Persephone seems to be everywhere lately. I first noticed her in The Three Lives of Cate Kay as the protagonist in the titular novelist’s hit dystopian thriller. Then she appeared in Stop All the Clocks in the form of Proserpina, a company founded by a techno villain who’s trying to cheat death. 

It got me wondering – who is Persephone, and why do authors use her story for symbolism in their books? As a reader, how can you spot Persephone’s myth in the books you’re reading and use it to develop a deeper understanding of the themes in the story?

I’m not a mythology expert, but here’s what I learned from reading the original myth and doing some research.

Who is Persephone?

In ancient Greek mythology, Persephone is the daughter of Zeus (king of the gods) and Demeter (goddess of the harvest). Zeus secretly agrees to let Hades (king of the underworld) marry Persephone. As she is innocently picking flowers outside, the earth suddenly opens up beneath her and she is abducted into Hades’ dark realm.

In her grief and desperation to find her daughter, Demeter brings the harvest to a halt. Zeus makes an agreement: Persephone may leave the underworld to spend two-thirds of the year with her mother. But since Hades tricked her into eating some pomegranate, she is bound to him, and must spend the other third of the year in the underworld. Thus we have the seasons: spring is the light and fertile time when she’s with her mother and winter is the darkness when she descends back across the River Styx to her life with Hades (Note: Some versions of the myth vary on the exact duration of her time in the underworld).

Modern retellings of the myth give Persephone more agency; in their telling, she goes willingly to Hades, falls in love with him, and lives a full life as his queen.

Persephone is the goddess of spring and rebirth, but she’s also full of darkness and shadow. She embodies the duality of life and death, the cyclical nature of the seasons, and the complex journey from innocence to maturity.

What does she symbolize?

Authors may use Persephone’s story, or subtle references to it, to symbolize:

• The duality between darkness and light
• Identity and transformation
• Power and control
• Mother-daughter bonds
• Liminal spaces
• Crossing over into a new realm
• Loss of innocence

How to recognize a Persephone story arc 

Common signs of a Persephone story arc include:

• A meaningful crossing (of a river, or some other boundary) into an unknown and fearful world, willingly or not.
• Dueling worlds or identities – goddess of the spring vs queen of the darkness.
• Transformation – a character experiencing a rebirth or entering a new phase of life.
• Cycles of life and death, fertility and barrenness, or light and darkness.
• Power and control – reclaiming a loss of agency.
• Complex mother-daughter relationships or a mother’s fierce love and protectiveness.
• A dark and powerful enemy love interest.
• Other names of Persephone: Kore (maiden, innocent one), Proserpina or Proserpine (her Roman counterpart), Despoina (the mistress).

Finding her story arc in books as you read

While retellings are fun to read, I also love spotting symbolism in the books I’m reading. Armed with my newfound knowledge of Persephone’s story arc, I went back to my recently read books to see where she pops up.

The Three Lives of Cate Kay, Kate Fagan

Persephone is the protagonist of the hit dystopian novel written by Cate Kay, the writer at the center of the book. Persephone is played by an actor who becomes Cate’s real-life love interest and spends much of the book caught between two realms: celebrity and her private life. In a scene that evokes the goddess Persephone’s descent, the character rows across the Hudson River to seek a new life in post-apocalyptic Manhattan, where an unsanctioned community is rebuilding after a nuclear disaster.

Stop All the Clocks, Noah Kumin

In this AI-driven thriller, Proserpina is the name of the company founded by the novel’s techno villain who is trying to cheat death, representing the cycle of life and death and duality of dark (AI used for sinister purposes) and light (in this book, represented by humanity). Read my review of Stop All the Clocks.

A Court of Thorns and Roses (Sarah J. Maas)

In this hugely popular romantasy series, nineteen year old Feyre is taken to the dark, immortal faerie Rhysand’s Night Court against her will, with a deal struck for her to travel between the Night Court and the Spring Court of the faerie Tamlin. Her strength and identity transform as she navigates the two realms and her feelings for each faerie.

Books with Persephone and Hades retellings

Looking for a direct retelling? These are the three that came up most often in my research:

Lore Olympus, Rachel Smythe

For fans of graphic novels, this web comic is a highly popular, visually gorgeous modern retelling in graphic novel format. Read it on Webtoon or purchase a printed copy.

A Touch of Darkness, Scarlett St. Clair

Persephone, goddess of spring living in disguise as a mortal journalist, makes a contract with Hades, who runs a secretive nightclub empire: she must create life in the Underworld or lose her freedom forever. As she struggles for freedom, she develops a forbidden love for the god of the dead. 

Neon Gods, Katee Robert

I haven’t read Neon Gods but it sounds spicy! Billed by the publisher as a “A scorchingly hot modern retelling of Hades and Persephone that’s as sinful as it is sweet.”

Where to learn more about Persephone

There are many translations of the original Homeric Hymn to Demeter. I read Gregory Nagy’s translation from Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies and found it quite readable. Of course, different translators could interpret lines differently, so if you really want to dig in, try reading and comparing a few different translations. They are easy to find if you search for “homeric hymn to demeter.”

Videos are also a great way to learn about Greek myths – again, bearing in mind the various interpretations of the story as it relates to Persephone’s agency.

Persephone embodies the duality of life and death, the cyclical nature of the seasons, and the transformation from innocence to maturity – and she’s hiding in literature more often than you’d expect. Where have you seen Persephone in books you’ve read lately?