Download Persephone by Erin McBurnett

Erin McBurnett
Period 3
31 March 2014
Persephone FAQ
Who is Persephone and how is she depicted?
Persephone is known as the goddess or Queen of the Underworld. She was not born into this
title. She acquired it when Hades, the god of the Underworld, took her as his wife. Some also
called her Kore which is Greek for “the Maiden”. Allen and Saunders state, “She grew into such
a beauty, men would look at her open-mouthed and exclaim ‘Cor!’ or in Greek ‘Kore!’”
However, she always insisted on being called her proper name, Persephone. She is often depicted
with a pomegranate because this is the fruit she ate when Hades kidnapped her. According to
ancientgreece.com, she can often be seen with stalks of grain and a flaming torch. She is
sometimes seen standing next to her Demeter, goddess of the harvest, and Triptolemos, teacher
of agriculture. Also, occasionally she can be seen enthroned beside Hades, god of the
Underworld.
What does Persephone represent and how is she represented?
The article, “Tales of Persephone”, calls her the Maiden of Spring. This fits her because she is
considered by most to be the main reason for the different seasons. When Persephone
disappeared, her mother, Demeter, goddess of the harvest, fell into such a deep state of
depression that she no longer cared for the earth. “Tales of Persephone” says, “The angry
goddess brought about a famine that lasted for a year, causing many men and animals to lose
their lives to starvation.” In the mean time, Persephone had eaten, as medeaslair.com says,
“...seven seeds from a pomegranate.” Because she ate food of the dead, she could never leave the
underworld. However, Zeus was able to make a deal with Hades allowing Persephone to spend
part of the year with her mother and the other with him. It is agreed on that the time Persephone
spends in the underworld marks the winter; however, how long that time actually is varies from
source to source. Lindemans says, “...(Persephone) had to stay there one-third of the year.” while
the article “Tales of Persephone” claims, “Persephone would spend three months of the year in
the underworld...” On the other hand, Allen and Saunders and greekmythology.com agree that
Persephone spends six months every year in the underworld. Then there is
ancientmythology.com that says it is only a portion of the year. No matter how long she is with
Hades, she still returns to her mother every year marking the start of spring.
Who is a part of Persephone’s family tree?
Many gods and goddesses have several children with several different people and it is often very
debatable who had who with whom and so on. This is not the case with Persephone. Every
source corroborated that her mother is Demeter, the goddess of the harvest. Along with this, the
majority of the sources agreed that Zeus, the god of the sky, is Persephone’s father.
Windows2universe.com and medeaslair.com do not state that Zeus is her father. In fact, both
sources do not specify who her father is at all. Research indicates that Persephone did not have
any children. However, greekmythology.com claims that, “Persephone raised Aphrodite’s
(goddess of love) child, Adonis (god of beauty and desire).” This could raise questions on
whether he is actually Aphrodite’s child or if he is Persephone’s.
Allen, Peter J., and Chas Saunders. "PERSEPHONEAlso Known as KORE, PERSEPHASSA."
Godchecker: Your Guide to the Gods. N.p., 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/greek-mythology.php?deity=PERSEPHONE>.
Lindemans, Micha F. "Persephone." Persephone. N.p., 24 June 2005. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.pantheon.org/articles/p/persephone.html>.
"Mythology - Ancient Greek Gods and Myths." Mythology - Ancient Greek Gods and Myths.
N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Mythology/#persephone>.
"Persephone." Greek Goddess of the Underworld. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.windows2universe.org/mythology/persephone_seasons.html>.
"Persephone | Greek Mythology." Ancient-Mythology.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.ancient-mythology.com/greek/persephone.php>.
"Persephone." Persephone. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.greekmythology.com/Other_Gods/Persephone/persephone.html>.
"Tales of Persephone." Persephone. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.medeaslair.net/persephone.html>.