Study Guide

Persephone (Proserpine)

Profile

Poor Persephone—this girl really got the short end of the stick. Sure, she's the beautiful daughter of Demeter, goddess of agriculture, and Zeus, king of the gods. But she's also very unhappily married to Hades, king of the Underworld, who kidnapped her and forced her to be his queen. Demeter threw a total fit about her daughter's abduction and in protest, she made it so nothing would grow on Earth. Things got so bad that Zeus stepped in, and a compromise was reached. Now, Persephone is allowed to return to her mother for part of the year. When she's with Demeter, flowers bloom and crops are plentiful. But when Persephone heads back down to the Underworld, Demeter won't let anything grow. And that, dear Shmoopers, is why we have the seasons.

P.S. Like her mother, Persephone was a chief goddess of the Eleusinian Mysteries—a cult which celebrated the cycle of death and rebirth—and promised its initiates a blessed afterlife.

Basic Information

Name	Persephone (Proserpine)
Nickname	Proserpina, Despoina, Core, Kore, Flower Child
Sex	Female
Current city	The Underworld (most of the time)

Work & Education

Occupation	Queen of the Underworld, Goddess of Spring General Duties: (Unwillingly) ruling the Underworld at Hades' side
Education	Demeter's School of Frolicking and Flower Picking (valedictorian) Hades' School of Soul Herding (last in the class)

Beliefs

Political views

Anti-Hades

Family & Friends (& Enemies)

Parents	Zeus, Demeter (love you, Mom!)
Children	(These are all maybes...) The Erinyes (by Hades) Zagreus, Iaachus, Dionysus (by Zeus) Melinoe (by Zeus)
Friends	Demeter Hecate Hermes
Enemies	Hades Aphrodite Hades Cerberus (who farts and barks too much)

Relationships

Relationship status

(Unwillingly) married to Hades, major crush on Adonis

Favorites

Quotations	"in Just- spring when the world is mud- luscious" – e. e. cummings "Some of them want to use you Some of them want to be used by you Some of them want to abuse you Some of them want to be abused" – The Eurythmics "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old time is still a-flying: And this same flower that smiles to-day To-morrow will be dying." – Robert Herrick "Regrets collect like old friends Here to relive your darkest moments I can see no way, I can see no way And all of the ghouls come out to play And every demon wants his pound of flesh But I like to keep some things to myself I like to keep my issues strong It's always darkest before the dawn" – Florence and the Machine
Books	Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time (Gather ye rosebuds)" by Robert Herrick Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy "in Just" by e. e. cummings Antigone by Sophocles "I felt a Funeral in my Brain" by Emily Dickinson Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
Music	Shake it Out by Florence and the Machine Us by Regina Spektor Poison and Wine by The Civil Wars Video Games by Lana del Rey Set Fire to the Rain by Adele Sweet Dreams by The Eurythmics Rite of Spring/Persephone by Stravinsky No Light, No Light by Florence and the Machine Summertime performed by Norah Jones
Movies	Death and the Maiden Desperate Housewives (TV show) Taken The Secret Garden Pan's Labyrinth Not Without My Daughter Bridesmaids Tangled Thelma and Louise Alice in Wonderland True Blood (TV show)

Activities & Interests

Likes	Garden tours Flower arranging Spring rain Seeds New sprouts Corn on the cob (lots of butter)
Interests	Floral design Meteorology Botany Divorce Law
Groups	Beauty Queens Flower Lovers Damsels in Distress

Persephone (Proserpine)

Profile

Basic Information

Work & Education

Beliefs

Family & Friends (& Enemies)

Relationships

Favorites

Activities & Interests

Spotter's Guide

Sightings

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