THE MEANING OF PERSEPHONE'S NAME
Theories Derived from Lexicon and Dictionary Sources

 

The first thing we must start with is her childhood name, Kore [Κορη], sometimes spelled Koura or Koure. Most people interpret this to mean "maiden, young girl", but this is only a small portion of what it means. It also carries the meaning of "a bride, young wife", which seems to argue that she was not necessarily the abused virgin modern interpretations make her out to be.

Just as found with Hades' name, Kore relates to other words that use it as a root. Such things as found below also lend themselves to more in her character than many people guess at.
 

All in all, I find there is a relation from the supposedly simple word "kore" to these other words, when one digs far enough. I interpret all these various words to mean that even as a child, Kore / Persephone is quite a bit more than she is usually represented by most writers. She was not merely a child who was stolen away, she was the destined bride of the God of Death, the head and heart of the Underworld, the forever youthful goddess who loves and brings life to everything below the earth as well as above. The implications found through language alone show that these things were very likely known to the ancients who created the language. And even through centuries of rewriting by numerous authors, the definitions of words still show the path of meaning as it most likely was intended originally.
 

Next we must turn to her adult name, Persephone. However, this name is not accurately Greek, but is also Anglicised like Hades' name. It is supposedly to be read in two parts, "Perse" and "Phone", but "perse" is not a real word in Greek. Ancient vase paintings designate her only as Pherophata [Φεροφατα] and this is the truest, simplest form of her name, taken from "pheros" (convey, bring) and "phateios" (ineffable). As she was referred to at Eleusis as "The Ineffable Maiden", and her temple at Eleusis was the Pherephation, this is clearly her proper name and title in one. Another version of her name found on several examples of ancient artwork is read as Pherephassa.

Modern writers who use only the name Persephone also have misinterpreted the meaning of this name, usually claiming it means either "destroyer of the light" or merely "destroyer". They begin with the first half as being related to "pheros" but have chosen the word "phereauges" (bringing light) to designate the "light" part of Persephone. However, since the part of the word which actually means "light" is "auges", then this is strictly false. The first part, "perse", again, is not even a real word in Greek and since it is not involved in the meaning of "phereauges" the concept of "light destroyer" must be completely discarded.

The second half of Persephone comes from "phone" or "phonos" (murder, slaughter, bloodshed), but could also come from "phonema" ("that which is destined to be slaughtered", i.e. "a sacrifice"), perhaps indicating that she willingly underwent her own sort of death and resurrection, to better understand the way people experience death.

All in all, the above interpretation of the name Persephone is wrong, and should not include the word "light" at all. Persephone, as the name stands, should more likely read "bringer of destruction" or perhaps "bringing holy sacrifice".

There is also irony found in other words with "pheros" at their root, and a great many of them lend a connection to the goddess and her powers, as well as hinting that the abduction was well planned out in advance. Indeed, those who worshipped Hades and Persephone at Locri in Sicily, a very ancient settlement, declared this to be true and their artwork represents wedding preparations and examples of the "klepsigamia" or "stolen bride" wedding.
 

phero, pheros	to bear, carry, bring, offer, produce, announce, receive, pay, etc.
pheranthes	flower-bringing
pherekarpos	yielding fruit
pheresbios	life-giving
pherbo	to feed, nourish, preserve
pherma	that which is borne, fruit of the womb
pherenikos	to carry off in victory
pheretreuomai	to be carried on a litter
pherne	that which is brought by the wife, a dowry, bridal gifts
phernai, polemou	the wife won in battle
pheromon	conveying from one to another (from which the word "pheromone" comes directly)
pheresthai	to come to, to send, to gain for, to be free of, to allow to, to turn out (a very general form of pheros)

Although I don't think there's much chance of it being accurate, we can argue that if "Persephone" might be looked at in three parts, rather than only two (i.e., Pher-Se-Phone), then there are other words which may lend themselves to understanding her name. Perhaps there is a subtle bridge between the first and last parts of the name, in the form of a suffix, "se-", "sa-", or "si-", which may have its root in such words as...

sabaktes	shatterer, destroyer (relating to the name "Sabazios", a title of her son Dionysos)
se -	suffix meaning "motion towards, to some other place"
sephtheis	to feel awe before god
side	pomegranate (interesting notion, yes?)
sita, sitos	grain, both corn and barley (as she was called the personification of grain within the Mysteries
sy -	suffix meaning "connecting, joining"
sphage	slayer

And the last part of her name, regardless of which form you use, offers other interesting possibilities to the full meaning...
 

phoine'eis	red as blood
phassa, phatta	a dove (which leads to the odd phrase below)
phassaphonos	dove-killing
phasis, phaso	accusation, assertion, promise, declaration
phatis	voice from heaven, oracle
phatizo	to speak, report; also to promise, betroth, engage
phatistheisa	promised bride
phateios, ou phatos	un-speakable, un-utterable, ineffable

As said before, Persephone was called at Eleusis "The Ineffable maiden" because her importance in the Mysteries was considered to be almost incommunicable in mere words (becoming almost like Hades, in that no one wished to speak his name, and no one could manage to speak hers due to awe). She was seen as the perfect example of everything the mysteries of nature, death and rebirth stood for, and her temple at Eleusis was indeed called the "Pherephation". Her most common name at Eleusis was simply Kore, used almost as a nickname. But she was formally called Phersephata or Pherophata, rather than the later version, Persephone.

So... if we begin with Pherophata ("pheros-phateios") as the most true version of her name and extrapolate what we know of her character using the words I've found, her name appropriately means "She Who Conveys the Ineffable", a powerful concept in itself. I follow this older translation, and all newer forms are to me mere shadows of what she is. But I must consider them, because others do.

Even the newer version of her name, Persephone, I still maintain means more than simply "destroyer of the light", especially since I've shown that the "light" part is incorrect. Preferably, it should be read as "She Who Is Borne of Holy Sacrifice" ("pheros-phonema"), since she gave herself up to one who held great power and knowledge, sacrificed half of her life above ground for it, and changed the world and the people's minds forever.

Just my humble (yet passionately researched) opinions of course.
 

S+S home
 

contents © m.a.anthony

research into root words and their meanings derived from "Greek-English Lexicon" (Liddell & Scott)