Proserpina
Daughter of Ceres, goddess of the harvest and the fruits of the earth, she's known in Achaia as Persephone or Kore. Proserpina was abducted by Pluto, who brought her to Hades to make her his bride and queen. Ceres' desperation was such that all vegetation on earth began to die. Jupiter therefore allowed her to take her daughter back, provided that she made earth bloom again. Proserpina, however, had already eaten six pomegranate seeds offered by Pluto, and in this way she was bound to his land. Thus, every year Proserpina can go back to her mother in spring and stay with her until the end of summer, but then she must descend to the Underworld, to her husband, for the remaining six months, bringing about the death of vegetation and the slumber of winter.
Even though she's queen of the Afterlife, Proserpina is a kind and smiling goddess. She makes flowers, which she dearly loves, grow, and she can't stand hte suffering of humans, to whom she gives a quick death. She's portrayed as a young woman whose head is crowned with flowers and in whose hand is a split pomegranate, from which the seeds emerge.
Even though she's queen of the Afterlife, Proserpina is a kind and smiling goddess. She makes flowers, which she dearly loves, grow, and she can't stand hte suffering of humans, to whom she gives a quick death. She's portrayed as a young woman whose head is crowned with flowers and in whose hand is a split pomegranate, from which the seeds emerge.
If it seems strange to you that a kindly spring goddess is known to grant a swift death instead of preventing it entirely, you're not alone! There's suspicions that Proserpina might be more her husband's queen and less her mother's daughter than most would suspect.
-Merius
-Merius
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