Persephone

In Greek mythology, Persephone is the goddess of spring and the queen of the underworld. The daughter of Demeter, the goddess of the harvest, and Zeus, the god of the sky, she was abducted by Hades—who is also her uncle, Zeus’s brother. In ancient mythological tales, such family ties among the gods were common. After her abduction, Persephone was taken to the realm of the dead. Her disappearance plunged the earth into barrenness and mourning, as her mother Demeter refused to allow crops to grow. A compromise was then reached: Persephone would spend part of the year with her mother on earth, and the other part with Hades in the underworld. Thus, her return heralds the renewal of spring, while her descent into the underworld marks the arrival of winter. Both goddess of life and queen of the shadows, Persephone embodies transformation, the eternal cycle of the seasons, and the duality between light and darkness.