Information AboutProserpina |
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Proserpina is an ancient Goddess whose story is the basis of a Myth of Springtime . She is the Roman equivalent of ''' Persephone ''' (''qv'') (as oppose to Greek...). She was subsumed by the cult of Libera , an ancient Fertility Goddess , wife of Liber . Her name comes from ''proserpere'' meaning "to emerge." She is a Life–death–rebirth Deity . She was the daughter of Ceres and Jupiter , and was described as a very enchanting young girl. Venus , in order to bring love to Pluto , sent her son Amor to hit Pluto with one of his arrows. Proserpina was in Sicily , at the fountain of Aretusa near Enna , where she was playing with some Nymph s and collecting Flower s, when Pluto came out from the Volcano Etna with four black horses. He abducted her in order to marry her and live with her in Hades , the Greek Underworld , of which he was the ruler. Notably, Pluto was also her uncle, being Jupiter's (and Ceres's) brother. She is therefore Queen of the Underworld . Her mother Ceres, the Goddess of Cereal s or of the Earth , vainly went looking for her in any corner of the Earth, but wasn't able to find anything but a small belt that was floating upon a little lake (made with the tears of the nymphs). In her desperation Ceres angrily stopped the growth of Fruit s and Vegetable s, bestowing a Malediction on Sicily . Ceres refused to go back to Mount Olympus and started walking on the Earth, making a Desert at every step. Worried, she has to go back to Hades, nature loses any colour. The Myth of Proserpina, mainly described by the Roman Claudianus ( 4th Century AD) is closely connected with that of Orpheus and Eurydice — it is Proserpina, as Queen of Hades, who allows Orpheus enter and bring back to life his wife Eurydice who is dead by snake poison. Proserpina played her '' Cetra '' to quiet Cerberus , but Orpheus did not respect her order never to look back, and Eurydice was lost. Proserpina's figure inspired many Hymn To Proserpine ) For reasons that may be obvious, a variety of Pomegranate is called Proserpina. See also
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