A gorgeous winterberry (Ilex verticillata), one of Appalachia’s native deciduous hollies, lights up the alder swamp at the West Virginia Botanic Garden. The shrub’s winter regalia is particularly stunning against the snow.
The myth of Plutos and Proserpina is a story that has been through multiple major misinterpretations. People often spread wrong information about it or subject it to unhealthy modernizing under different reasonings, so I decided to create a masterpost of sorts regarding everything that concerns the story of abducted Proserpina and wrathful Demeter.
I am covering all possible variations of the myth that I could find, including the Roman, Greek, and the Sicilian one, as Proserpina is native to Sicily. These stories present the myth in the variety of interpretations that can't be ignored regardless.
There's no "right" or "wrong" way to read the actual story, nor is there any morally correct one.
The origins of the Goddess Proserpina lay in Sicily, which was colonized by Greece in the 8th century BC thus resulting in a lot of original traces of the story being lost. The local version of the myth isn't spoken about much, as it is overshadowed by the Greek narration, though I do find it fascinating and I believe we can't overlook it.
The Sicilian version of the myth does portray the descent of a girl named Proserpina (from proserpere, "to creep forth" - about growing grain) in the Underworld. There are multiple stories on how She ends up in the realm of the dead, none more correct than others: some say that She wanders in Plutos' realm on Her own accord, following Her own sense of curiosity as She sees a beautiful narcissus growing. Some say that He does take Her, but allows Her to leave when He sees Her distress and learns of Her Mother's worry. Some sources say that She is allowed to leave on Her own whereas some sources claim that Plutos needs to be negotiated with first. The nymphs are said to accompany Her in some stories whereas in some She is completely alone. The nymph Cyane, notably, is sometimes said to even protect Proserpina from the God.
Regardless, down there, having met the God of the Dead who is fascinated with Her, She is faced with the choice to leave or to stay, and She decides to leave. As She passes through the gardens in the higher layers of the Underworld, alone or with a guide, right before She can leave, She grows curious and tastes a pomegranate, swallowing six seeds. It is believed that eating anything in the realm of the dead gets you trapped in there, and that's what happens to Her.
Proserpina is not forced to stay by Plutos Himself, but She has to stay as Her own curiosity and carelessness get Her trapped under the soil. From that point on, She can only leave for the warmer part of the year and come back for winter
Some stories of the region depict the motif of trickery but it is not as widely prominent as within the contemporary Greek myth.
Diodoros and others see Sicily as the place that first witnessed the manifestation of the Goddess, who gave the people of Sicily wild wheat.
In Sicily, Proserpina was known as Dea di Siciliani, the Goddess of the Sicilians, as mentioned by Apuleius. Sources point out that Her cult greatly resembles that of the local Italic pre-Greek Goddess Primigenia, though much information has been lost. It is possible that Roman Ceres or even Cybele acquired Proserpina-Primigenia's attributes.
Initially, Proserpina was depicted very similarly to the Goddesses Demeter and Hekate, which possibly demonstrates Her agricultural qualities as both of these Deities posses such aspects. Proserpina in Her original depictions carries a torch, perhaps to light Her way in the Underworld the way souls of the dead do, and to represent the connection to agrarian culture.
The "violent version" of the myth of Plutos and Proserpina is a later invention, widely spread by the Greeks. Authors such as Hesiod in his Theogonia depict the Goddess Persephone, born to Zeus and Demeter only to be later carried away by Plutos.
It has to be mentioned here that majority of Greek officials did not like Plutos nor His cult, seeing Him as a cruel and brutal King. Depiction of Death as a brutal act of taking is something common in Greek myths where both Plutos and Charon are portrayed riding a chariot and a black mare respectively, moving fast and taking the souls of the dead. Charon has been said to wield a sword and firmly grab the souls one by one, too.
Sicily, to which the cult of Plutos is native, has never portrayed Him as a brutal and unfair King, but rather accepted Death as inevitable even if terrifying the living.
The Greek version of the myth includes violent kidnapping of Proserpina, either via Plutos grabbing Her and taking Her away immediately, or by driving past Her in a chariot tugged by four horses, grabbing Her, and taking Her down. Sometimes He is said to lure Her in with a flower, as She was a curious girl.
Proserpina in the Greek version of the story spends some time in the Underworld, held back by the God. Some stories say that She is there for nine days, some mention a shorter time period. Regardless, during that time, Her Mother Demeter mourns, looking for Her child, and makes cold weather and famine come onto the people.
Zeus, the Sky-Father, is then the one to send messengers or Hermes/Iris to visit His brother and bargain, looking for ways to negotiate with His sibling. Plutos agrees to let the girl go, but right before She leaves, She is forced to eat the fruits of the Underworld during a feast He prepares for Her. In some stories, She does so out of hunger whereas in some, She is tricked into thinking it is safe to do so. Regardless, the Greek myth paints the picture of force, brutality, and deception.
Romans already had their local Goddesses of agriculture, death, and rebirth when the myth of Proserpina came from the far South of the Empire. When the Sicilian Goddess became known to Rome, She quickly merged with the local Deity known by the name of Libera, a female equivalent of another Roman God, Pater Liber. Libera was also once an Italic Goddess, brought into Rome in its early Republican years.
Libera had Her own rituals, rites, holidays, and otherwise presence in the Roman routine life. And while this Goddess has quickly absorbed Proserpina, the latter was still respected as a separate Divinity outside of Rome, in Her place of origin. Roman authors recognize Her as a Sicilian Goddess even if She wasn't prominent in Rome.
As the result of proximity to colonized Sicily and its Italic past, Rome knew of multiple versions of the myth. Writers of the time mention both the Greek, violent, interpretation of the story, and the Sicilian origins of the Goddess and Her myth. For example, in Titus Livius times, we find pieces of Ancient Latin writing that mention both the Eleusinian Mysteries and Misteri di Proserpina. Southern Italian texts speak of the Stygian Proserpina, associated with the cycle of death and rebirth. Rome didn't seem to have a preferred version of the story, as closeness to both Sicilian peoples and Greek borders made it so the Roman Empire became the place where both stories had left an impact. Claudian, for example, spoke on the kidnapping of Proserpina while Ovid referred to Her as a Goddess to be respected (Regina Erebi) while Homer, whose story was known in Rome, called Her "terrible, silent Queen of the Dead".
Regardless of what myth version you decide to follow and believe in, it's important to remember that the myth itself is less so about Proserpina and Plutos, but more so about Demeter, or Ceres.
The wrath of the Goddess is something the Ancients feared. Orphic hymns to Demeter mention Her fury, and many inscriptions of the time paint Her as the Goddess who was incredibly loved by the people while also being terrific in Her anger.
The people of Sicily and Southern Italy, who were among the first to have accepted the cult of Demeter, spoke of Her as a highly respected Goddess terrible in Her rage.
The story of Proserpina can't be analyzed without looking at the figure of Demeter, as She plays a major role in the myth.
Most of the versions speak of the Goddess, enraged and mourning, descending from Mount Olympus and walking among the mortals with a torch in search of Her daughter. She walked far and reached Eleusis, where She hid among the young virgin girls before unveiling Herself and requesting establishment of Her temple and cult in the city. Some say She was testing the local King to see how he'd accept a foreigner. Some say She was watching the local community of young girls before becoming their local protector. It needs to be said that some sources claim that Proserpina's absence made Her mother go on without water and food, the period of abstinence that ended with Her accepting kykeon - strange nutritious mix made of barley flour, water, and mint.
To find Her daughter, the Goddess is said to have requested help of Hekate who helps find one's way in the dark, and Apollo who sees it all from the sky. Some sources mention that prior to the whole event, Astreios, the God of prophecies delivered through astrology, tells Her a prophecy of Proserpina's kidnapping and following birth of Zagreus.
Lastly, the Goddess deals with Zeus who Demeter was enraged with as He allowed the girl to be taken away. Zeus is said to agree to help Demeter after She lays fields barren and leaves people famished, refusing to take up Her Divine duties until Proserpina is back to Her. Hermes is then sent off to negotiate, as He is the God of communication, and He manages to get Plutos to let the girl go. However, here is where the story branches out: some say that She tastes the fruits of the Underworld without Him forcing Her to, some that She is given the seeds/a seed by force, and some that She takes them without knowing what they do - only finding out after the fact when Demeter inquiries if She ate the fruits of the dead.
Many sources speak on Demeter's self-imposed exile as She did not want to share Olympus' plane with other Gods after learning that Zeus allowed Her beloved daughter (in some myths, Her only child) to be taken by Plutos. She spends Her exile in Eleusis, where kind maidens help Her, disguised, and for that She allows Them to built Her a temple, a cult, and, in some myths, returns life into nature, letting crops grow again.
In some versions of the myth, it's Rhea who convinces Demeter to come back, in some it's Iris or Hermes serving as messengers. There are also versions that say Demeter never returns to Olympus, preferring to wander the Earth.
Lastly, the ending of the story differs from source to source, but all equally portray the mother's dismay at having Her child no longer fully in Her care. Sometimes Proserpina is said to have to spend a third of the year underground, sometimes half the year. Some sources speak on Her being guided out of the Underworld by Hermes or Iris, some mention Hecate as Her mistress and patroness. Demeter is said to question whether or not Her daughter has tasted the fruit of the Underworld, and when She admits to it, the mother is in disarray as She realizes Her child is now bound to the soil.
Some sources, such as Pausanias, also speak on Demeter Herself being either assaulted by Neptune or held back by Him while on the search for Her daughter. Some equate Her with Rhea in the myths of Rhea being assaulted by Zeus in the form of a serpent (or dragon). It's important to note that not even all Greek sources believe these stories to be true, so take them as local versions that didn't make it into commonly spread story.
That, with layers of other events such as Her establishing Her Mysteries, multiple cults, and conversing with many Gods on the matter of Proserpina, are signs that the myth is largely a story of a Mother and a Daughter, and not a story of Proserpina and Plutos per se. Marriage did, after all, mean separation of the girls and their mothers, at least in the Ancient world.
The multiplicity of myths of Proserpina might have something to do with how many possible origins of the Deity there are.
In Greece and colonized Sicily Proserpina, Greek Persefona, was known as a Goddess of grain and agriculture, tightly associated with Her mother. In this version of the story, She is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Other than that, the Greeks and Sicilians either believed Her to be the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon, or daughter of Styx. As the Stygian Goddess, venerated in Sicily, She was seen as a punishing force.
Locality of the cult is a matter of many discussions as we have found evidence of there being local cult establishments in Eleusis, Ermione, Feneo, Arcadia, Knossos, Enna, Ipponio, and Syracuse. It might have been established in the Ancient province of Morgatina, Lake Pergusa, and more.
In Sicily, the Goddess had a cult connected to agriculture and marital ceremonies. For examples, theogamy, marriage to a God, and anacaliptery, gifts to the newlyweds, were common rituals to honor Her. These were festivals celebrated in summer and winter, too.
Most sources say that the origin of Proserpina is Sicily, some claim it's the South of Italy, in the region of modern Taranto (Tarentum back then). Some sources say that after creation, the word about the Goddess first came to the province of Apulia, and then was introduced to Rome. Some believe it is pre-Greek, which is most likely, and some believe it is a Greek mythological concept.
Sometimes Proserpina is seen as the mother to multiple other Gods, including Zagreus (sometimes Dionysus), whom she is said to bear from Zeus and, in some myths, disguise the identity of after. Some hymns refer to Her as the "origin of Furies" and give Her the title of Eumenidos, vengeful one.
Persephone, Perifone, Perrefassa, Proserpina: these are just some of the names which the Greeks and Romans call an ancient Divinity linked to the rural world and the Underworld. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but is certainly pre-Greek. Her cult is also very ancient: in many places in the Mediterranean She is invoked as signora dell’oltretomba (lady of the underworld) or as la pura (the pure one). Plato, for example, notes that the Greeks changed a name of a pre-Hellenic Divinity, Perephatta, into Persefone as "they could not pronounce it". Mycenaean votive tablets suggest that the Goddess we now know as Proserpina was there before the myth of Persefone was created.
From the religious perspective, it is possible that Proserpina is a standalone, separate Deity. However, it is also possible that She was but one of the "faces" of existing Goddesses. We can speak of Libera, Primigenia, Ceres/Demeter, and even the mythical wife of Soranus, an Etruscan God of the Dead, as possible Deities to be mistaken for Proserpina.
Because there were so many Goddesses who completely encompass Proserpina's attributes and who have existed before Her cult came around, it's possible that She was a reimagination of one of the state cults. It is possible that Proserpina's myth was a political rather than religious invention because we can see that the general state of Athens did not seem to look kindly at the cults born in Sicily and Rome. Examples of this can be seen in Plutos, Mars, and Bacchus. While this is not a fact, it is a possibility.
It isn't only in Italy that this Goddess might have been but another face of an older Deity. In Greece, this might have been the case too. When referring to Demeter and Persephone, the grammatical form authors use is that which means "double Goddess" (τώ θεώ) rather than "two Goddesses" (αί θεαί).
It is completely possible that Proserpina and Demeter are the same person viewed as an allegorical set of "stages" of one's life: mature and young grain. The names of the Goddess(es) suggest trinity too: Kore (the maiden, Youth), Demeter/Ceres (the Abundant, the Mother), and Proserpina (the destroyer, Death).
After all, the stages of life as seen in the myth are parts of the natural process of aging and seasonal change in nature.
The myth of Proserpina, like any other myth, doesn't have to be taken literally. A lot of mythological stories are either cautionary tales, stories made for entertainment, or allegories to explain natural processes. Proserpina might just be a way to explain why seasons had to change, and viewing seasonal shifts through the coming of Death was something done in many cultures across the world.
It's natural for the Ancient people to view it from the standpoint of Death being unfair and cruel, too. After all, Ancient towns heavily relied on local production for survival, and losing precious grain meant a period of famine, if winter came earlier or was colder than usual, or simply strict abstaining.
Regardless, even in Antiquity Proserpina might have been more so a symbolic Deity rather than a votive figure. Alternation of summer and winter seasons and falling of nature into temporary sleep and stagnation are some of the aspects of this symbolic interpretation. Because of Her name, She was also symbolically associated with motion of growing grain that slowly crept out of the soil and towards the Sun. Interestingly, wheat was stored in containers underground, which could symbolically appease Proserpina.
Her name, sounds very much like Greek "φέρειν φόνος", which is its possible etymology as it means “bringing Death”.
We don't know much of the Eleusinian Mysteries, but some sources suggest that in Athens, the allegory of seasons changing was turned into a staged play where re-discovery of the daughter by the mother was annually performed. We only know that it involved a solemn procession that would arrive in Eleusis at night, carrying torches, and enter a cave where one of the Doors of Dis was located. Here, the "initiated ones" would perform a ritual that remains a secret even now.
Long before Eleusis gained its own cult, the rites of currently still mysterious Thesmophoria were known to the Ancients. It might have included some rituals by matriarchal communities of local women.
Some more needs to be said about how the story within this myth fits into what the Ancient peoples considered to be a natural flow of events. Plutos wasn't the only one to attempt to marry Proserpina: Apollo offered Her the island of Delos and Mars offered her the mountain range of Rhodope. However, it is Death that claimed the Maiden. Some stories suggest that Jupiter, who was Proserpina's Father, agreed to the kidnapping.
It's clear that the myth wasn't just taken directly as it is, but was also seen as a way of entertainment, as a votive subject, and a symbolical tale to describe a common natural phenomenon.
I believe it's important to note that there's no right or wrong way to view the actual myth.
For some it's a story of a grieving mother losing a child, for some it's a story of youthful curiosity leading to disaster. Some see it as a natural happening that couldn't be avoided while some see it as unfairness that comes when mortals try to perceive and accept Death.
What this myth has never been about, though, is romance. This isn't a story of love, even if love ended up happening between Plutos and Proserpina. To speak of it in these terms would be demeaning, nearly insulting, to the original story.
It's not exactly right to modernize Proserpina's story by turning it into an overlooked romanticized legend. It has never been one, couldn't be one, and shouldn't be one. If we view this legend as a story of a wrathful Mother mourning over Her Daughter, claiming that Proserpina is a winner here is to demean Demeter's grief.
I hope I managed to provide you a multi-facet view on this peculiar legend.
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