Proserpina
Sign in to saveProserpina ( ; ) or Proserpine ( ) is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of the Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whose principal cult was housed in a temple atop Rome's Aventine Hill, which she shared with the grain-goddess Ceres and the wine god Liber (Liber Pater).
AI overview
Proserpina is an ancient Roman goddess of fertility who is essentially the Roman version of the Greek goddess Persephone, sharing the same stories and symbolic meanings. She was worshipped in Rome alongside Ceres (goddess of grain) and Liber (god of wine) in a temple on the Aventine Hill, where she replaced or merged with an earlier Roman fertility goddess named Libera.
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Key facts
- Deity.type
- Roman
- Deity.name
- Proserpina
- Deity.image
- Marble_Statue_of_Persephone,_2nd_Century_AD_(41410710410).jpg
- Deity.caption
- Marble statue of Proserpina, 2nd century AD. She is depicted holding a torch lighting her way and a sheaf of grain symbolizing abundance.
- Deity.god_of
- Queen of the Underworld, goddess of female and agricultural fertility, and springtime growth
- Deity.abode
- Orcus, in winter (Roman name for underworld, and for its ruling deity, equivalent to Greek Hades)
- Deity.symbol
- torch, sheaf, pomegranate
- Deity.consort
- Pluto, Liber, Dis Pater or Orcus (various traditions)
- Deity.parents
- Ceres
- Deity.temples
- Aventine Hill (with Liber and Ceres)
- Deity.festivals
- Liberalia (uncertain)
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Epithets and poetic allusions
- Cult and myths
- Origin of Libera
- Libera and Proserpina
- Proserpina
- Myths
- Orpheus and Eurydice
- In artwork
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Proserpina ( ; ) or Proserpine ( ) is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of the Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whose principal cult was housed in a temple atop Rome's Aventine Hill, which she shared with the grain-goddess Ceres and the wine god Liber (Liber Pater).
Each of these three deities occupied their own cella at the temple, their cults served or supervised by a male public priesthood. Ceres was by far the senior of the three, one of the Dii Consentes, Rome's approximate equivalent to the Greek Twelve Olympians, Ceres being identified with the Greek Demeter and Liber with Dionysus. Libera is sometimes described as a female version of Liber Pater, concerned with female fertility. Otherwise she is given no clear identity or mythology by Roman sources, and no Greek equivalent. Nothing is known of her native iconography: her name translates as a feminine form of Liber, "the free one". Proserpina's name is a Latinization of "Persephone", perhaps influenced by the Latin proserpere ("to emerge, to creep forth"), with reference to the growing of grain.