Persephone

Περσεφονιη

The Wife of Hades

The daughter of Demeter and Zeus

Persephone is the beautiful daughter of Demeter (goddess of the Harvest) and Zeus ... she is the reason that the year is divided into mild and bitter seasons.

Hades (lord of the Underworld) was smitten with love for stunning young Persephone and plotted with Zeus to have her as his wife. Hades did not woo Persephone ... in his cold hearted way, he abducted her and took her to his Underworld kingdom against her will.

While at play with the beautiful daughters of Okeanos (Ocean), Persephone was picking flowers ... but these weren't earthly flowers ... these flowers were the work of Zeus and put there for "a girl with a flower's beauty." The flowers were there to ensnare Persephone in a trap, a beautiful, divine trap. The trigger for the trap was an irresistible flower with one hundred stems of fragrant blossoms. When Persephone reached out with both hands to pluck the flower, the earth opened at her feet and Hades roared forth in his golden chariot and seized her before an alarm could be raised.

No mortal on the earth heard Persephone's cries for help before she vanished into the Underworld. Of the Immortals, only two heard the faint cries of the abducted girl: the Roaring Goddess, Hekate (Hecate), and Helios (the Sun).

Demeter began searching in vain for Persephone. Her sorrow was so great that she denied herself all food, drink, and comfort for nine days. When Eos (Dawn) took to the skies on the tenth day, Hekate came to Demeter and told her that she had heard a voice but had not actually seen the abduction of Persephone. The two goddesses went to Helios because he sees all mortal and Immortal actions. Helios, indeed, knew the plot and the players. He told Demeter that the abduction was the work of Zeus and Hades. He further advised her to accept the situation because Hades was the Lord of Many and "not an unseemly bridegroom." Demeter did not like his advice and choose a long, brooding path to regain her precious daughter.

In a strange act of revenge, Demeter, disguised as a mature woman, settled in the city of Eleusis and became the nanny for the infant son of Keleos and Metaneira. The boy, Demophoon, was raised to be noble and pure but Demeter seemed to be stealing the boy's affection and loyalty away from his parents (just as her daughter had been stolen from her). One night she was caught transforming the young boy into an Immortal by placing him in the fireplace and cleansing him with fire but before Demeter (still in disguise) could make Demophoon immortal, Metaneira recognized Demeter for the goddess she was and stopped the ceremony.

When Demeter cast her disguise away and revealed her divinity to all, Keleos and the other nobles of Eleusis were glad to oblige when Demeter demanded that a temple be built in her honor. After it was completed, she retreated into the temple and her brooding took on a deadly turn. The following year, no seed sprouted on the earth. No barley grew in the plowed fields. The mortals of the earth were doomed to famine and eventual destruction if Demeter did not lift her curse.

Zeus sent the goddess Iris to dissuade Demeter from her destructive course but Demeter was unmoved. In turn, Zeus sent a procession of Immortals to Demeter's temple to beg the goddess to change her mind and give life back to the earth. She refused them all.

Zeus realized that he would have to negotiate a suitable agreement between Hades and Demeter before the earth became a barren wasteland. He sent Hermes to the Underworld to speak with Hades and Persephone. He also sent Rheia, Demeter's mother, to Eleusis to offer Demeter honors if she would only return to Mount Olympos. Demeter was moved by her mother's plea and Zeus's promises.

Hades agreed to allow Persephone to return to her mother but before Persephone left the Underworld, Hades gave her a pomegranate seed to eat. By doing this he bound her to himself and his kingdom. When Demeter found out about the trickery she was angry but she was also resigned that there was nothing she could do ... her loving daughter was bound to the Lord of the Dead. With no alternative, it was agreed that Persephone would spend part of the year with her husband, Hades, and part of the year in the sunlight with her mother, Demeter. When Persephone is with Hades the earth is wracked by the sorrow of Demeter but when Persephone returns from the Underworld to walk the earth again, Demeter pours forth the blessings of Spring to welcome her beloved daughter home.

Persephone and Demeter are often worshiped as The Holy Twain.

The Eleusinian Mysteries

The Eleusinian Mysteries celebrated the return of Persephone after she had been abducted by her uncle, Hades. The festival of the Greater Mysteries was celebrated at the city of Eleusis which is 15 miles (24 kilometers) northwest of Athens. The ceremonies and procession for the sacred event began in Athens on the fifteenth day of Boedromion (approximately the second week of September by our calendar) and lasted from seven to nine days.

The Eleusinian Mysteries included the worship of Demeter, Persephone and Iakchos (Iacchos) as Bacchus (a.k.a. Dionysus, god of Wine). Most of the ceremonies were public but only initiates were allowed to participate in the final rituals. The rites are called Mysteries because the Greek word Mystes means One Initiated. There were several stages of initiation. The rites of the Lesser Mysteries were held in the spring and dedicated to Persephone. The Lesser Mysteries involved the ritual purification of the candidates for initiation. The Greater Mysteries were held in the fall and dedicated to Demeter. The initiates were called Epoptes, i.e. One Who Has Seen. The only Greek citizens who were excluded from the ceremonies were people with Blood Guilt, i.e. those who had killed. Men, women and slaves were allowed to take part in the ceremonies. All Greek cities honored the sanctity of the celebration of the Eleusinian Mysteries by instituting a truce which would halt wars and conflicts. This would allow participants to travel to and from Athens and Eleusis without worrying about local and national disputes.

The rituals of the Greater Mysteries were scrupulously guarded and ancient writers who dared to expound on the subject were probably just guessing as to the actual rites performed at Eleusis. The rites performed in Athens were more public and conducted at the City Eleusinion which was a temple for Demeter and Persephone located between the Acropolis and the Agora. In preparation for the procession to Eleusis, sacred ritual objects were brought from the temple at Eleusis and stored in the Eleusinion.

After a ritual cleansing and purification, participants would gather at the Sacred Gates near the Kerameikos cemetery and then walk from Athens to Eleusis on what was called the Sacred Way. The priests and priestesses of Demeter would lead the procession carrying a wooden statue of Iakchos and other sacred objects hidden in wooden boxes destined for the Telesterion in Eleusis where the final and most secret rites were performed. The members of the procession chanted the name of Iakchos as they walked and would stop briefly at shrines of Apollon and Aphrodite along the road. Masked men were stationed along the Sacred Way to insult the participants and humble them before they reached Eleusis.

Upon reaching Eleusis, the participants would fast until the following morning. The initiates were then permitted to enter the Telesterion where the sacred objects were revealed. All that the initiates were permitted to say about the ceremonies was that things were spoken, seen and performed. Once the final rites were complete, a night of feasting and revelry began. A bull was sacrificed and libations were poured honoring the dead.

(Back to Top)

Persephone and Timoleon

The historian, Diodorus Siculus, relates an interesting story concerning Persephone and Demeter. Circa 337 BCE, the Athenians mounted an invasion of Sicily to oust the tyrant Dionysius II. A man named Timoleon was selected to lead an army against Dionysius but the number of troops at his disposal was barely adequate to do the job. Timoleon was a man of sincere faith and stopped in Corinth to consult the priestesses of Demeter and Persephone and seek their blessings. The priestesses told him that they had received favorable dreams during the night and that the goddesses would guide and protect Timoleon and his fleet. As if on cue, a blazing torch appeared in the western sky. Timoleon and his men had no doubt that the goddesses would give them a victory in Sicily. The blazing torch remained visible until the fleet reached Sicily. This event was witnessed by nearly a thousand men. The only element of this story which is disputed is whether one of Timoleon's ships was named The Sacred Ship of Demeter and Persephone before or after his visit to the temple of the goddesses.

(Back to Top)

Persephone is often confused with the Roman goddess, Proserpina.

Persephone and Hades

Persephone in The Iliad

(listed by book and line from four different translations)

Richmond Lattimore

• 09.457 - Phoinix: "(Amyntor) ... called down his curses, and invoked against me the dreaded furies that I might never have any son born of my seed to dandle on my knees; and the divinities, Zeus of the underworld and Persephone the honoured goddess, accomplished his curses."
•  
• 09.569 - Phoinix: "... in deep grief for the death of her (Kleopatra's) brother, and and many times beating with her hands on the earth abundant she called on Hades and on honoured Persephone, lying at length on the ground, and the tears were wet on her bosom, to give death to her son (Meleagros); and Erinys, the mist-walking, she of the heart without pity, heard her out of the dark places."

Loeb Classical Library

• 09.457 - Phoenix: "(Amyntor) ... cursed me mightily, and invoked the dire Erinyes, that he should never set on his knees a dear child begotten by me; and the gods fulfilled his curse, Zeus of the nether world and dread Persephone."
•  
• 09.569 - Phoenix: "... being grieved for her (Cleopatra's) brother's slaying; and furthermore earnestly beat the all-nurturing earth with her hands as she knelt and wetted the folds of her bosom with tears, calling on Hades and dread Persephone to bring death on her son (Meleager); and the Erinys that walks in darkness heard her from Erebus, she of the ungentle heart."

Robert Fagles

• 09.557 - Phoenix: "... he (Amyntor) screamed out to the cruel Furies—'Never, never let me bounce on my knees a son of his, sprung of his loins!'—and the gods drove home that curse, mighty Zeus of the Underworld and grim Persephone."
•  
• 09.695 - Phoenix" "So racked with grief for her (Cleopatra's) brother he (Meleager) had killed she kept pounding fists on the earth that feeds us all, kept crying out to the god of death and grim Persephone, flung herself on the ground, tears streaking her robes and she screamed out, 'Kill Meleager, kill my son!' And out of the world of darkness a Fury heard her cries, stalking the night with a Fury's brutal heart ..."

Robert Fitzgerald

• 09.557 - Phoinix: "(Amyntor) ... cursed me, praying the ghostly Furies that no son of mine should ever rest upon his knees; a curse fulfilled by the immortals—Lord Zeus of the undergloom and cold Persephone."
•  
• 09.693 - Phoinix: "She (Kleopatre) called upon the gods, beating the grassy earth with both hands as she pitched forward on her knees, with cries to the Lord of the Undergloom and cold Persephone, while tears wetted her veils—in her entreaty that death come to her son (Meleagros). Inexorable in Erebus a vampire Fury listened."

(Back to Top)

Persephone in The Odyssey

(listed by book and line from four different translations)

Richmond Lattimore

• 10.491 - Circe: "... but first there is another journey you must accomplish and reach the house of Hades and the revered Persephone ..."
•  
• 10.494 - Circe: "... there (the house of Hades) to consult with the soul of Teiresias the Theban, the blind prophet, whose senses stay unshaken within him, to whom Persephone has granted intelligence even after death, but the rest of them are flittering shadows."
•  
• 10.509 - Circe: "But when you have crossed with your ship the stream of the Ocean, you will find there a thickly wooded shore, and the groves of Persephone, and tall black poplars growing, and fruit-perishing willows ..."
•  
• 10.534 - Circe: "Then encourage your companions and tell them, taking the sheep that are lying by, slaughtered with the pitiless bronze, to skin these, and burn them, and pray to the divinities, to Hades the powerful, and to revered Persephone ..."
•  
• 10.564 - Odysseus: "You think you are on your way back now to your own beloved country, but Circe has indicated another journey for us, to the house of Hades and revered Persephone there to consult with the soul of Teiresias the Theban."
•  
• 11.047 - Odysseus: "Then I encouraged my companions and told them, taking the sheep that were lying by, slaughtered with the pitiless bronze, to skin these, and burn them, and pray to the divinities, to Hades the powerful, and to revered Persephone ..."
•  
• 11.213 - Odysseus: "Or are you nothing but an image that proud Persephone sent my way, to make me grieve all the more for sorrow?"
•  
• 11.217 - Antikleia: "Oh my child, ill-fated beyond all other mortals, this is not Persephone, daughter of Zeus, beguiling you, but it is only what happens, when they die, to all mortals."
•  
• 11.226 - Odysseus: "So we two were conversing back and forth, and the women came to me. They were sent my way by proud Persephone. These were all who had been the wives and daughters of princes ..."
•  
• 11.385 - Odysseus: "Now when chaste Persephone had scattered the female souls of the women, driving them off in every direction, there came the soul of Agamemnon, the son of Atreus ..."
•  
• 11.634 - Odysseus: "... and green fear took hold of me with the thought that proud Persephone might send up against me some gorgonish head of a terrible monster up out of Hades."

Loeb Classical Library

• 10.491 - Circe: "... you must first complete another journey, and come to the house of Hades and dread Persephone, to seek prophecy from the ghost of Theban Teiresias, the blind seer, whose mind remains steadfast."
•  
• 10.494 - Circe: "To him (Teiresias) even in death Persephone has granted reason, that he alone should have understanding, but the others flit about as shadows."
•  
• 10.509 - Circe: "But when in your ship you have now crossed the stream of Oceanus, where is a level shore and the groves of Persephone—tall poplars, and willows that shed their fruit ..."
•  
• 10.534 - Circe: "Thereupon call to your comrades, and bid them flay and burn the sheep that lie there, slain by the pitiless bronze, and make prayer to the gods, to mighty Hades and to dread Persephone."
•  
• 10.564 - Odysseus: "You think, no doubt, that you are going to your own native land; but Circe has pointed out for us another journey, to the house of Hades and dread Persephone, to seek prophecy from the ghost of Theban Teiresias."
•  
• 11.047 - Odysseus: "Then I called to my comrades and told them to skin and burn the sheep that lay there killed with pitiless bronze, and to make prayer to the gods, to mighty Hades and dread Persephone."
•  
• 11.213 - Odysseus: "Is this some phantom that august Persephone has sent me so that I may lament and groan still more?"
•  
• 11.217 - Anticleia: "Ah me, my child, ill-fated above all men, it is not that Persephone, daughter of Zeus, is deceiving you, but this is the appointed way with mortals, when one dies."
•  
• 11.226 - Odysseus: "Thus we talked with one another; and the women came, for august Persephone sent them, all those that had been the wives and the daughters of chieftains."
•  
• 11.386 - Odysseus: "When then holy Persephone had scattered this way and that the ghosts of the women, there came up the ghost of Agamemnon, son of Atreus ..."
•  
• 11.635 - Odysseus: "... pale fear seized me, that august Persephone might send upon me out of the house of Hades the head of the Gorgon, that terrible monster."

Robert Fagles

• 10.540 - Circe: "You must travel down to the house of Death and the awesome one, Persephone, there to consult the ghost of Tiresias, seer of Thebes, the great blind prophet whose mind remains unshaken."
•  
• 10.543 - Circe: "Even in death—Persephone has given him (Tiresias) wisdom, everlasting vision to him and him alone ... the rest of the dead are empty, flitting shades."
•  
• 10.559 - Circe: "But once your vessel has cut across the Ocean River you will raise a desolate coast and Persephone's Grove, her tall black poplars, willows whose fruit dies young."
•  
• 10.588 - Circe: "But order your men at once to flay the sheep and burn them, and then say prayers to the gods, to the almighty god of death and dread Persephone."
•  
• 10.621 - Odysseus: "You think we are headed home, our own dear land? Well, Circe sets us a rather different course ... down to the House of Hades and the awesome one, Persephone ..."
•  
• 11.052 - Odysseus: "I ordered the men at once to flay the sheep that lay before us, killed by my ruthless blade, and burn them both, and then say prayers to the gods, to the almighty god of death and the dread Persephone."
•  
• 11.244 - Odysseus: "Or is this just some wraith that great Persephone sends my way to make me ache with sorrow all the more?"
•  
• 11.248 - Anticleia: "My son, my son, the unluckiest man alive! This is no deception sent by Queen Persephone, this is just the way of mortals when we die."
•  
• 11.259 - Odysseus: "And so we both confided, trading parting words, and there slowly came a grand array of women, all sent before me now by august Persephone, and all were wives and daughters once of princes."
•  
• 11.437 - Odysseus: "Now then, no sooner had Queen Persephone driven off the ghosts of lovely women, scattering left and right, than forward marched the shade of Atreus' son Agamemnon ..."
•  
• 11.726 - Odysseus: " ... the dead came surging around me, hordes of them, thousands raising unearthly cries, and blanching terror gripped me—panicked now that Queen Persephone might send up from Death some monstrous head, some Gorgon's staring face!"

Robert Fitzgerald

• 10.545 - Kirke: "... but home you may not go unless you take a strange way round and come to the cold homes of Death and pale Persephone."
•  
• 10.550 - Kirke: "You shall hear prophecy from the rapt shade of blind Teiresias of Thebes, forever charged with reason even among the dead; to him alone, of all the flitting ghosts, Persephone has given a mind undarkened."
•  
• 10.565 - Kirke: "... sit down and steer, and hold that wind, even to the bourne of Ocean, Persephone's deserted strand and grove, dusky with poplars and the drooping willow."
•  
• 10.591 - Kirke: "... you must tell your companions to flay those sheep the bronze knife has cut down, for offerings, burnt flesh for those below, to sovereign Death and pale Persephone."
•  
• 10.564 - Odysseus: "Homeward you think we must be sailing to our own land; no, elsewhere is the voyage Kirke has laid upon me. We must go to the cold homes of Death and pale Persephone to hear Teiresias tell of time to come."
•  
• 11.050 - Odysseus: "I gave command to my officers to flay those sheep the bronze cut down, and make burnt offerings of flesh to the gods below—to sovereign Death and pale Persephone."
•  
• 11.241 - Odysseus: "Or is this all hallucination, sent against me by the iron queen, Persephone, to make me groan again?"
•  
• 11.247 - Antikleia: "O my child—alas, most sorely tried of men—great Zeus's daughter, Persephone, knits no illusion for you. All mortals meet this judgment when they die."
•  
• 11.258 - Odysseus: "So went our talk; then other shadows came, ladies in company, sent by Persephone—consorts or daughters of illustrious men ..."
•  
• 11.449 - Odysseus: "After Persephone, icy and pale, dispersed the shades of women, the soul of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, came before me ..."
•  
• 11.753 - Odysseus: "... but first came shades in thousands, rustling in a pandemonium of whispers, blown together, and the horror took me that Persephone had brought from darker hell some saurian death's head."

(Back to Top)

Other Text References

Theogony

• line 768 - Near the dwelling of Nyx (Night), are found the echoing halls of the god of the lower world, strong Hades, and awful Persephone.
•  
• line 774 - A fearful hound (Kerberos (Cerberus)) guards the house in front, pitiless, and he has a cruel trick. On those who go in he fawns with his tail and both is ears, but suffers them not to go out back again, but keeps watch and devours whomsoever he catches going out of the gates of strong Hades and awful Persephone.
•  
• line 913 - Also he (Zeus) came to the bed of all-nourishing Demeter, and she bare white-armed Persephone whom Aidoneus (Hades) carried off from her mother; but wise Zeus gave her to him.

Catalogues of Women

(Loeb Classical Library vol. 503, Hesiod II)

• fragment 123.4 - Eleuther, the daughter of Apollon and Alkyone (Alcyone) - (the first part of each line is missing) ... beyond mortal human beings ... Hades and Persephone ... they garlanded her all around with grace.
•  
• fragment 216, line 12 - ... illustrious Persephone ...
•  
• fragment 216, line 20 - Persephone is the daughter of Demeter and Zeus; she married Hades who was her father's brother.

Hymn to Demeter II

• line 2 - The poet sings of rich-haired Demeter and of her trim-ankled daughter (Persephone) whom Aidoneus (Hades) abducted, given him by Zeus; this hymn has many references to Persephone but she is not always mentioned by name.
•  
• line 337 - Zeus sent Argeiphontes (Hermes) to Erebus to speak with Hades about Persephone; Zeus instructed Hermes to use soft words so that he might gently persuade Hades to release Persephone so that she could leave the misty gloom and rejoin her mother (Demeter) in the light.
•  
• line 359 - After hearing the wishes of Zeus from Argeiphontes (Hermes), Aidoneus (Hades) spoke to Persephone with urging words.
•  
• line 360 - Aidoneus (Hades) tells Persephone to go to her dark-robed mother (Demeter) and urges her to think kindly of him because he would not be an unfit husband.
•  
• line 370 - Persephone was filled with joy when Hades told her she could return to her grave, dark-robed mother (Demeter) but he fed her a pomegranate seed before she left so that she would always be bound to him.
•  
• line 387 - When Hermes and Persephone arrived at the Temple of Demeter in Hades chariot, mother (Demeter) and child (Persephone) embraced.
•  
• line 405- Persephone tells her mother (Demeter) that she was overcome with joy when she found out she would be able to leave the Underworld and it was then that Hades secretly placed a pomegranate seed in her mouth, thus binding her to him; Persephone then relates how she was abducted by Hades while playing with her friends in a lovely meadow.
•  
• line 493 - In closing the hymn, the poet asks queen Dio (Demeter) and her beauteous daughter Persephone to grant him heart-cheering substance.

Hymn to Demeter XIII

• I begin to sing of rich-haired Demeter, awful goddess, of her and of her daughter lovely Persephone.
•  
• Hail, goddess! Keep this city safe, and govern my song.

The Argonautika

• book 2, line 916 - After passing the rivers Acheron and Kallichorus (Callichorus), the Argonauts saw the barrow of Sthenelos (Sthenelus) who had been wounded by an arrow and died when he was with Herakles (Heracles) fighting the Amazons; as the Argonauts saw Sthenelos's barrow and as they paused to honor the fallen hero, Persephone allowed Sthenelos to emerge from the Underworld to see the Argonauts because he craved to see soldiers like he had once been and a ship like he had once sailed.

Diodorus Siculus

• book 3.64.1 - The second Dionysos, the writers of myths relate, was born to Zeus by Persephone, though some say it was Demeter.
•  
• book 4.4.1 - For according to them (some writers of myths) there was born of Zeus and Persephone a Dionysos who is called by some Sabazius and whose birth and sacrifices and honors are celebrated at night and in secret, because of the disgrace resulting from the consorting of the sexes.
•  
• book 4.22.1 - From the Phlegraean Plain Herakles (Heracles) went down to the sea, where he constructed works about the lake which bears the name Lake of Avernus and is held sacred to Persephone.
•  
• book 4.25.4 - He (Orpheus) also took part in the expedition of the Argonauts, and because of the love he held for his wife (Eurydike (Eurydice)) he dared the amazing deed of descending into Hades, where he entranced Persephone by his melodious song and persuaded her to assist him in his desires and to allow him to bring up his dead wife from Hades ...
•  
• book 4.26.1 - Herakles (Heracles), then, according to the myths which have come down to us, descended into the realm of Hades, and being welcomed like a brother by Persephone brought Theseus and Perithoos (Peirithous) back to the upper world after freeing them from their bonds. This he accomplished by the favor of Persephone, and receiving the dog Kerberos (Cerberus) in chains he carried him away to the amazement of all and exhibited him to men.
•  
• book 4.63.2 - Since we have duly set forth the story of Theseus, we shall discuss in turn the kidnapping of Helen and the wooing of Persephone by Peirithoos (Peirithous); for these deeds are interwoven with the affairs of Theseus.
•  
• book 4.63.4 - With her he (Theseus) stationed his mother Aethra and the bravest men among his friends to serve as guardians of the maiden (Helen). Peirithoos (Peirithous) now decided to seek the hand of Persephone in marriage ...
•  
• book 5.3.1 - Again, the fact that the Abduction of Kore (Core) (Persephone) took place in Sicily is, men say, proof most evident that the goddesses made this island their favorite retreat because it was cherished by them before all others.
•  
• book 5.3.2 - And the Abduction of Kore (Core) (Persephone), the myth relates, took place in the meadows in the territory of Enna. The spot lies near the city, a place of striking beauty for its violets and every other kind of flower and worthy of the goddess.
•  
• book 5.3.3 - Near to it (Enna, Sicily) also are sacred groves, surrounded by marshy flats, and a huge grotto which contains a chasm which leads down into the earth and opens to the north, and through it, the myth relates, Pluton (Hades), coming out with his chariot, effected the Abduction of Kore (Core) (Persephone).
•  
• book 5.3.4 - And both Athene (Athena) and Artemis, the myth goes on to say, who had made the same choice of maidenhood as had Kore (Core) (Persephone) and were reared together with her, joined with her in gathering the flowers, and all of them together wove the robe for their father Zeus.
•  
• book 5.4.1 - Like the two goddesses (Demeter and Persephone) whom we have mentioned Kore (Core) (Persephone), we are told, received as her portion the meadows round about Enna; but a great fountain was made sacred to her in the territory of Syracuse and given the name Kyane (Cyane) or Azure Fount (Dark-blue Fount).
•  
• book 5.4.2 - For the myth relates that it was near Syracuse that Pluton (Hades) effected the Abduction of Kore (Core) (Persephone) and took her away in his chariot ...
•  
• book 5.4.2 - For the myth relates that it was near Syracuse that Pluton (Hades) effected the Abduction of Kore (Core) (Persephone) and took her away in his chariot ...
•  
• book 5.4.3 - After the Abduction of Kore (Core) (Persephone), the myth does on to recount, Demeter, being unable to find her daughter, kindled torches in the craters of Mt. Aetna (Etna) ...
•  
• book 5.4.5 - And the inhabitants of Sicily, since by reason of the intimate relationship of Demeter and Kore (Core) (Persephone) with them they were the first to share in the corn after its discovery ...
•  
• book 5.4.6 - In the case of Kore (Core) (Persephone), for instance, they (the inhabitants of Sicily) established the celebration of her return at about the time when the fruit of the corn was found to come to maturity ...
•  
• book 5.4.7 - And it is their (the inhabitants of Sicily) custom during these days to indulge in coarse language as they associate one with another, the reason being that by such coarseness the goddess, grieved though she was at the Abduction of Kore (Core) (Persephone), burst into laughter.
•  
• book 5.5.1 - That the Abduction of Kore (Core) (Persephone) took place in the manner we have described is attested by many ancient historians and poets. Carcinus the tragic poet, for instance, who often visited in Syracuse and witnessed the zeal which the inhabitants displayed in the sacrifices and festive gatherings for both Demeter and Kore ...
•  
• book 5.2.3 - The Siceliotae who dwell in the island (Sicily) have received the tradition from their ancestors, the report having ever been handed down successively from earliest time by one generation to the next, that the island is sacred to Demeter and Core (Persephone); although there are certain poets who recount the myth that at the marriage of Pluton (Hades) and Persephone Zeus gave this island as a wedding present to the bride.
•  
• book 5.68.2 - Now she (Demeter) had discovered the corn before she gave birth to her daughter Persephone, but after the birth of her daughter and the abduction of her by Pluton (Hades), she burned all the fruit of the corn, both because of her anger at Zeus and because of her grief over her daughter.
•  
• book 5.75.4 - This god (Dionysos) was born in Crete, men say, of Zeus and Persephone, and Orpheus has handed down the tradition in the initiatory rites that he (Dionysos) was torn in pieces by the Titans.
•  
• book 6.1.9 - And Zeus, on succeeding to the kingship, married Hera and Demeter and Themis, and by them he had children, the Kouretes (Curetes) by the first named, Persephone by the second, and Athene (Athena) by the third.
•  
• book 16.66.4 - Now Timoleon had heard already in Corinth from the priestesses of Demeter and Persephone that, while they slept, the goddesses had told them that they would accompany Timoleon on his voyage to their sacred island (Sicily).
•  
• book 16.66.5 - He (Timoleon) and his companions were, in consequence, delighted, recognizing that the goddesses were in fact giving them their support. He dedicated his best ship to them, calling it "The Sacred Ship of Demeter and Persephone."
•  
• book 27.4.1 - Pleminius, whom Scipio had appointed as governor of Locri, tore down the treasure houses of Persephone, for he was indeed an impious man, and he plundered and carried off their wealth.
•  
• book 27.4.2 - Providence speedily inflicted upon one and all the punishment that their (Pleminius and his men) wickedness deserved. For indeed this temple of Persephone is said to be the most renowned in all Italy and to have been kept inviolate by the men of the land at all times.

(Back to Top)