![Persephone abducted by Hades, marble sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1621–22; in the &elipsis; [Credit: Anderson—Alinari/Art Resource, New York]](http://images.bookrags.com/images/eb/9663.gif)
Persephone abducted by Hades, marble sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1621–22; in the &elipsis; [Credit: Anderson—Alinari/Art Resource, New York]In
Greek mythology, daughter of
Zeus and
Demeter. She was gathering flowers when she was seized by
Hades, who carried her off to the underworld to make her his wife.
On learning of the abduction, Demeter was so distraught that she allowed barrenness and famine to spread over the earth. Zeus commanded Hades to allow Persephone to return to her mother, but because she had eaten some (or, in some versions, just one) pomegranate seeds in the underworld, she had to remain one-third of the year with Hades, spending the other two-thirds with Demeter. This myth accounts for the change of the seasons and the annual cycle of growth and decay.
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