Persephone, called Proserpina by the Romans, is the goddess who lives between two worlds: for part of the year she rules the Underworld beside Hades, for the rest she returns to earth beside her mother. Her myth explains one of the oldest and most mysterious phenomena for humankind: the cycle of the seasons. Here is her story and the meaning of her symbols.
Kore, the maiden
Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, goddess of agriculture and harvest. As a girl she was simply called Kore, "the maiden". She lived carefree, picking flowers in the meadows with the nymphs.
The abduction
One day, as she picked a narcissus, the earth opened and Hades, lord of the Underworld, appeared on his chariot. In love with her, he carried her off to his underground kingdom to make her his bride. This moment, the rape or abduction, is one of the most depicted in art history: the most famous masterpiece is Gian Lorenzo Bernini's The Rape of Proserpina in the Galleria Borghese in Rome, celebrated for Hades' hand pressing into the goddess's marble thigh.
Demeter's grief
Demeter searched for her daughter everywhere for days, holding lit torches. According to the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, she was helped by the goddess Hecate and the sun god Helios, who sees everything from above and revealed the truth. In despair, Demeter stopped caring for the earth: the fields bore no fruit and humanity risked starvation. Zeus was forced to intervene and sent Hermes to the Underworld to bring Persephone back.
The pomegranate seeds
Before the maiden left, however, Hades had her eat a few pomegranate seeds. By the rules of the gods, anyone who tasted the food of the Underworld was bound to it forever. So a compromise was reached: Persephone would spend part of the year below ground with Hades and the rest on earth with her mother.
The origin of the seasons
When Persephone descends to the Underworld, Demeter grieves and nature rests: autumn, then winter. When her daughter returns, the earth blooms again: spring and summer arrive. For the Greeks the cycle of the seasons mirrored this eternal journey between light and shadow. The myth was at the heart of the Eleusinian Mysteries, the secret rites held at Eleusis in honour of Demeter and Persephone.
Persephone's symbols
- The pomegranate. Her main symbol: it stands for her bond with the Underworld, but also, with its countless seeds, for fertility and abundance.
- Ears of wheat. They recall her mother Demeter and the return of life to the fields.
- Flowers and the narcissus. Linked to her youth and the moment of her abduction.
- The torch. A symbol of searching and of the passage from darkness to light, shared with Demeter and Hecate.
- The moon. In modern iconography Persephone is often associated with the moon, for her cycle of disappearance and return.
The meaning of the myth today
Persephone has become a symbol of transformation: the abducted maiden who becomes queen of the Underworld, able to cross the darkness and return to the light. That's why she is read as an image of rebirth after hard times, and holds a special place in contemporary pagan spirituality, often together with Hecate, goddess of crossroads.
A Persephone statue for your home
We sculpted Persephone with her symbols: a crown of wheat and flowers topped by a crescent moon, a pomegranate in one hand and a sheaf of wheat in the other. She comes in two finishes, hand-finished in Turin: the Persephone in white plaster-effect resin, with classic charm, and the gold Persephone, richer and more striking. Both are perfect on a bookcase, a console or an altar.
Discover the other gods of Olympus in the Greek Gods collection.