The Rape of Persephone, or Abduction of Persephone, is a classical mythological subject in Western art, depicting the abduction of Persephone by Hades. In this context, the word Rape refers to the traditional translation of the Latin raptus ('seized' or 'carried off') which refers to bride kidnapping rather than the potential ensuing sexual violence. [1]
Persephone is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Hades wished to make her his wife, so he got permission from her father Zeus and help from Gaia to abduct her into the Underworld. When Persephone was picking flowers in a field, Hades emerged on his chariot from a crack on the earth, and carried off the unwilling Persephone; only Hecate and Helios witnessed the abduction, and later told Demeter. [2]
This painting on a large wooden panel is entitled The Abduction of Proserpine. It was painted in 1570, and spent most of its life residing in the Villa Salviati after being commissioned by the Salviati family. [3]
Painted in around 1631, The Abduction of Proserpina has largely been attributed to Rembrandt. Although the painting remains unsigned, the style and composition is highly indicative of being a legitimate Rembrandt. It is currently displayed as a part of Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, permanent exhibit. [4]
Created in 1636 and 1637, Peter Paul Rubens depicted the abduction of Persephone in a piece entitled The Rape of Proserpine. The piece was intended to decorate the lost Torre de la Parada, and as such was owned by the Spanish Royal family. [5]
This was copied later in the 17th century by Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo in oil on canvas under the name of El Rapto de Proserpina, and later again reproduced by the Real Establecimiento Litográfico de Madrid in the 19th century for the purpose of printing and distribution.[ citation needed ]
As part of a set of oil studies intended to be used for painting the ceiling frescoes in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence, the Mythological Scene with the Rape of Proserpine was created with the intention of being presented to Marquess Francesco Riccardi for approval before being painted in the palace. Currently, ten of the twelve oil studies created between 1682 and 1685 reside in the National Gallery. [6]
This list is by no means exhaustive, but seeks to highlight some prominent examples of the myth in Western paintings.
Examples include:
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although she is mostly known as a grain goddess, she also appeared as a goddess of health, birth, and marriage, and had connections to the Underworld. She is also called Deo. In Greek tradition, Demeter is the second child of the Titans Rhea and Cronus, and sister to Hestia, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Like her other siblings but Zeus, she was swallowed by her father as an infant and rescued by Zeus.
Hades, in the ancient Greek religion and mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also made him the last son to be regurgitated by his father. He and his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, defeated their father's generation of gods, the Titans, and claimed joint rulership over the cosmos. Hades received the underworld, Zeus the sky, and Poseidon the sea, with the solid earth available to all three concurrently. In artistic depictions, Hades is typically portrayed holding a bident and wearing his helm with Cerberus, the three-headed guard-dog of the underworld, standing at his side.
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone, also called Kore or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after her abduction by her uncle Hades, the king of the underworld, who would later also take her into marriage.
Proserpina or Proserpine is an ancient Roman goddess whose iconography, functions and myths are virtually identical to those of Greek Persephone. Proserpina replaced or was combined with the ancient Roman fertility goddess Libera, whose principal cult was housed in the Aventine temple of the grain-goddess Ceres, along with the wine god Liber.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Pluto was the ruler of the Greek underworld. The earlier name for the god was Hades, which became more common as the name of the underworld itself. Pluto represents a more positive concept of the god who presides over the afterlife. Ploutōn was frequently conflated with Ploûtos, the Greek god of wealth, because mineral wealth was found underground, and because as a chthonic god Pluto ruled the deep earth that contained the seeds necessary for a bountiful harvest. The name Ploutōn came into widespread usage with the Eleusinian Mysteries, in which Pluto was venerated as both a stern ruler and a loving husband to Persephone. The couple received souls in the afterlife and are invoked together in religious inscriptions, being referred to as Plouton and as Kore respectively. Hades, by contrast, had few temples and religious practices associated with him, and he is portrayed as the dark and violent abductor of Persephone.
Claudius Claudianus, known in English as Claudian, was a Latin poet associated with the court of the Roman emperor Honorius at Mediolanum (Milan), and particularly with the general Stilicho. His work, written almost entirely in hexameters or elegiac couplets, falls into three main categories: poems for Honorius, poems for Stilicho, and mythological epic.
Vergina is a small town in Northern Greece, part of Veria municipality in Imathia, Central Macedonia. Vergina was established in 1922 in the aftermath of the population exchanges after the Treaty of Lausanne and was a separate municipality until 2011, when it was merged with Veroia under the Kallikratis Plan.
In Greek mythology, the Greek underworld, or Hades, is a distinct realm where an individual goes after death. The earliest idea of afterlife in Greek myth is that, at the moment of death, an individual's essence (psyche) is separated from the corpse and transported to the underworld. In early mythology the dead were indiscriminately grouped together and led a shadowy post-existence; however, in later mythology elements of post-mortem judgment began to emerge with good and bad people being separated.
Melinoë is a chthonic nymph or goddess invoked in one of the Orphic Hymns and represented as a bringer of nightmares and madness. The name "Melinoë" also appears on a metal tablet in association with Persephone. In the hymn, Melinoë has characteristics that seem similar to Hecate and the Erinyes, and Melinoë's name is sometimes thought to be an epithet of Hecate. The terms in which Melinoë is described are typical of moon goddesses in Greek poetry.
Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter in Greek mythology, appears in films, works of literature, and in popular culture, both as a goddess character and through the symbolic use of her name. She becomes the queen of the underworld through her abduction by Hades, the god of the underworld. The myth of her abduction represents her dual function as the as chthonic (underworld) and vegetation goddess: a personification of vegetation, which shoots forth in Spring and withdraws into the earth after harvest. Proserpina is the Roman equivalent.
Proserpine is a verse drama written for children by the English Romantic writers Mary Shelley and her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley. Mary wrote the blank verse drama and Percy contributed two lyric poems. Composed in 1820 while the Shelleys were living in Italy, it is often considered a partner to the Shelleys' play Midas. Proserpine was first published in the London periodical The Winter's Wreath in 1832. Whether the drama was ever intended to be staged is a point of debate among scholars.
In Greek mythology, Ganymede or Ganymedes is a divine hero whose homeland was Troy. Homer describes Ganymede as the most beautiful of mortals and tells the story of how he was abducted by the gods to serve as Zeus's cup-bearer in Olympus.
[Ganymedes] was the loveliest born of the race of mortals, and therefore
the gods caught him away to themselves, to be Zeus' wine-pourer,
for the sake of his beauty, so he might be among the immortals.
Proserpine is an oil painting on canvas by English artist and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, painted in 1874 and now in Tate Britain. Rossetti began work on the painting in 1871 and painted at least eight separate versions, the last only completed in 1882, the year of his death. Early versions were promised to Charles Augustus Howell. The painting discussed in this article is the so-called seventh version commissioned by Frederick Richards Leyland, now at the Tate Gallery, with the very similar final version now at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn's The Abduction of Europa (1632) is one of his rare mythological subject paintings. The work is oil on a single oak panel and now located in the J. Paul Getty Museum. The inspiration for the painting is Ovid's Metamorphoses, part of which tells the tale of Zeus's seduction and capture of Europa. The painting shows a coastal scene with Europa being carried away in rough waters by a bull while her friends remain on shore with expressions of horror. Rembrandt combined his knowledge of classical literature with the interests of the patron in order to create this allegorical work. The use of an ancient myth to impart a contemporary thought and his portrayal of the scene using the High Baroque style are two strong aspects of the work.
The Birth of the Milky Way, also sometimes known as The Origin of the Milky Way, is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, produced between 1636 and 1638 and featuring the Greco-Roman myth of the origin of the Milky Way. The painting depicts Hera (Juno), spilling her breast milk, the infant Heracles (Hercules) and Zeus (Jupiter) in the background, identifiable by his eagle and lightning bolts. Hera's face is modelled on Rubens' wife, Hélène Fourment. The carriage is pulled by peacocks, a bird which the ancient Greeks and Romans considered sacred to both themselves and to Hera/Juno, as a result of their ability to signal changes in weather through cries and hence their perceived connection to the gods. Due to the dark background of the night sky the figures gain a greater sense of volume.
The Rape of Ganymede is a painting by the Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens produced between 1636 and 1638 painting for the Spanish king Philip IV of Spain's hunting lodge. The painting is based on a story recounted in classical poet Ovid's Metamorphoses. It depicts the moment when the Roman supreme god Jupiter disguised as an eagle catches the young shepherd Ganymede and lifts him into the air. It is in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid. The dramatic scene gave Rubens ample opportunity to show his skill in depicting a lively scene and the nude.
Peeter Symons or Peeter Simons was a Flemish painter only known for his collaboration with Rubens in 1636 on the commission from the Spanish king Philip IV of Spain to create a series of mythological paintings to decorate the Torre de la Parada, a hunting lodge of the king near Madrid.
Pallas and Arachne, also known as Minerva Punishing Arachne and occasionally referred to as Arachne Punished by Pallas, is an oil-on-board oil study by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens completed in 1636 or 1637.
Lore Olympus is a romance webcomic created by New Zealand artist Rachel Smythe. The comic is a modern retelling of the relationship between the Greek goddess and god Persephone and Hades. It began publishing weekly on the platform Webtoon in March 2018. Lore Olympus is currently the most popular comic on Webtoon; as of January 2024, it has 1.3 billion views and 6.5 million subscribers. The comic has won a Harvey Award, two Eisner Awards, and received nominations for Ringo Awards. It was announced in 2019 that a television adaptation was under development.
Mercury and Argus is an oil on panel painting by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens. It was created between 1635 and 1638 and is now in the possession of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, Germany. Another work on the same theme and with the same title, painted on canvas by Rubens between 1636 and 1638, is in the collection of the Prado Museum, Madrid.
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Media related to Rape of Persephone at Wikimedia Commons