Divinity · ◇ Light

Persephone

Kore · The Maiden · Dread Persephone

majorattestedc. 650–550 BCE (Homeric Hymn to Demeter)Greek mythology

Daughter of Demeter and Zeus, called Kore — the Maiden — until the earth opened under her in a meadow. Carried down by Hades to be Queen of the Dead, bound to the underworld by a swallowed pomegranate seed, she divides the year between the dark and the light: dread sovereign of the shades below, returning spring above. The Eleusinian Mysteries turned her double life into the ancient world’s best-kept promise about death.

Light89

Wisdom79

Grace79

Influence75

✦Signature powerDivine DomainHolds sovereign power over a sphere of the living world.

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Its universe

The mythic order Persephone belongs to, who comes before and after in the story of this world.

Zeuswho consented in secret
- Demeterthe Grain Mother
  - Persephonethe stolen spring
    - Hadeswho gave her the seed

Voices & connections

Figures bound to Persephone, family and rivals within the myth, and the thinkers and writers who shaped how we know them.

The Homeric Hymnsappears in Hadesmarried to Zeuschild of Demeterchild of

Relics & objects

Sacred and cursed things that belong to the world of Persephone.

The Apple of DiscordCursed Pandora's JarCursed

Read the story

Illustrated chapters where Persephone appears. Start reading in a click.

Illustrated storyPersephone, the Stolen SpringA girl picks a flower grown as a trap, and the earth opens. Hades takes her down to be Queen of the Dead; her mother Demeter stops the world until Olympus negotiates; and one swallowed pomegranate seed writes the terms of the seasons. The Greek descent myth — and the charter of the Eleusinian Mysteries, the ancient world’s best-kept promise about death.Begin reading →