Source Verification: Proserpina
Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.
What the Sources Attest
Are Persephone and Proserpina the same goddess?
Romans treated them as one goddess. Cicero writes that Dis forced away Proserpine, whom the Greeks call Persephone, and that the poets mean the seed of corn by her (De Natura Deorum 2.66). The stories differ in detail. In the Homeric hymn she spends a third of the year below (Homeric Hymn to Demeter 398-403), and in Ovid half of it (Metamorphoses 5.533-571). The two are compared in Persephone vs Proserpina.
Source: Cicero, De Natura Deorum 2.66
Who is Proserpina in Roman mythology?
She is the daughter of Ceres and, in Ovid, of Jupiter, and the queen of the underworld through her marriage to Pluto (Metamorphoses 5.489-508). Ovid's Jupiter calls her a pledge that he shares with Ceres (Metamorphoses 5.512-532). Virgil adds a role at the threshold: the golden bough that lets a living man enter the underworld is sacred to her (Aeneid 6.136-148).
Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.489-508
Why was Proserpina taken by Pluto?
In Ovid's account, Venus wants to bring the king of the dead under her power and sends Cupid to shoot him with desire (Metamorphoses 5.363-384). He then seizes Proserpina in Sicily and drives away (Metamorphoses 5.385-408). Jupiter later describes the act as love, not injury (Metamorphoses 5.512-532).
Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.363-384
Why did Proserpina eat the pomegranate seeds?
Ovid gives no motive beyond an idle moment. Ascalaphus says she picked a pomegranate from a bent branch and put seven seeds in her mouth (Metamorphoses 5.533-538). Since Jupiter had allowed her return only if she had eaten nothing (Metamorphoses 5.530-532), the seeds keep her tied to the underworld for part of each year.
Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.533-538
How long does Proserpina stay in the underworld?
Half the year in Ovid's account: Jupiter divides the year equally between Pluto and Ceres (Metamorphoses 5.533-571). The Greek Homeric Hymn to Demeter gives a third of the year below and two thirds above (Homeric Hymn to Demeter 398-403). The sources therefore disagree, and the site's Persephone page follows the hymn.
Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.533-571
Where Accounts Differ
- how long Proserpina stays below
- why Pluto took Proserpina
- The length of Proserpina's stay below differs. The Homeric Hymn to Demeter gives a third of the year (Homeric Hymn to Demeter 398-403). Ovid divides the year equally (Metamorphoses 5.533-571).
- The reason for the abduction differs. In Ovid, Venus sends Cupid to wound Pluto (Metamorphoses 5.363-384). In the Homeric hymn, Zeus has given the girl to Hades (Homeric Hymn to Demeter 1-3).
- Cicero reads Proserpina as the seed of corn (De Natura Deorum 2.66). This is a Stoic allegory reported by Cicero, and Ovid's story does not depend on it.
Sources
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.363-384
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.385-395
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.385-408
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.438-470
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.489-508
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.512-532
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.533-538
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.533-571
- Virgil, Aeneid 6.136-148
- Cicero, De Natura Deorum 2.62
- Cicero, De Natura Deorum 2.66
- Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 3.55
- Homeric Hymn to Demeter 1-3
- Homeric Hymn to Demeter 398-403