Persephone, was the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. She was the personification of young, blooming life taken prisoner by Hades. Demeter's neglect of the world while she was searching for her daughter brought famine to the world.

Demeter

Demeter persuaded Hades to release Persephone but before she left Demeter's daughter ate the food of the underworld (accidentally swallowing a seed of a pomagranate or "apple of love") which meant that she could not leave. Eventually she was forced to spend only part of the year in the underworld and that time is what we know as winter, the season of death. Persephone is also known in classical mythology as Juno Inferna, Libera, Kora, Averna and Stygia.

 Persephone

 

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