Persephone - Goddesses

Presephone- Goddess of Spring and the Harvest, Queen of the Underworld

Greek Values

Persephone represents beauty. She represents beauty because she is beautiful. She wants others to be beautiful as well. Beauty is both a good thing and a curse to Persephone. It is good because people are friendly to her because she is beautiful. But, it is a curse because her uncle Hades is attracted to her and wants her to become his queen of the underworld as well as his wife. Beauty proves to be both a blessing and a curse in our times as well.
Persephone also represent justice and compromise. She represents justice because she wanted to do the right thing when her crazy uncle bound her to the underworld. And she represents compromise because she came to a compromise with Hades and her mother. These Greek ideals and values are things that are import and apply to our lives in this day and time.

Skills and Strengths

Loving- Persephone uses her skill of being loving to help take care of her family and to take care of her children.

Beautiful- Because Persephone is beautiful many people are nice to her and to her family, Zues, Demeter and Hades.

Greeks Associated With

- Demeter, Mother
- Zeus, Father
- Hades, Husband/Uncle
- Zagreus, Child
- Melinoe, Child
- The Erinyes, Children

Myths

Persephone is only a part of one Greek myth. This myth is a myth of abduction and explains why we have seasons. There are many versions of this myth, below are the summaries for two different versions.

Version 1- In this version Persephone is playing in the meadow with her Nymph friends. When out of nowhere Persephone is taken away by Hades to be his bride in the underworld. Demeter, Persephone’s mother, searched long and hard in hopes of finding Persephone with no luck. Demeter discovered that Zeus had agreed with Hades to let him take Persephone, not knowing the consequences. Well, Demeter was so mad at Zeus that she refused to let the earth produce crops until her daughter was returned to her. Zeus decided that he would let Persephone return to the land of the living. But it was too late…Persephone had ate six pomegranate seeds while in the underworld so for six months of the year Persephone would reign as queen of the underworld and for the other six months she would live above ground with her mother. When Persephone comes to earth Demeter is happy and creates spring so that plants can grow. But when Persephone must return to the underworld Demeter is sad and her tears fall as winter rain and snow.
Version 2- This version of the myth starts with Persephone playing on a hill with her friends her mother is watching from nearby and her father, Zeus, from Mt. Olympus. Persephone is picking flowers and is about to give some of the flowers to her mother but then spots the most beautiful flower she has ever seen! Zeus is pleased and a grin soon forms on his face. But when Persephone bends over to pick the flopwer the gound splits and in his golden chariot the god Hades, king of the underworld, comes and takes Persephone back to his kingdom. Once they are back in his realm Hades explains what he wants and asks Persephone if she will be his bride. She agrees and lives in the underworld for quite some time. Meanwhile, Demeter looked high and low to find her precious daughter with no luck. She asks everyone she knows and eventually discovers that Zeus was part of the plan to have Persephone abducted. Demeter becomes furious! She send the messenger god Hermes to retrieve her daughter and off he goes. In the underworld Hermes arrives and persuades Persephone to go. She is not sure if she wants to but Hades feeds her the seeds of a pomegranate and says that her duties as a daughter are important too. So Persephone returns to the land of the living and visits her mother. Demeter is overjoyed to see her daughter but saddened by the stain on her lips that say that Persephone has eaten the seeds of a pomegranate that binds her to the underworld forever. When Persephone come up from the underworld to see her mother Demeter is happy and allows the plants to grow but when Persephone must go to the land of the dead she is so sad that she forgets her duties as goddess of agriculture and all of the plants dies and her tears become the snow and rain of winter. This myth is a myth of hope, harmony and new life.

Symbols

- Mint
- Pomegranate
- Grain
- Narcissus

Modern Day Allusions

Band Name- Persephone is the name of a band from Alberquere, New Mexico.
Website- www.persephone.com is the website for a band from San Francisco.
Book Publisher- Persephone Books publishes war novels.
Theater- There is a theater named the Persephone Theater.
Mother Love- A book of poems about Persephone and Demeter.

Places

Nekromanteion Temple- This temple is a Greek temple that was devoted to Hades and Persephone, rulers of the underworld. This is real temple located near the city of Epirus, near the river Acheron. This temple is believed to be the door to the kingdom of Hades…the underworld. The three rivers Acheron, Pyriphlegethon and the Cocytus River. These rivers are believed to water the realm of the dead. The name Nekromanteion means “Oracle of Death.” The family members of dead came to this temple to talk to their ancestors. This is the most important “Oracle of the Dead.” This temple was discovered in 1958 and excavated the site in the 1960’s and the 1970’s. This was an important place of remembrance of Persephone and her husband Hades.
The Underworld- This dreaded place is one spot that Persephone calls home. Here she leads people into a new phase of their lives and reigns as queen next to Hades. The Nekromanteion Temple is believed to be the door to the underworld.

Facts

She is the Queen of the Underworld.
There was a temple made to honor Persephone and Hades.
Her mother is Demeter.
Her father is Zeus.
The roman name for Persephone is Porserpine.
Shown as a beautiful maiden.
Sometimes called Kore or Core, meaning maiden.

Goddesses