Bringer of Death, the Dread Goddess Persephone, and her mother, Demeter

Season 4 // Episode 166

This episode originally aired on August 4, 2020. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Get ad-free episodes and so, so much more, by subscribing to the Oracle Edition at patreon.com/mythsbaby

She's the Bringer of Death, the Dread Goddess Persephone (and she's Kore, the maiden goddess of the spring). Persephone and Hades have a hand in countless stories from mythology and theatre, they ruled the Underworld and required constant appeasement. Meanwhile, in the daily lie of the ancient Greeks, Persephone and Demeter were equally vital if in very different ways from those revolving around the dead.

CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I would be were I referencing the real thing.

Sources: Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity by Sarah B. Pomeroy; The Homeric Hymns translated by Jules Cashford; Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds by Daniel Ogden; Theoi.com; Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton; The Greek Myths by Robert Graves; The Gods of the Greeks by C. Kerenyi.

Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here: mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions.