Goddesses and Gods.wps - Welcome to Our Temple

Greek mythology
Persephone
Persephone is the goddess of the underworld in Greek mythology. She is the daughter
of Zeus and Demeter, goddess of the harvest. Persephone was such a beautiful girl
that everyone loved her, even Hades wanted her for himself. When she was a little
girl, she and the Oceanids were collecting flowers on the plain of Enna, when
suddenly the Earth opened and Hades rose up from the gap and abducted her. None
but Zeus had noticed it.
Broken-hearted, Demeter wandered the Earth, looking for her daughter until Helios,
the all-seeing, revealed what had happened. Demeter was so angry that she withdrew
herself in loneliness, and all fertility on Earth stopped. Finally, Zeus sent Hermes
down to Hades to make him release Persephone. Hades grudgingly agreed, but before
she went back he gave Persephone a pomegranate to eat, thus she would always be
connected to his realm and had to stay there one-third of the year. The other months
she remained with her mother. When Persephone was in Hades, Demeter refused to
let anything grow and winter began. This myth is a symbol of the budding and dying
of nature. In the Eleusinian mysteries, this happening was celebrated in honor of
Demeter and Persephone, who was known in this cult as Kore.
The Romans called her Proserpina.