In ancient Greek mythology, Persephone is the daughter of Zeus, king of the gods, and Demeter, goddess of the earth and harvest.
Famed in mythology for the story of her abduction by Hades and her descent into the Underworld — also known as Hades — to reign alongside him as Queen of the Dead; she is the goddess of Spring, symbolising rebirth and new beginnings.
Known in modern times as Persephone, her name existed in the ancient world in many forms. It can be traced to meanings such as “to bring or cause death”, “she who threshes the ears of corn” and “she who brings the light through”.
As goddess of the Spring, she embodies the power of nature. In this aspect, she was commonly known as Kore, meaning “maiden”, but in her darker aspect as goddess of the Underworld she was often worshipped under the name Despoina which literally translates as "the mistress”. As Despoina, she evoked a terrible goddess, even more ancient, whose real name was forbidden.
One day, as Persephone was gathering flowers with her fellow nymphs, she beheld the most beautiful narcissus. As she bent to pick the flower, the earth beneath her feet tore open and Hades, god of the Underworld, burst through in his golden chariot, pulled by black horses. Hades grabbed the lovely maiden before she could even cry for help and descended into his underworld kingdom as the gap in the earth closed behind them.
Persephone was taken so rapidly that her companions saw nothing. But the whole incident had been witnessed by her father, Zeus, as well as by Helios, god of the Sun. Zeus had given his secret consent for the abduction. Hades was his brother and in love with the beautiful Persephone.
Knowing nothing of this, her distraught mother, Demeter, wandered the earth, searching for her daughter; until her friend, the goddess Hecate, advised her to seek the help of Helios, the all-seeing god of the Sun. Feeling pity for Demeter, Helios eventually reveals that Persephone has been stolen by Hades.
Hades, in his dark realm, would never have been her choice of husband for her cherished daughter. And she is enraged by the actions of Zeus.
As punishment, the grief-stricken Demeter abandons her duties as goddess of the harvest with devastating consequences. The earth dries up, the harvests fail, plants wither and die, and famine sweeps over the earth causing death and anguish. Demeter refuses to allow the earth to flourish or return to her duties until Persephone is restored to her.
With the blighted earth held hostage by his wife’s wrath, Zeus is forced to find a way to make Hades return Persephone. So he promises Demeter that Persephone will be given back to her, if it can be proven that she stays with Hades against her will. If not, she will remain as his Queen.
He tricks his reluctant young bride into eating a few seeds of the pomegranate fruit. This was the food of the Underworld — its scarlet seeds representing the blood that dead souls were said to crave — and it would compel those who ate it there to return.
When Persephone is asked where she would like to live, she answers that she wishes to remain in Hades. Upon hearing this, Demeter realises that her daughter has been tricked and a great fight ensues in which Demeter threatens to keep the earth barren forever.
Persephone will be allowed to leave, but the pomegranate seeds she has eaten in the realm of the dead mean that she has to return there. So Zeus decides that she will spend half the year in the realm of Olympus and the other half with her husband in Hades.
The myth of Hades and Persephone illustrates the cycle of life, death, and renewal.
When Persephone emerges from the Underworld, her mother’s joy brings Spring and Summer to the earth, so that it thrives with bountiful life. When Persephone returns to Hades, Demeter expresses her sadness as Autumn dying off into Winter.
Persephone and her mother Demeter were the central figures of the Eleusinian Mysteries; an ancient cult in the city of Eleusis, near Athens.
The rituals were famously secret, but centred around Demeter and Persephone as guardians of the earth’s cyclical fertility.
Persephone’s return from the Underworld each Spring, was a symbol of immortality; as the rites promised this to initiates.
The Eleusinian Mysteries were held for at least 2,000 years — until 392 CE — with the Greater Mysteries and their initiations taking place at the time of the Autumn sowing, which was also at full moon.
Their basis was a Bronze Age (c. 3300 – c. 1200 BC) agrarian cult, and there is evidence to suggest that they were derived from the religious practices of a much earlier period.
The Mysteries involved ecstatic visions and showing evidence of the afterlife. Their exact nature has always been kept secret, as well as the means by which trance was induced. The penalty for revealing details of the rituals was death.
She emerges from the story of her capture as a queen of great strength.
Persephone has inspired poets and philosophers, painters and sculptors — artists and writers of all kinds — who perceive her as reigning with grace and wisdom; her vitality and light bringing balance to the dark realm of Hades.
Her dual role as the goddess of Spring and Queen of the Underworld symbolises the connection between life and death, the light and the dark.
One cannot exist without the other.
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March 9th 2025
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