Per‧se‧pho‧ne /pɜːˈsefəni $ pər-/
in Greek mythology, the daughter of Zeus who was taken to the underworld (=the place under the ground where the spirits of dead people live) by Pluto, the god of the Underworld, and made queen there. Zeus allowed her to return, but only for six months each year, from the beginning of Spring to the end of Summer. As a result, she represents death and rebirth, and the change from Winter into Spring. In Roman mythology her name is Proserpina, and in English she is sometimes called Proserpine.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲