Proserpina

Proserpina was a goddess in Roman mythology.

Abode
Proserpina was initially a goddess of fertility who was often equated with Libera. After becoming a separate goddess, Proserpina became associated with the Underworld, the springtime growth of crops, and the cycle of life, death, and renewal.

Abduction
Venus, in order to bring love to Pluto, sent her son Cupid to hit Pluto with one of his arrows. Proserpina was in Socily where she was playing with some nymphs and collecting flowers when Pluto came out of the volcano Etna with four black horses. He abducted her in order to marry her and live with her in the Underworld.

Proserpina's mother, Ceres, went looking for her in vain to every corner of the earth but was not able to find anything but a small belt that was floating upon a little lake. In her desperation, Ceres angrily stopped the growth of fruits and vegetables, 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, Jupiter sent Mercury to order Pluto to free Proserpina. Pluto obeyed but, before letting her go, made her eat pomegranate seeds because those who have eaten the food of the dead could not return to the world of the living. This meant that Proserpina would have to live six months of each year with Pluto and stay the rest with her mother. This story was meant to illustrate the changing of the seasons.

In another version of the story, Proserpina ate only four pomegranateseeds and she did so of her own accord. When Jupiter ordered her to return, Pluto struck a deal with Jupiter saying that since she had stolen his pomegranate seeds, she must stay with him four months of the year in return. For this reason, in spring when Ceres receives her daughter back, the crops blossom and, in summer, they flourish. In the autumn, Ceres changes the leaves to shades of brown and orange as a gift to Proserpina before she has to return to the Underworld.

Orpheus and Eurydice
The most extensive myth of Proserpina in Latin is Claudian's. It is closely connected with that of Orpheus and Eurydice. In Virgil's Georgics, Orpheus' beloved wife, Eurydice, died from a snake bite. Prosperpina allowed Orpheus into the Underworld without losing his life. Charmed by his music, she allowed him to lead his wife back to the land of the living as long as he did not look back during the journey. Orpheus could not resist a backward glance so he lost his love forever.

Relationships
After Proserpina became a distinctively separate goddess from Libera, she became the daughter of Ceres. She was the forced consort of Pluto.

Other names

 * Proserpine
 * Persephone (in Greek mythology)