underworld, where Persephone showed him the souls of the legendary and famous women. In the myth of Psyche and Eros, Psyche's last task was to descend with a casket into the underworld to Persephone so that she would give the beauty ointment needed by Aphrodite. The last of the twelve labors of Hercules (Hercules) also led him to Persephone: Hercules needed to get Persephone's permission to borrow Cerberus: a terrible three-headed guardian dog, which he subdued and chained.

Persephone competed with Aphrodite for the possession of Adonis, a beautiful youth whom both goddesses loved. Aphrodite placed Adonis in a basket and sent it to Persephone to keep. But having opened the basket, the queen of the underworld was fascinated by its beauty and refused to give it back. Now Persephone fought with another powerful deity for the possession of Adonis, just as Demeter and Hades once fought for her. The dispute was brought to the court of Zeus, who decided that Adonis would spend one third of the year with Persephone, the other third with Aphrodite, and be left to his own devices for the remainder.

Characters and cult objects of Greek mythology. 2012

Persephone and Hades, goddess of spring and lord of the dead, are a divine couple whose relationship is shrouded in mystery. However, like the archetypes of the deities themselves. ..

The Mysteries of Persephone constituted one of the three parts of the Eleusinian Mysteries and were of a sacred nature. They were called "The Last Test". Information about what happened on them has not reached our days. Participants were forbidden to disclose what was happening. It is known that the goal of these mysteries was to achieve fertility.

Persephone spends autumn and winter with Hades underground - in the kingdom of the dead, and spring and summer - on the surface, in the kingdom of the living, with her mother Demeter. Demeter is the goddess of fertility and motherhood, the goddess of the fruit-bearing earth.
Every year, Hades rises to the surface, only to take Persephone, who became his legal wife, to his home.
Thus, Persephone's life is an endless journey from mother to husband - from husband to mother, and back. This is an endless cycle, a vicious circle that cannot turn into a spiral.
The kingdom of Hades is a gray, barren land; dead swamps; withered trees, gloomy fogs. Appearing in the underworld, Persephone managed to bring spring even there. “...all this rot of the ever-dying autumn was replaced by lush vegetation and hugeour roots, the tops of which blossomed on the surface of the earth and went into the sky.
Such was the transformation accomplished by Proserpina (Persephone)” (E. Golovin “Proserpina”).

Persephone herself has changed, now she has a territory where she has become a full-fledged mistress. The meeting with Hades, despite the halo of “criminality,” was an event that contributed to the growing up of Cora-Persephone and her separation from her mother.
However, her mother, who is sad in separation, forces Persephone to constantly return to outdated patterns of behavior. Eternally lost, helpless, kidnapped child; eternal mother's daughter...
If you look at Hades through the eyes of mother Demeter, he is quite capable of inspiring horror: a gloomy lord of shadows, a kidnapper and seducer of a young maiden.

(However, Demeter and other contenders for her daughter’s hand did not like her; even the handsome Apollo did not please her. Demeter preferred to consider Cora too young for marriage).
Hades does not even visit Olympus - the archetypal center of social laws, the creators of which are Zeus and his beloved children Apollo and Athena. These laws are for mortals, but not for Hades. This means that he is outside the laws, outside social values. Or he lives according to the laws that he alone knows...
The secret is that Persebackground undoubtedly loves Aida. Their love story is told in all possible versions of the fairy tales “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Scarlet Flower”.

Doesn't it seem strange that Demeter, instead of having other children and letting her daughter go into adulthood, desperately clings to her? After all, this is contrary to nature itself. After the cubs grow up, the female of any species of animal releases them and gives birth to new offspring! Where does the goddess of fertility herself have such... infertility?
Why is Demeter unable to bring spring to earth without the help of Persephone?
Demeter - goddess Agriculture, is the goddess of cultivated nature, and therefore of artificial fertility. Her cult appeared quite late, having gone through the stages of ancient goddesses, uncontrollable like the elements themselves - Gaia, Rhea Cybele. And as a result, Mother Earth turned from the Great and Terrible Mother into a caring Mother Demeter, who is completely focused on her child (and apparently has no other interests).
The fertility of Demeter is like the fertility of a vegetable garden, native and plowed with one’s own hands. However, no matter what miracles of agronomy we perform, the harvest will always depend on the vagaries of nature.
The Greeks of that time learned to cultivate the land, but were still dependent on natural conditions. And this is another fertility, the one that is outside of human laws! And he is symbolized by Hades, who is not only the god of the dead, but also the god of the underground depths - underground wealth.
Persephone found herself at a crossroads between wild and cultivated nature. Her mission is extremely important.
She brings love to the heart of Hades, which is why spring comes in the underworld, and the underground part of the plants begins to grow. This is how the goddess influences wildlife!
And then Persephone rises to the surface and brings spring to vegetable gardens and plowed fields, brings harvest and essentially saves human civilization from hunger))) Without Persephone, Demeter, alas, does not bear fruit, just as a plant cannot live if its root part is damaged .

Persephone is an extremely ancient deity. It appears to be older than her mother Demeter, a form that crystallized with the advent of agriculture.
The translation of the name "Persephone" is lost, which may indicate that it is of ancient, non-Greek origin. “The inability to explain the name of Persephone based on the Greek language suggests that Persephone is an ancient local goddess, whose cult was widespread before the Greek invasion of the Balkan Peninsula.”http://mythology.org.ua/Persephone
Oddly enough, Persephone herself is also barren. Persephone and Hades had no children. Persephone became the adoptive mother of the baby Adonis, who soon turned into the most handsome man among mortals. At the insistence of Persephone, Adonis spends a third of the year with his adoptive mother, two thirds with his beloved, the goddess Aphrodite. As we see, Persephone exactly repeats the behavior pattern of her mother...
However, Persephone turns out to be barren only in later myths. According to more ancient myths, in which the deities still retained a zoomorphic appearance, Persephone had a son named Zagreus.
Zagreus was called the Wild Hunter. He was an extremely important deity in those ancient times when hunting was the main source of food.
It was no coincidence that I turned to the fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast”. Persephone conceived Zagreus by entering into an alliance with a certain deity who took on the image of a Dragon (Snake), in a word, a terrifying, bestial appearance.
In some myths, this Serpent is none other than Zeus himself, the father of Persephone. In other myths, this is Hades. Researcher A.F. Losev writes: “On coins of the 4th century. BC e. from Pras we find an image of a woman caressing Zeus the serpent; it is not difficult to recognize Persephone in her.”
http://www.sno.pro1.ru/lib/losev2/15.htm

Losev also writes about the combination of xtonic (zoomorphic) myths with heroic ones. The Chthonic principle is, of course, represented by Hades, while the Heroic principle is represented by Zeus - the fundamental archetype of patriarchal civilization.
If at first it seems that Zagreus was the fruit of an incestuous relationship, then with a more detailed study of the images of Hades and Zeus it becomes clear that incest hardly took place.
The creature from whom Zagreus was conceived was chthonic, a representative of natural chaos, and not of Zeus's civilization.
When we enter the space of nature, social prejudices cease to dominate us. There is no indecent, no sinful, conventions are erased.
Hades represents the shadow side of the Zeus archetype. Zeus is the king of civilization, Hades is the king of the world of death, which is as beyond the control of people as nature.
There were times when there was no civilization yet.
But nature has always existed. In those distant times, Hades and Zeus were one deity, symbolizing the Masculine principle. It was from him that Persephone conceived. Zagreus is the son of Hades, or the son of the animalistic, “bestial” hypostasis of Zeus - and this is Hades.

Whether Zagreus was the product of incest is not so important in the natural world. In some myths, the archetype of Zargay merged with the archetype of Hades and Zeus, which adds an additional "incestuous" connotation:
“Zagreus is as much a son of Hades as he is Hades himself; and, besides, he is as much the son of Zeus as he is Zeus himself...” (A.F. Losev).
From the point of view of social norms, the union of Hades and Persephone is incestuous in any case (Hades is Persephone's uncle), it is just not as blatant as in the case of Zeus.
...When a girl starts dating a man much older than herself, a bashful thought may occur to her: “He’s old enough to be my father!” (or with a much younger man, and then the woman complains that she is old enough to be his mother). A thought that references incest...
Instead of enjoying the beauty of the fusion of eternity and renewal - two most important life-giving energies, we indulge in social prejudices. This is how our inner Persephone becomes barren...
P.S. Zagreus was also not allowed to live for his own pleasure. Hera, a champion of social order, directed the wrath of the titans at him. The Titans tore Zagreus into pieces, Zeus incinerated them with lightning for this. Athena managed to save Zagreus's heart and bring it safely to Zeus. Zeus ate his heart and conceived a second incarnation of Zagreus from the mortal woman Semele. And the born baby was named Dionysus. He became the god of agriculture and festivals, as well as altered states of consciousness. Dionysus managed to unite chaos wildlife and orderliness of agriculture. The mysteries of Dionysus gained no less wide popularity than the mysteries of Demeter and Persephone.
“Dionysus is the god of the last cosmic era, reigning over the world, or, as one source says, “our ruler” (A.F. Losev)
“...The Titans, who tasted his flesh, were incinerated by the lightning of Zeus, and from these ashes, mixed with the blood of the god, the human race arose, which is distinguished by the daring of the Titans and the suffering of Dionysus”...

Posted on Feb. 10th, 2015 at 08:55 pm |

Persephone Persephone

(Περσεφόνη, Proserpina). Daughter of Zeus and Demeter, wife of Hades, queen of the underworld, formidable mistress over the shadows of the dead. With Zeus's permission, but without Demeter's knowledge, she was taken away by Hades in a horse-drawn chariot while she was picking flowers in a meadow. Demeter, in anger for this, forbade the earth to produce fruit, and Zeus had to send Hermes to the underworld for Persephone. Hades let her go, giving her to swallow a pomegranate seed - a symbol of marriage, and therefore Persephone could remain with her mother only two-thirds of the year, and spend the last third with her gloomy husband. This connection with her mother gives Persephone a somewhat softer character than Hades. In this myth, Persephone is a symbol of vegetation, which annually emerges from the earth, and also - in the mysteries of Demeter - a symbol of the immortality of the soul. The Romans called her Proserpina and was considered the wife of Pluto.

(Source: “A Brief Dictionary of Mythology and Antiquities.” M. Korsh. St. Petersburg, edition by A. S. Suvorin, 1894.)

(Kora) - goddess of fertility and the kingdom of the dead. Daughter of Demeter and Zeus. The wife of Hades, who kidnapped her and took her to his kingdom. Demeter searched for her daughter all over the earth, indulging in inconsolable grief, and at that time the earth was barren, nothing sprouted in the sown fields. To calm Demeter, Zeus decided that Persephone would spend six months on Olympus and six months in Hades. The myth of Persephone symbolizes the dying of nature in winter and its resurrection in spring. From Zeus (who appeared to her in the form of a serpent) Sabasia gave birth. Persephone corresponds to the Roman Proserpina. And also in Rome Libera was identified with her.

// Evariste GUYS: Proserpina // Heinrich HEINE: The Underworld // Percy Bysshe SHELLEY: The Song of Proserpina // Vladislav KHODASEVICH: "Thinning, the forests are turning scarlet..." // N.A. Kuhn: DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE // N.A. Kun: THE ABDUCTION OF PERSEPHONE BY HADES

(Source: “Myths of Ancient Greece. Dictionary-reference book.” EdwART, 2009.)

in Greek mythology, daughter of Zeus and Demeter, wife of Hades, goddess of the kingdom of the dead.

(Source: “Dictionary of spirits and gods of German-Scandinavian, Egyptian, Greek, Irish, Japanese mythology, mythologies of the Mayans and Aztecs."

See what "Persephone" is in other dictionaries:

- (Greek myth.). Greek name for Proserpina. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. PERSEPHONE in Greek. myth. daughter of Zeus and Demeter, wife of Hades, god of the underworld of the dead; accordingly Roman... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Persephone- Persephone. Roman marble copy of a Greek original, ser. 6th century BC: Kora (so-called Kora Albani). Villa Albani. Rome. PERSEPHONE (Kore), in Greek mythology, the goddess of fertility and the kingdom of the dead. Daughter of Demeter and Zeus, the husband of the one who kidnapped her... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Persephone- Persephone. Roman marble copy. Persephone. Roman marble copy. Persephone (, girl, maiden) in the myths of the ancient Greeks, the goddess of the kingdom of the dead. Daughter of Zeus and Demeter, wife of Hades, who kidnapped her. Wise ruler in... ... encyclopedic Dictionary"The World History"

Proserpina, Hecate Dictionary of Russian synonyms. persephone noun, number of synonyms: 7 asteroid (579) goddess ... Synonym dictionary

- (Kore) in Greek mythology, the goddess of fertility and the kingdom of the dead. Daughter of Demeter and Zeus, wife of Hades. It corresponds to the Roman Proserpina... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (PerVejonh, Persejassa; Perrejatta, Fersejassa, Ferrejatta, Korh), among the Romans Proserpina) daughter of Demeter (Ceres), wife of Hades (Pluto); inextricably linked in legends and cults with these two deities, the goddess of fertility and growth,... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

Rembrandt, “The Rape of Persephone” Persephone (ancient Greek ... Wikipedia

Persephone- y, w. In Greek mythology: goddess of earthly fertility, mistress of the underworld. Between the columns, where Persephone shines, I see your neck bent in the folds of a damp chiton (Vyach. Ivanov). Etymology: From Greek Persephonē ‘Persephone’.… … Popular dictionary of the Russian language

In Greek mythology, the goddess of vegetation and death, daughter of the fertility goddess Demeter. Pluto (Hades) wanted to take Persephone as his wife. When Zeus gave his consent to this, Pluto grabbed her and dragged her into the underworld. Demeter in search of her daughter... ... Collier's Encyclopedia

- (Kore), in Greek mythology, the goddess of fertility and the kingdom of the dead. Daughter of Demeter and Zeus, wife of Hades. The Roman Proserpina corresponds to it. * * * PERSEPHONE PERSEPHONE (Kore), in Greek mythology, the goddess of fertility and the kingdom of the dead. Daughter of Demeter... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Books

• Card game "Imaginarium". Set of cards "Persephone" (52008) , . "Persephone" is a continuation of the Imaginarium line, set by "Ariadne" and "Pandora" - good, but somewhat strange pictures. In this edition they are more philosophical and peaceful. Compound…

PERSEFO ON(Περσεφόνη); TO O ra (Κόρα, “girl”, “maiden”), in Greek mythology the goddess of the kingdom of the dead. Daughter of Zeus and Demeter, wife of Hades, who, with the permission of Zeus, kidnapped her (Hes. Theog. 912-914). The Homeric hymn “To Demeter” tells how Persephone and her friends played in the meadow, collecting irises, roses, violets, hyacinths and daffodils. Hades appeared from a cleft in the earth and whisked Persephone away on a golden chariot to the kingdom of the dead (Hymn. Hom. V 1-20, 414-433). The grieving Demeter sent drought and crop failure to the earth, and Zeus was forced to send Hermes with the order to Hades to bring Persephone into the light. Hades sent Persephone to her mother, but forced her to eat a pomegranate seed so that Persephone would not forget the kingdom of death and return to him again. Demeter, having learned about the treachery of Hades, realized that from now on her daughter would spend a third of the year among the dead, and two thirds with her mother, whose joy would return abundance to the earth (360-413). Persephone wisely rules the kingdom of the dead, where heroes penetrate from time to time. King of the Lapiths Pirithous tried to kidnap Persephone with Theseus. For this he was chained to a rock, and Persephone allowed Hercules to return Theseus to earth. At the request of Persephone, Hercules left the cow shepherd Hades alive (Apollod. II 5, 12). Persephone was moved by Orpheus' music and returned Eurydice to him (however, through the fault of Orpheus, she remained in the kingdom of the dead; Ovid. Met. X 46-57). At the request of Aphrodite, Persephone hid the baby Adonis with her and did not want to return him to Aphrodite; according to the decision of Zeus, Adonis had to spend a third of the year in the kingdom of the dead (Apollod. III 14, 4). Persephone plays a special role in the Orphic cult of Dionysus-Zagreus. From Zeus, who turned into a serpent, she gives birth to Zagreus (Hymn. Orph. XXXXVI; Nonn. Dion. V 562-570; VI 155-165), who was subsequently torn to pieces by the Titans. Persephone is also associated with the Eleusinian cult of Demeter. In Persephone, the features of the chthonic ancient deity and classical Olympianism are closely intertwined. She reigns in the form against her own will, but at the same time she feels like a completely legitimate and wise ruler there. She destroyed, literally trampling, her rivals - the beloved Hades: the nymph Kokitida and the nymph Minta. At the same time, Persephone helps the heroes and cannot forget the earth with its parents. Persephone, as the wife of the chthonic Zeus the serpent, dates back to the deep archaic, when Zeus himself was still the “Underground” king of the kingdom of the dead. The vestige of this connection between Zeus Chthonius and Persephone is the desire of Zeus for Hades to kidnap Persephone against the will of Persephone herself and her mother. In Roman mythology, she corresponds to Proserpina - the daughter of Ceres (Greek Demeter).

Lit.: Losev A.F., Ancient mythology in its historical development, M., 1957; Rose H.J., The bride of Hades, “Classical Philology”, 1925, p. 238-243; see also lit. at Art. Demeter.

A.F. Losev

On antique vases, coins, mosaics, reliefs there are scenes of “the abduction of Persephone”, less often - “return from the underworld”. In European art, the theme of “the abduction of Persephone” was addressed by P.P. Rubens, Rembrandt, sculptors L. Bernini and F. Girardon and others. The theme of Persephone is present in the poetry of J. Milton, developed by Goethe (drama “Proserpina”), Shelley (“The Song of Proserpina”), A.Ch. Swinburne (“Hymn to Persephone”), O. Mandelstam and others. A ballet by I. Stravinsky was staged based on A. Gide’s trilogy about Persephone. The most significant musical developments of the plot of Persephone are the operas of C. Monteverdi, J.B. Lully and C. Saint-Saens.

Myths of the peoples of the world. Encyclopedia. (In 2 volumes). Ch. ed. S.A. Tokarev.- M.: “Soviet Encyclopedia”, 1982. T. II, p. 305-306.

Persephone picks a flower
Boris Vallejo

Alexander Isachev

Persephone, in Greek mythology, the daughter of Zeus and the goddess Demeter. The goddess of fertility and agriculture, Demeter, loved her only daughter, the beautiful Persephone. For her, she grew beautiful fragrant flowers in the meadows of Hellas, allowed dragonflies and butterflies to flutter among them, and songbirds to fill the meadows and groves with melodious singing. Young Persephone adored the bright world of Uncle Helios, the god of the Sun, and her mother’s green meadows, lush trees, bright flowers and streams babbling everywhere, on the surface of which the glare of the sun played. Neither she nor her mother knew that Zeus had promised her as a wife to his gloomy brother Hades, the god of the underworld.

One day, Demeter and Persephone were walking through a green meadow. Persephone frolicked with her friends, rejoicing in the light and warmth, reveling in the aromas of meadow flowers. Suddenly, in the grass, she found a flower of unknown beauty that emitted an intoxicating smell. It was Gaia, at the request of Hades, who raised him to attract the attention of Persephone. As soon as the girl touched the strange flower, the earth opened up and a golden carriage pulled by four black horses appeared. Hades ruled it. He picked up Persephone and carried her to his palace in the underworld. Heartbroken, Demeter dressed in black clothes and went in search of her daughter.

Proserpine,
Dante Gabriel Rosetti

Frederic Leighton

Dark times have come for everything living on earth. The trees lost their lush foliage, the flowers withered, the grains did not produce grain. Neither the fields nor the gardens bore fruit. Hunger has set in. All life froze. The human race was in danger of destruction. The gods, who from time to time came down to people from Olympus and took care of them, began to ask Zeus to tell Demeter the truth about Persephone.

But after learning the truth, the mother missed her daughter even more. Then Zeus sent Hermes to Hades with a request to release his wife to earth from time to time so that Persephone could see her mother. Hades did not dare to disobey Zeus. Seeing her daughter, Demeter rejoiced, tears of joy sparkled in her eyes. The earth was filled with this moisture, the meadows were covered with tender grass, and flowers bloomed on recently drooping stems. Soon the grain fields began to sprout. Nature has awakened to a new life. From then on, by order of Zeus, Persephone was obliged to spend two thirds of the year with her mother and one third with her husband.

This is how the alternation of seasons arose. When Persephone is in the kingdom of her husband, despondency attacks Demeter, and winter comes on Earth. But every return of the daughter to her mother in the world of Uncle Helios is alive with new juices and brings with her spring in all its triumphant beauty. That is why Persephone is always depicted as a beautiful girl with a bouquet of flowers and a sheaf of ears of corn and is considered the goddess of the coming spring, the sister of the goddess of the kingdom of flowers and plants, Flora. And she lives in the sky as the wonderful constellation Virgo. The brightest star in the constellation Virgo is called Spica, which means ear of corn. In Roman mythology, the goddess corresponds to Proserpina.