Persephone or Kore: Story of the Underworld Goddess Queen

Dernière modification le 11/08/2026.

Queen of the Underworld, Persephone is the wife of the god Hades.

Table des matières

Introduction

Persephone (Περσεφόνη) is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She is a goddess of great beauty, worshipped in many cities. Like her mother, she is the goddess of wheat and later becomes a goddess of the underworld. Among the Romans, she is known as Kore and is also identified with Proserpina,

History

The Abduction of Persephone

She was raised in secret in Sicily by her mother; she loved playing with the Oceanids and spent a lot of time with them. One day, while she was picking flowers, she wandered away from her friends and was spotted by her uncle Hades, who fell in love with her; wanting to make her his queen, he forcibly abducted her. Persephone screamed, but when her mother arrived, she found no trace of her daughter.

Demeter Searching for Her Daughter

Determined to find her, Demeter searched the entire world for over a week, until the Sun, who had seen everything, revealed the truth to her. Demeter immediately went to the Underworld, but Hades refused to return her daughter to her. Demeter then went to see Zeus, the only one capable of helping her. But the king of the gods was in a difficult position; he was caught between Demeter and his own brother (taking one side meant falling out with the other). The situation was all the more complicated because Persephone had eventually fallen in love with Hades. Another version says that it was forbidden to eat any food in the Underworld, but Persephone ate a pomegranate, condemning her to spend part of the year in the underworld.

Zeus’s Verdict

Zeus decided on a compromise: in the fall and winter, Persephone would stay with her husband Hades, and during the other seasons, she would go to help her mother in the fields. That is why the earth dries up in the fall—because Demeter is saddened by her daughter’s absence—and why, in the spring, nature comes back to life when her daughter returns to her.

Persephone played her role as queen of the Underworld very well, living up to her status. She is harsh and unyielding, just like her husband Hades.