Persephone

"Husband, we talked about this. You can't go around incinerating every hero. Besides, he's brave. I like that."

- Persephone

Persephone is the minor goddess of springtime, flowers and young life. She is also the queen of the Underworld. She is the daughter of Demeter and Zeus, and the wife of Hades. Persephone is portrayed by Rosario Dawson in The Lightning Thief (film).

History
Unlike Zeus' other children, Persephone has no stable position at Olympus. Persephone used to live far away from the other deities, a goddess within Nature herself before the days of planting seeds and nurturing plants. When Persephone reached marriageable age, the gods Hermes, Ares, Apollo, and Hephaestus had all wooed Persephone; but Demeter rejected all their gifts and hid her daughter away from the company of the Olympian deities. Thus, Persephone lived a peaceful life before she became the goddess of the Underworld, which did not occur until Hades abducted her and brought her to the Underworld by his infamous kidnapping of her.

Persephone's uncle, Hades was lonely, and wanted a wife. He spied Persephone in the fields one day, and, entranced by her purity and beauty, fell in love with her at first sight.

Persephone was innocently picking flowers with some nymphs in a field in Enna when Hades came to abduct her, bursting through a cleft in the earth. Later, the nymphs were changed by Demeter into the Sirens for not having interfered. Life came to a standstill as the devastated Demeter, goddess of harvest, searched everywhere for her lost daughter. Hecate, minor goddess of magic, then told Demeter she had heard Persephone scream that she was being kidnapped. Demeter then stopped caring for the Earth, and the land didn't flourish and people began to starve and die.

In some stories it is said that Eros, the god of love shot a golden arrow into Hades' heart while he was riding in his black chariot. When Hades rode across the field and saw Persephone, thus he fell in love with her.

Most versions agree Hades first obtained the permission of Zeus to kidnap her.

Hades was determined to make Persephone love him, and tried in many ways. She hated him at first for snatching her away from her mother, but soon she came to revel in Demeter's absence as she had never been allowed away from her mother before. Hades very much wanted Persephone's love and, at first, tried to buy it with many gifts. But then he took to spending all of his day with his new wife, working to make her happy. Hecate, the Goddess of Magic, came down to the Underworld and befriended Persephone, and Hades was pleased, because Persephone was not depressed or unhappy when her friend was around.

Finally, Zeus, pressed by the cries of the hungry people and by the other deities who also heard their anguish, forced Hades to return Persephone. However, it was a rule of the Fates that whoever consumed food or drink in the Underworld was doomed to spend eternity there. Before Persephone was released to Hermes, who had been sent to retrieve her, Hades tricked Persephone into eating four pomegranate seeds, which forced her to return to the underworld for a season each year. In another version she ate the pomegranate off of a tree not knowing the results, but a servant (or sometimes a gardner) of Hades testified against her forcing her to return.

When Demeter and her daughter were united, the Earth flourished with vegetation and color, but for six months each year, when Persephone returned to the Underworld, the earth once again became a barren realm: and that is how the seasons came from. In Spring and Summer, Persephone and her mother are together. In Fall and Winter, Persephone goes back with Hades. This is the myth to explain the weather changes in Fall and Winter compared with Spring and Summer.

Relationship with Demeter
During her early life, Persephone only knew her father, her mother, and the nymphs that accompanied them. She grew up very close to her mother (she rarely saw her father Zeus) and her mother in turn became dependent upon her. When Hades kidnapped her, she did not want to stay with him, and wanted to be rescued, but over time, she fell in love with him and was relieved to be free from her mother's bossiness, nagging, and smothering for a time. She was tricked into eating the four pomegranate seeds, wanting to stay with her mother, but came to value the time away from her mother. Demeter's relationship with her daughter is slightly unhealthy, as Demeter is only happy when she is with her daughter, but they both love each other dearly, despite the problems between them.

Relationship with Hades
When Hades kidnapped her, she did not want to stay with him and wanted to be rescued. He was very kind, and he didn't ever nag, boss, or smother her. He very much wanted her love and tried to buy it with many gifts at first, but then took to spending all of his day with her, trying to make her happy. He tricked her into eating the pomegranate seeds forcing her to stay with him part of the year. At first she despised Hades, but in time she grew to respect him and value her position as Queen of the Dead. It gave her a chance to get away from her mother. Eventually she fell in love with him and looked forward to spending her time with him, even forgiving his infidelities, as he got lonely without her.

Relationship with Hecate
During her time in the Underworld, Hecate is one of Persephone's few friends. Not much is known about their relationship, but it is assumed that the two are close.

The Demigod Files
In The Sword of Hades Percy, Thalia and Nico were sent to the underworld, Persephone appeared above them and told them that the newly created sword (forged from one of Hades' keys) was stolen. She gave them a flower (yellow carnation), which would point them in the direction of the thief, and stated that it's petals will fall, and when all has fallen, then the thief would have escaped. Later when they had recovered the sword, Percy realized that the sword was ordered to be made by Persephone against Hades' intent.

The Last Olympian
When Percy was tricked by Nico to Hades' palace, while Hades was debating what to do with Percy, Persephone appeared bickering with her mother, Demeter. She asked Hades if he could not kill Percy, because it's a shame to kill a hero, they were so brave. Hades decided to lock Percy up, Persephone appeared for a moment to argue but then let it go and continued arguing with her mother and disappeared. She later appeared with Hades and Demeter on a chariot riding as reinforcements against Kronos outside the Empire State Building. She turned the dracanae's spears into sunflowers.

Appearance
In The Sword of Hades she was described as a young woman with pale skin and black hair wearing a white dress, and although she was beautiful, it seemed like she would be more so during Spring. Her eyes were said to be multicolored, but washed out, as if the underworld had sapped her life force. In The Last Olympian, Persephone's eyes were chocolate brown and more "welcoming" than they were in The Sword of Hades.

Powers
Although Persephone is only a minor goddess, she exhibits many powers in the series.
 * She can turn anything (even living people) into flowers. She used this ability in the Battle of Manhattan by turning the dracanae's spears into sunflowers.
 * She is probably very good at growing things or has magical growing powers.
 * Since she is the wife of Hades, it's possible that she has limited geokinesis, since in The Demigod Files, she splits open the ground beneath Percy, Thalia, and Nico to get them into the Underworld.
 * She can also create Travel Roses, which she gave the three demigods listed above so they could return to the world above. In the film, she has something similar, although instead of flowers they are pearls that take you to the place you visualize when you crush them.

Prosperina
Persephone can change her appearance and turn into her Roman counterpart, Prosperina. As Prosperina, she becomes more disciplined, warlike, and militaristic. The Greeks believed Persephone's return from the Underworld signified the rebirth of crops whereas the Romans thought that Prosperina preserved their seeds during the winter.

Children

 * Hades - Macaria
 * Zeus - Melinoe and Zagreus

Trivia

 * Nico is holding a grudge against her, because they once had a "family spat" and she turned him into a dandelion, though she is trying to be nice to him.
 * Her appearance changes just like the seasons.
 * She finds her mother, Demeter, highly irritable.
 * She ordered the Sword of Hades to be made.

The Lightning Thief
In the movie The Lightning Thief, Persephone is played by Rosario Dawson. This is a contrast to the books where she makes her appearance in the last book, however, this may be due to the fact that Zeus was threatening a war and Hades didn't want Persephone to be caught in the middle, as was in The Last Olympian. This is also contrast to the myth where she is supposed to be with her mother, Demeter, since it is not winter which the amount of time she spent in the Underworld. Persephone has hidden pearls all over the U.S.A for having a quick escape from the underworld. They find one that was in Aunty Em's Gnome Emporium (which turned out to be Medusa's lair), then one in the Parthenon in Nashville, where the Hydra was at (and hidden as the Parthenon's janitors), and lastly one at Las Vegas, Nevada where they stayed at the Lotus Casino. When she was first mentioned by Luke it is said that during her time in the Underworld she is constantly having "Secret visitors" and that they use the pearls to get out of the underworld. She then attacks Hades with Zeus's Master Bolt before Hades can take it because if there is a war, Persephone can never return to Olympus.

Persephone's personality is very much in contrast with the book series, where in the film she seems to very much dislike Hades and is constantly insulting him and talking back to him. Furthermore, she is extremely unfaithful to him, to the point that she is constantly taking other lovers and makes obvious attempts at seducing Grover while he and Annabeth are listening to Hades talking to Percy.