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Line 1: {{~~short~~Short description\|Greek goddess of spring and the queen of the underworld}} {{About\|the Greek goddess}} {{Use dmy dates\|date= March 2022}} Line 8: \| alt = \| caption = Statue of [[Syncretism\|syncretic]] Persephone-[[Isis]] with a [[sistrum]]. [[Heraklion]] Archaeological Museum, [[Crete]] \| god_of = {{unbulleted list\|Queen of the underworld\|Goddess of ~~spring,~~ the dead, the underworld, grain, and nature}} \| abode = The [[Greek underworld\|underworld]] \| symbol = Pomegranate, seeds of grain, torch, flowers, and deer Line 14: \| parents = [[Zeus]] and [[Demeter]]<br />[[Zeus]] and [[Rhea (Greek mythology)\|Rhea]] {{small\|([[Orphic]])}} \| siblings = Several [[Zeus#Offspring\|paternal half-siblings]] and [[Demeter#Lineage, consorts, and offspring\|maternal half-siblings]] \| children = {{unbulleted list\|[[Melinoë]]\|[[Zagreus]] / [[Dionysus#Orphism\|Dionysus]] {{small\|(Orphic)}}<ref>Gantz (1996) p. 118</ref><ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA35 p. 35] {{Webarchive \|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210100756/https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA35 \|date=10 February 2023 }}</ref><ref>Grimal, s.v. Zagreus, p. 456.</ref>\|[[Erinyes]] {{small\|(Orphic)}}<ref>''[[Orphic Hymns]] 29 to Persephone'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=rvSuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 11] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210100756/https://books.google.com/books?id=rvSuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 \|date=10 February 2023 }} (Athanassakis and Wolkow, pp. 26–27).</ref><ref>''[[Orphic Hymns]] 70 to the [[Erinyes]]'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=rvSuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 4-5] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210100756/https://books.google.com/books?id=rvSuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 \|date=10 February 2023 }} (Athanassakis and Wolkow, pp. ~~56–57~~56–57).</ref>}}<!-- ~~please~~Please do not add [[Macaria]] as her daughter unless citing a reliable source that Persephone is her mother. --> \| mount = \| Roman_equivalent = [[Proserpina]] Line 22: {{Special characters}} {{Ancient Greek religion}} [[File:Dionysos and Cora-Hermitage.jpg\|thumb\|right\|220px\|Persephone and Dionysos. Roman copy after a Greek original of the ~~4th-3rd~~4th–3rd century B.C. Marble. [[Hermitage Museum\|Hermitage]].]] In ancient [[Greek mythology]] and [[Ancient Greek religion\|religion]], '''Persephone''' ({{IPAc-en\|p\|ər\|ˈ\|s\|ɛ\|f\|ə\|n\|iː}} {{respell\|pər\|SEF\|ə\|nee}}; {{lang-gr\|Περσεφόνη\|Persephónē}}), also called '''Kore''' ({{IPAc-en\|ˈ\|k\|ɔər\|iː}} {{respell\|KOR\|ee}}; {{lang-gr\|Κόρη\|Kórē\|the maiden}}) or '''Cora''', is the daughter of [[Zeus]] and [[Demeter]]. She became the queen of the [[Greek underworld\|underworld]] after her [[Rape of Persephone\|abduction]] by her uncle [[Hades]], the king of the underworld, who would later also take her into marriage.<ref name=Nilsson462>{{cite book \|first=Martin \|last=Nilsson \|year=1967 \|title=Die Geschichte der Griechische Religion \|lang=de \|trans-title=The Stories of the Greek Religion \|volume=I \|pages=462–463, 479–480}}</ref> The myth of her abduction, her sojourn in the underworld, and her ~~temporary~~cyclical return to the surface represent her functions as the embodiment of spring and the personification of vegetation, especially grain crops, which disappear into the earth when sown, sprout from the earth in spring, and are harvested when fully grown. In [[Art in ancient Greece\|Classical Greek art]], Persephone is invariably portrayed robed, often carrying a [[wikt:sheaf\|sheaf]] of grain. She may appear as a mystical divinity with a sceptre and a little box, but she was mostly represented in the process of being carried off by Hades. Persephone, as a [[vegetation deity\|vegetation goddess]], and her mother Demeter were the central figures of the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]], which promised the initiated a happy [[afterlife]]. The origins of her cult are uncertain, but it was based on ancient agrarian cults of agricultural communities. In Athens, the mysteries celebrated in the month of [[Anthesterion]] were dedicated to her. The city of [[Locri\|Epizephyrian Locris]], in modern [[Calabria]] (southern [[Italy]]), was famous for its cult of Persephone, where she is a goddess of marriage and childbirth in this region. Line 33 ⟶ 34: ==Name== In a [[Linear B]] [[Mycenaean Greek]] inscription on a tablet found at [[Pylos]] dated 1400–1200 BC, [[John Chadwick]] reconstructed{{efn\|The actual word in [[Linear B]] is {{lang\|gmy\|{{script\|Linb\|𐀟𐀩𐁚}}}}, ''pe-re-82'' or ''pe-re-swa''; it is found on the [[Pylos\|PY]] Tn 316 tablet.<ref>{{cite web \|title=pe-re-82 \|work=Minoan Linear A & Mycenaean Linear B \|last=Raymoure \|first=K.A. \|publisher=Deaditerranean \|url=http://minoan.deaditerranean.com/resources/linear-b-sign-groups/pe/pe-re-82/ \|access-date=19 March 2014 \|archive-date=5 July 2021 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210705083930/http://minoan.deaditerranean.com/resources/linear-b-sign-groups/pe/pe-re-82/ }} {{cite web \|title=PY 316 Tn (44) \|website=DĀMOS: Database of Mycenaean at Oslo \|publisher=[[University of Oslo]] \|url=https://www2.hf.uio.no/damos/Index/item/chosen_item_id/4985 \|access-date=19 March 2014 \|archive-date=14 March 2014 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314010920/https://www2.hf.uio.no/damos/Index/item/chosen_item_id/4985 \|url-status=live }}</ref>}} the name of a goddess, ''Preswa'', who could be identified with [[Perse (mythology)\|Perse]], daughter of [[Oceanus]], and found speculative the further identification with the first element of Persephone.<ref>{{cite book \|last=Chadwick \|first=John \|author-link=John Chadwick \|year=1976 \|title=The Mycenaean World \|location=Cambridge, UK \|publisher=Cambridge University Press \|isbn=0-521-29037-6 \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RMj7M_tGaNMC&pg=PA95 \|page=95 \|access-date=3 October 2020 \|archive-date=10 February 2023 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210100756/https://books.google.com/books?id=RMj7M_tGaNMC&pg=PA95 \|url-status=live }} At Google Books.</ref>{{efn\|Comments about the goddess ''pe-re-82'' of [[Pylos]] tablet Tn 316, tentatively reconstructed as ''Preswa'' :"It is tempting to see ... the classical Perse ... daughter of [[Oceanus]] ... ; whether it may be further identified with the first element of Persephone is only speculative."<ref>[[John Chadwick]]. ''Documents in Mycenean Greek''. Second Edition</ref>}} ''Persephonē'' ([[Greek language\|Greek]]: {{lang\|grc\|Περσεφόνη}}) is her name in the [[Ionic Greek]] of [[Epic poetry\|epic]] literature. The Homeric form of her name is ''Persephoneia'' ({{lang\|grc\|Περσεφονεία}},<ref name="Homer1899">{{cite book \|author=[[Homer]] \|title=Odyssey \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_-ZDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP230 \|access-date=31 March 2014 \|year=1899 \|publisher=Clarendon Press \|page=230}}</ref> ''Persephoneia''). In other dialects, she was known under variant names: ''Persephassa'' ({{lang\|grc\|Περσεφάσσα}}), ''Persephatta'' ({{lang\|grc\|Περσεφάττα}}), or simply ''Korē'' ({{lang\|grc\|Κόρη}}, "girl, maiden").<ref>H.G. Liddell and R. Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon''</ref> On 5th century Attic vases one often encounters the form ({{lang\|grc\|Φερρϖφάττα}}) [[Plato]] calls her ''Pherepapha'' (~~{{math\|~~{{lang\|grc\|Φερέπαφα}}}}) in his [[Cratylus (dialogue)\|''Cratylus'']], "because she is wise and touches that which is in motion". There are also the forms ''Periphona'' ({{~~math~~lang\|grc\|Πηριφόνα}}) and ''Phersephassa'' ({{lang\|grc\|Φερσέφασσα}}). The existence of so many different forms shows how difficult it was for the Greeks to pronounce the word in their own language and suggests that the name may have a [[Pre-Greek substrate\|Pre-Greek origin]].<ref>Martin P. Nilsson (1967), ''Die Geschichte der Griechische Religion'', Volume I, C.F. Beck Verlag, p. 474.</ref> The etymology of the word 'Persephone' is obscure. According to a recent hypothesis advanced by Rudolf Wachter, the first element in the name (''Perso''- ({{lang\|grc\|Περσο-}}) may well reflect a very rare term, attested in the [[Rig Veda]] (Sanskrit ''parṣa-''), and the [[Avesta]], meaning 'sheaf of corn' / 'ear [of grain]'. The second constituent, ''phatta'', preserved in the form ''Persephatta'' ({{lang\|grc\|Περσεφάττα}}), would in this view reflect [[Proto-Indo-European]] ''{{PIE\|-gʷn-t-ih}}'', from the root ''{{PIE\|gʷʰen-}}'' "to strike / beat / kill". The combined sense would therefore be "she who beats the ears of corn", i.e., a "thresher of grain".<ref>[[Jan Bremmer\|Jan N. Bremmer]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=5I_HDwAAQBAJ&dq=Etymological+Dictionary+of+Greek%2B+Beekes%2BPersephone&pg=PA74 ''The World of Greek Religion and Mythology:Collected Essays II,''] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210100804/https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_World_of_Greek_Religion_and_Mytholog/5I_HDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Etymological+Dictionary+of+Greek%2B+Beekes%2BPersephone&pg=PA74&printsec=frontcover \|date=10 February 2023 }} [[Mohr Siebeck]] 2019 {{isbn\|978-3-161-54451-4}} p.75.</ref><ref>[[Robert S. P. Beekes\|Beekes, R.S.P.]], (2009), ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', [[Brill Publishers\|Brill]], vol.2, pp.1179–80.</ref> Line 47 ⟶ 48: [[Plutarch]] writes that Persephone was identified with the spring season,<ref>Plutarch, ''[[Moralia]]'' ([https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Isis_and_Osiris/E.html ''On Isis and Osiris'', Ch. 69] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210100801/http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Isis_and_Osiris/E.html \|date=10 February 2023 }})</ref> and [[Cicero]] calls her the seed of the fruits of the fields. In the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]], her return from the underworld each spring is a symbol of immortality, and she was frequently represented on [[sarcophagi]]. In the religions of the [[Orphism (religion)\|Orphics]] and the [[Platonism\|Platonists]], Kore is described as the all-pervading goddess of nature<ref>Orphic Hymn 29.16</ref> who both produces and destroys everything, and she is therefore mentioned along with or identified as other such divinities including [[Isis]], [[Rhea (mythology)\|Rhea]], [[Gaia (mythology)\|Ge]], [[Hestia]], [[Pandora]], [[Artemis]], and [[Hecate]].<ref>Schol. ad. Theocritus 2.12</ref> In Orphic tradition, Persephone is said to be the daughter of Zeus and his mother Rhea, ~~rather~~who ~~than of~~became Demeter after her seduction by her son.<ref>Orphic [https://archive.org/details/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft/page/16/mode/2up?view=theater fr. 58 Kern] [= [[Athenagoras of Athens\|Athenagoras]], ''[[Athenagoras of Athens#Legatio Pro Christianis\|Legatio Pro Christianis]]'' 20.2]; West 1983, p. 73; Meisner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ethjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA134 p. 134] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210100757/https://books.google.com/books?id=ethjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA134 \|date=10 February 2023 }}.</ref> The Orphic Persephone is said to have become by [[Zeus]] the mother of [[Dionysus]] / [[Iacchus]] / [[Zagreus]],<ref name=SmithPersephone/> and the little-attested [[Melinoe\|Melinoë]].{{efn\|In the ''Hymn to Melinoe'', where the father is ''Zeus Chthonios'', either Zeus in his chthonic aspect, or [[Pluto (mythology)\|Pluto]].<ref name=Edmonds-2011>Edmonds, Radcliffe G., III (2011) "Orphic Mythology," [in] ''A Companion to Greek Mythology'', First Edition. Edited by Ken Dowden and Niall Livingstone. Blackwell Publishing Ltd.</ref>{{rp\|style=ama\|p= 100}} }} ===Queen of the underworld=== Line 98 ⟶ 99: [[File:Rape of Prosepina September 2015-3a.jpg\|thumb\|right\|260px\|''[[The Rape of Proserpina]]'' by [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]] (1621–22) at the [[Galleria Borghese]] in Rome.]] Another version of the myth said that when Persephone was first brought to the underworld, she was not happy with Hades abducting and marrying her, but eventually came to love him when he treated her as his equal.<ref>{{Cite video \|last=Zarka \|first=Emily \|date=April 26, 2022 \|title=Persephone: Bringer of Life or Destruction? \|publisher=PBS \|url=https://www.pbs.org/video/persephone-bringer-of-life-or-destruction-vy3iox/\|access-date=December 27, 2023}}</ref> When Hades was informed of Zeus' command to return Persephone, he complied with the request, but he first tricked her into eating [[pomegranate]] seeds.{{efn\|The ''[[Homeric Hymns\|Homeric Hymn to Demeter]]'', has Persephone tell Demeter: "he secretly put in my mouth sweet food, a pomegranate seed ({{math\|ῥοιῆς κόκκον}}), and forced me to taste against my will."<ref>N.J. Richardson, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0013.tlg002.perseus-eng ''The Homeric Hymn to Demeter'']{{Dead link\|date=October 2023 \|bot=InternetArchiveBot \|fix-attempted=yes }}, [[Clarendon Press]] 1974 lines 370-372, 411–412 pp.125, 129, 275,286-287.</ref> Gantz describes this as a "trick".<ref>Gantz (1996) p. 65</ref>}} [[Hermes]] was sent to retrieve Persephone but, because she had tasted the food of the underworld, she was obliged to spend a third of each year (the winter months) there, and the remaining part of the year with the gods above.<ref>Gantz (1996) p. 65.</ref> With the later writers Ovid and Hyginus, Persephone's time in the underworld becomes half the year.<ref>Gantz (1996) p. 67.</ref> It was explained to Demeter, her mother, that she would be released, so long as she did not taste the food of the underworld, as that was an Ancient Greek example of a [[Taboo#In religion and mythology\|taboo]]. In some versions, [[Ascalaphus (son of Acheron)\|Ascalaphus]] informed the other deities that Persephone had eaten the pomegranate seeds. As punishment for informing Hades, he was pinned under a heavy rock in the underworld by either Persephone or Demeter until [[Heracles]] later freed him causing Demeter to turn him into a [[Horned owl\|eagle owl]].<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)\|Apollodorus]], [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D5%3Asection%3D3 1.5.3] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616052109/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D5%3Asection%3D3 \|date=16 June 2022 }}; [[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 5.533-371</ref> Line 149 ⟶ 150: [[File:The Abduction of Persephone by Pluto, Amphipolis.jpg\|thumb\|left\|A [[mosaic]] of the [[Kasta Tomb]] in [[Amphipolis]] depicting the abduction of Persephone by [[Pluto (mythology)\|Pluto]], 4th century BC]] After a plague hit [[Aonia]], its people asked the ~~[[Pythia\|Oracle~~oracle of ~~Delphi]]~~Apollo Gortynius, and they were told they needed to appease the anger of the king and queen of the underworld by means of sacrifice of two willing maidens. Two maidens, [[Menippe and Metioche]] (who were the daughters of [[Orion (mythology)\|Orion]]), were chosen and they agreed to be offered to the two gods in order to save their country. AsAfter the two ofgirls ~~them~~sacrificed ~~were~~themselves ~~led~~with totheir ~~the altar to be sacrificed~~shuttles, Persephone and Hades took pity on them and turned ~~them~~their dead bodies into [[comets]] ~~instead~~.<ref>[[Antoninus Liberalis]], ''Metamorphoses'' [https://topostext.org/work/216#25 25] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002180842/https://topostext.org/work/216#25 \|date=2 October 2018 }}</ref> [[Minthe]] was a [[Naiad]] [[nymph]] of the [[Potamoi\|river]] [[Cocytus]] who became mistress to Persephone's husband [[Hades]]. Persephone was not slow to notice and, in jealousy, she trampled the nymph, killing her and turning her into a [[Mentha\|mint plant]].<ref>[[Strabo]], ''[[Geographica]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+8.3.14&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198 8.3.14] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616050910/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Strab.+8.3.14&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198 \|date=16 June 2022 }}</ref><ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' [https://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Metamorph10.htm#484521431 10.728] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812221358/https://ovid.lib.virginia.edu/trans/Metamorph10.htm#484521431 \|date=12 August 2021 }}</ref> Alternatively, Persephone tore Minthe to pieces for sleeping with Hades, and it was he who turned his former lover into the sweet-smelling plant.<ref>[[Scholia]] ad [[Nicander\|Nicandri]] ''Alexipharmaca'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=Zy2LWzF4v3oC&pg=PA212 375] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210100802/https://books.google.com/books?id=Zy2LWzF4v3oC&pg=PA212 \|date=10 February 2023 }}</ref> In another version, Minthe had been Hades's lover before he met Persephone. When Minthe claims Hades will return to her due to her beauty, Persephone's mother [[Demeter]] kills Minthe over the insult done to her daughter.<ref>[[Oppian]], ''Halieutica'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Oppian/Halieutica/3.html#482 3.485] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210100756/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Oppian/Halieutica/3%2A.html#482 \|date=10 February 2023 }}</ref> Line 155 ⟶ 156: Theophile was a girl who claimed that Hades loved her and that she was better than Persephone.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/182847\|title=CIRB 130 - PHI Greek Inscriptions\|access-date=19 October 2021\|archive-date=19 October 2021\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019201819/https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/182847\|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web\|url = https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2020/03/17/hades-newest-bride-a-remarkable-epitaph-2/\|title = Hades' Newest Bride: A Remarkable Epitaph\|date = 17 March 2020\|access-date = 19 October 2021\|archive-date = 19 October 2021\|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211019201821/https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2020/03/17/hades-newest-bride-a-remarkable-epitaph-2/\|url-status = live}}</ref> Once, [[Hermes]] chased Persephone (or [[Hecate]]) with the aim to rape her; but the goddess snored or roared in anger, frightening him off so that he desisted, hence her earning the name "[[Brimo]]" ("angry").<ref>[[John Tzetzes\|Tzetzes]] ad [[Lycophron]], [https://~~books~~topostext.~~google.com~~org/~~books?id=DDxEAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA29~~work/860#1176 1176~~, 1211~~] ~~{{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210100802/~~[https://books.google.com/books?id=DDxEAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA29 ~~\|date=10~~(Latin ~~February 2023 }}~~text)]; Heslin, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=WhJbDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA39 p. 39] ~~{{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210100802/https://books.google.com/books?id=WhJbDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA39 \|date=10 February 2023 }}.~~</ref> === Favour myths === Line 166 ⟶ 167: When [[Echemeia]], a queen of [[Kos]], ceased to offer worship to [[Artemis]], the goddess shot her with an arrow. Persephone, witnessing that, snatched the still living Euthemia and brought her to the Underworld.<ref>[[Hyginus]], ''Astronomica'' [https://topostext.org/work/207#2.16.2 2.16.2] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815135348/https://topostext.org/work/207#2.16.2 \|date=15 August 2021 }}</ref> When Dionysus, the god of wine, descended into the Underworld accompanied by Demeter to retrieve his dead mother [[Semele]] and bring her back to the land of the living, he is said to have offered a myrtle plant to Persephone in exchange for Semele.{{sfn\|J. Paul Getty Museum\|1983\|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=exArAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 31, note 51]}}{{fv\|reason=Note 51 doesn't support that at all; page 30 has "his meeting with Hades, and the exchange of myrtle for his mother" and "carrying myrtle to ransom his mother" but not that Dionysus "offered a myrtle plant to Persephone".\|date=March 2024}} On a neck amphora from Athens Dionysus is depicted riding on a chariot with his mother, next to a myrtle-holding Persephone who stands with her own mother Demeter; many vases from Athens depict Dionysus in the company of Persephone and Demeter.{{sfn\|J. Paul Getty Museum\|1983\|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=exArAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA30 30, note 45]}} Persephone also convinced Hades to allow the hero [[Protesilaus]] to return to the world of the living for a limited period of time to see his wife.<ref>[[Lucian]], ''Dialogues of the Dead'' [https://pt.calameo.com/read/000107044fc0f01286992 Protesilaus, Pluto and Persephone]</ref> Line 217 ⟶ 218: {{main\|Proserpina}} The [[ancient Rome\|Romans]] first heard of her from the [[Aeolians\|Aeolian]] and [[Dorians\|Dorian]] cities of [[Magna Graecia]], who used the dialectal variant ''Proserpinē'' ({{math\|{{lang\|grc\|Προσερπίνη}}}}). Hence, in [[Roman mythology]] she was called [[Proserpina]], a name erroneously derived by the Romans from ''proserpere'', "to shoot forth"<ref>[[Cicero]]. ''[[De Natura Deorum]]'' 2.26</ref> and as such became an emblematic figure of the [[Renaissance]].<ref>Welch (2013), p. 164</ref> In 205 BC, Rome officially identified Proserpina with the local Italic goddess [[Libera (mythology)\|Libera]], who, along with [[Liber]], were closely associated with the Roman grain goddess [[Ceres (mythology)\|Ceres]] (considered equivalent to the Greek Demeter). The Roman author [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]] ~~writes~~also ~~that~~considered ~~Ariadne~~Proserpina ~~was~~equivalent ~~made~~to ~~immortal~~the byCretan ~~Liber~~goddess Ariadne, ~~that~~who hewas ~~wedded~~the ~~and~~bride ~~called~~of ~~her~~Liber's Greek equivalent, ~~Libera~~Dionysus.<ref>[[T. P. Wiseman]] (1988) "Satyrs in Rome? The Background to Horace's Ars Poetica", ''The Journal of Roman Studies'', Vol. 78, p 7, note 52.</ref><ref>[[Barbette Stanley Spaeth]] (1996) ''The Roman goddess Ceres'', University of Texas Press</ref> ===In Magna Graecia=== Line 242 ⟶ 243: [[File:Hades abducting Persephone.jpg\|thumb\|upright=1.5\|[[Hades]] abducting Persephone, wall painting in the small royal tomb at [[Vergina]]. [[Macedonia (Greece)\|Macedonia]], Greece]] Evidence from both the Orphic Hymns and the [[Totenpass\|Orphic Gold Leaves]] demonstrate that Persephone was one of the most important deities worshiped in [[Orphism (religion)\|Orphism]].<ref name=bremmer>Bremmer, J.N. (2013). Divinities in the Orphic Gold Leaves: Euklês, Eubouleus, Brimo, Kybele, Kore and Persephone. ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', 35–48.</ref> In the Orphic religion, gold leaves with verses intended to help the deceased enter into an optimal afterlife were often buried with the dead. Persephone is mentioned frequently in these tablets, along with Demeter and Euklês, which may be another name for [[Plouton]].<ref name=bremmer/> The ideal afterlife destination believers strive for is described on some leaves as the "sacred meadows and groves of Persephone". Other gold leaves describe Persephone's role in receiving and sheltering the dead, in such lines as "I dived under the ''kolpos'' [portion of a Peplos folded over the belt] of the Lady, the Chthonian Queen", an image evocative of a child hiding under its mother's apron.<ref name=bremmer/> In Orphism, Persephone is believed to be the mother of the first Dionysus. In Orphic myth, Zeus came to Persephone in her bedchamber in the underworld and impregnated her with the child who would become his successor. The infant Dionysus was later dismembered by the [[Titan (mythology)\|Titans]], before being reborn as the second Dionysus, who wandered the earth spreading his mystery cult before ascending to the heavens with his second mother, [[Semele]].<ref name=Edmonds-2011/> The first, "Orphic" Dionysus is sometimes referred to with the alternate name Zagreus ({{lang-grc-gre\|Ζαγρεύς}}). The earliest mentions of this name in literature describe him as a partner of Gaia and call him the highest god. The Greek poet [[Aeschylus]] considered Zagreus either an alternate name for Hades, or his son (presumably born to Persephone).<ref>Sommerstein, [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-attributed_fragments/2009/pb_LCL505.237.xml?result=1&rskey=f0foz8 p. 237 n. 1] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220111094854/https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-attributed_fragments/2009/pb_LCL505.237.xml?result=1&rskey=f0foz8 \|date=11 January 2022 }}; Gantz (1996) p. 118; Smyth, [https://archive.org/stream/aeschyluswitheng02aescuoft#page/458/mode/2up p. 459].</ref> Scholar [[Timothy Gantz]] noted that Hades was often considered an alternate, cthonic form of Zeus, and suggested that it is likely Zagreus was originally the son of Hades and Persephone, who was later merged with the Orphic Dionysus, the son of Zeus and Persephone, owing to the identification of the two fathers as the same being.<ref>[[Timothy Gantz\|Gantz]] (1996) p. 118.</ref> However, no known Orphic sources use the name "Zagreus" to refer to Dionysus. It is possible that the association between the two was known by the 3rd century BC, when the poet [[Callimachus]] may have written about it in a now-lost source.<ref>[[Timothy Gantz\|Gantz]] (1996) pp. 118–119; West (1983) pp. 152–154; Linforth, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008294699;view=1up;seq=335 pp. 309–311] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125231114/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008294699;view=1up;seq=335 \|date=25 January 2021 }}.</ref> In Orphic myth, the Eumenides are attributed as daughters of Persephone and Zeus.<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Mastros \|first=Sara \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rvSuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 \|title=Orphic Hymns Grimoire \|date=2019 \|publisher=Lulu.com \|isbn=978-1-7330961-7-1 \|language=en \|access-date=9 December 2022 \|archive-date=10 February 2023 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210100756/https://books.google.com/books?id=rvSuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA151 \|url-status=live }}</ref> Whereas Melinoë was conceived as the result of rape when Zeus disguised himself as Hades in order to mate with Persephone, the Eumenides' origin is unclear.<ref>{{Cite book \|last=Edmonds \|first=Radcliffe G. III \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CR9aAQAAQBAJ \|title=Redefining Ancient Orphism: A study in Greek religion \|date=2013-11-07 \|publisher=Cambridge University Press \|isbn=978-1-107-03821-9 \|page=178 \|language=en \|access-date=9 December 2022 \|archive-date=9 December 2022 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209161428/https://books.google.com/books/about/Redefining_Ancient_Orphism.html?id=CR9aAQAAQBAJ \|url-status=live }}</ref> Line 297 ⟶ 298: {{Main\|Persephone in popular culture}} Persephone also appears many times in popular culture. Modern retellings of the myth sometimes depict Persephone as at first unhappy with Hades abducting and marrying her, but eventually loving him when he treated her as his equal.<ref>{{Cite video \|last=Zarka \|first=Emily \|date=April 26, 2022 \|title=Persephone: Bringer of Life or Destruction? \|publisher=PBS \|url=https://www.pbs.org/video/persephone-bringer-of-life-or-destruction-vy3iox/\|access-date=December 27, 2023}}</ref> Featured in a variety of novels such as ''Persephone '' <ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15724908-persephone\|title=Persephone (Daughters of Zeus, #1)\|access-date=4 July 2012\|archive-date=15 July 2012\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120715011639/http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15724908-persephone\|url-status=live}}</ref> by Kaitlin Bevis, '' A Touch of Darkness '' by Scarlett St. Clair, ''Persephone's Orchard''<ref>{{cite web \|url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17790646-persephone-s-orchard \|title=Persephone's Orchard \|access-date=25 November 2016 \|archive-date=20 August 2016 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820073206/http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17790646-persephone-s-orchard \|url-status=live }}</ref> by Molly Ringle, ''The Goddess Test'' by Aimee Carter, ''The Goddess Letters'' by Carol Orlock, ''Abandon'' by Meg Cabot, ''Neon Gods'' by Katee Robert and ''[[Lore Olympus]]'' by Rachel Smythe, her story has also been treated by Suzanne Banay Santo in ''Persephone Under the Earth'' in the light of women's spirituality; portraying Persephone not as a victim but as a woman in quest of sexual depth and power, transcending the role of daughter, though ultimately returning to it as an awakened Queen.<ref>{{cite book\|title=Persephone Under the Earth\|publisher=Red Butterfly Publications\|author=Santo, Suzanne Banay\|year=2012\|isbn=978-0-9880914-0-5}}</ref> == Jungian Interpretation == Line 401 ⟶ 402: [[Category:Children of Demeter]] [[Category:Nature goddesses]] [[Category:~~Harvest~~Agricultural goddesses]] [[Category:Food goddesses]] [[Category:Death goddesses]]