Blessing:
Persephone is the Queen of the Underworld, who remains below the earth nine months out of year. Haides is a distant and frightening God, but Persephone is approachable, since there is still something about the upper world about her. She offers comfort and solace to those who have died, or lost someone, and she aids in the transition from life to death. Her Mysteries give hope of a better fate in the afterlife. And she protects us against magic and violence.
Epithets:
Agne (Pure), Despoina (Mistress), Epaine (Awesome), Kore (Maiden), Proserpine (Variant spelling)
Symbols:
torch, crown, stalks of grain, pomegranate
Animal(s):
Sacrifices:
narcissus, pomegranate, poplars, willow, pigs
Primary Cult Center(s):
Eleusis, Syracuse
Festivals:
The Greater Mysteries: Boedromion 14-21 (September-October)
Skira: 12 Skiraphorion (June-July)
Stenia: 9 Puanepsion (October-November)
Thesmophoria: 9, 11-13 Puanepsion (October-November)
Ways to honor:
Give comfort to those who have lost a loved one. Appreciate the gift of life, and how fragile and precious it is. Donate money or time to rape crisis counseling.
For more information:
Apollodorus' Library 1.1.5-1.2.1, 1.5.1-3, 1.6.1, 2.5.12, 2.6.1, 3.12.2, 3.6.8, 3.7.1, 3.12.1, 3.14.7
Aollodorus' Epitome 1.23, 3.14.4
Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica
Aristophanes' Women Celebrating the Thesmophoria
Euripides' Helen 1301-1368
Hesiod's Theogony 767-774, 908-911, 965-974
Homer's Iliad 9.457, 9.568
Homer's Odyssey 5.125-128, 10.492-495, 10.510, 11.213-218, 11.225-257, 11.632-635
Homeric Hymn to Demeter 2, 13
Hyginus' Fabulae 83, 141, 146, 147
Hyginus' Poetica Astronomica 2.4, 2.25
Ovid's Metamorphoses 5.341-571, 6.118-119, 8.738-878, 9.422-423
Pausanias' Description of Greece 1.13.8, 1.14.3, 1.37.2, 2.5.8, 8.15.1-4, 8.25.2-8, 8.37.6-9, 8.42.1-13
Copyright 2002 Sannion
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