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Glite Dictionary
Persephone

Persephone

7 9.9
Daughter of Zeus and Demeter who spends part of each year as queen of the underworld
  • proper noun
  • /pərˈsɛfəni/
  • Literature
: Perséfone
  • After being kidnapped by Hades, Persephone became the queen of the Underworld.
  • Demeter and Persephone
  • Persephone and Hades
  • Persephone myth

I mean, also, it's not, it's not just Persephone who's down there.

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Examples

  • The cult of Demeter and Persephone is fundamentally linked to the workings of the city.

    Academic text (2005)

  • "Lady Death indicated her little sister, saying, "Persephone will lead you to the dance."

    Fiction book (2002)

  • This is my wife, Persephone.

    The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

  • So the sisters abandoned Persephone.

    Blood Lust (2016)

  • And here appears appears Persephone, the goddess of the underworld.

    Chris Williamson

  • Having been tricked into eating the fruit of the pomegranate... ...Persephone was forced to spend a period of each year underground.

    The Draughtsman's Contract (1982)

  • In Greek art, Demeter and Persephone are so alike as to be indistinguishable.

    Academic text (1996)

  • They were trusted to keep their beautiful friend Persephone far from Hades, lord of the underworld.

    Blood Lust (2016)

  • The song was about Persephone, carried off to the Underworld, and about Ganymede abducted by Zeus.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • All over the world, women are honoring the harvest and Persephone's return from Hades to rejoin her mother.

    Fiction book (1995)

Synonyms

Kore
vsPersephone
  • Literature
1 9.9

Daughter of Zeus and Demeter who becomes queen of the underworld, also called Persephone

is the more familiar Greek name for the same underworld queen
Cora
vsPersephone
  • Literature
1 8.7

Daughter of Zeus and Demeter who becomes queen of the underworld after Pluto takes her

is the more common name for the same mythological figure
Proserpina
vsPersephone
  • Literature
1 9.9

A Roman goddess of the world of the dead and of spring

is the Greek counterpart used in the original myth
Proserpine
vsPersephone
  • Literature
9.9

A Roman goddess of the underworld connected to the changing seasons

is the original Greek name rather than the Roman form
Despoina
vsPersephone
  • Literature
9.9

Daughter of Zeus and Demeter who became queen of the underworld

is the main Greek queen of the underworld rather than this epithet

Surface Forms

Persephone main

Etymology

Persephone is an ancient Greek name and people are not sure what it first meant, but one popular idea links it to parts like perse- meaning 'destroy' and -phone meaning 'voice', while another link connects it to a word for 'light'. A helpful way to remember her is that these opposite ideas fit her role: she is both queen of the underworld (suggesting 'death') and a symbol of spring (suggesting 'new life'), so her name reminds us of death and rebirth.