Goddess Persephone – Know her history, myth and characteristics

THE goddess persephone, also known as Proserpine and Kore, is the wife of Hades, with whom he ruled the Underworld. She was worshiped in the Greek world and there is a plethora of art in which she appears in all forms.

Check out the story of the goddess Persephone, her characteristics and myths.

History of the Goddess Persephone

According to Greek mythology, Persephone, the Greek goddess, was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of harvest and fertility.

Persephone was extremely beautiful and caught the attention of all the gods. But Demeter was very jealous of her only child, so she kept her away from her admirers.

One of these suitors was Hades, the god of the Underworld. He even asked for Persephone’s hand in marriage to her mother, Demeter, who was furious.

Heartbroken Hades refused to take no for an answer, and kidnapped the young girl while she was playing with her friends in a valley.

Everything happened so fast that not even the friends who were with Persephone realized what led to the young woman’s disappearance.

The only ones to witness the abduction were Zeus, father of Persephone and brother of Hades, and Helios, god of the Sun. However, both decided to keep silent about what happened to avoid fights.

The Search for Persephone

Demeter, when she learned of her daughter’s disappearance, wandered the earth desperately looking for her. Until a friend advised her to seek help from Helios, who was known to see everything.

Helios felt sorry to see how upset Demeter was and revealed that the girl had been kidnapped by Hades.

Demeter was very angry, both at the kidnapper and at Zeus for not telling her anything. She then decided to take a break from her duties as goddess of harvest and fertility, which had devastating consequences.

The land began to dry up, crops failed, plants lost fecundity, animals died for lack of food, and famine spread. The result was untold misery.

the end of the story

Zeus then decided to act in a diplomatic way, which thanks both Demeter and Hades. He told Demeter that he would return Persephone to her if the girl was with Hades against her will. Otherwise, Persephone would go into the underworld with Hades.

Even though Persephone had cried day and night since she was kidnapped, Hades used some tricks to make her choose to stay with him, which Demeter didn’t like at all.

Here, there are two versions in mythology for what this Hades trick would have been. One myth tells that Hades put a pomegranate seed in Persephone’s mouth and the divine taste of the fruit made her want to stay in the Underworld.

The other version reveals that by eating the seed, a part of it died, making it impossible for her to be released from the Underworld.

To put an end to the case, Zeus determined that the young woman would spend half a year with Hades and half a year with her mother on Olympus. Thus, Persephone became Hades’ wife and Queen of the Underworld.

From this myth also emerged the seasons. When Persephone stayed with her husband in the Underworld, her mother was sad, unwilling to help with the harvest. That period where the land is not fertile is autumn and winter.

Now whenever Persephone went to Olympus to be with her mother, Demeter glowed with happiness and the land was fertile and fertile again. This period is the spring and summer months.

This is the myth used by the Greeks to explain the cycle of death and rebirth of nature.

Persephone is the goddess of what?

Like her mother, the goddess Persephone is associated with vegetation, especially grain. As the wife of Hades, she is also seen as a protector of the afterlife.

Persephone is a Greek goddess who transits between the two worlds. She experienced deep pain, such as being abducted and abused by her abductee. She knows the pain of others, the shadows and the darkness. And whenever she comes back to earth, she brings love, and everything blossoms.

Goddess Persephone – Characteristics

In psychological analyzes of the personality of Persephone, the Greek goddess, experts define the young woman as being introverted. However, she knows very well how to control and exercise her power in the inner world.

She is concerned with the spirit world and the occult. She is mystic, visionary and has spirit guides.

Persephone is considered a vulnerable goddess, due to her relationship with her husband Hades and her mother.

However, she is also a goddess with two facets: when she is with her mother, she is Koré, the eternal teenager; when she is by Hades’ side in the Underworld, she is dark Persephone.

Did you like to know the story of the goddess Persephone? Also know the myths of other Greek goddesses: