XX Persephone

Blessed is he who hath seen these things [the Eleusinian Mysteries] before he goeth beneath the hollow earth; for he understandeth the end of mortal life, and the beginning of a new life given of god.
Pindar, Dirges, ca. 500 – 400 BCE

Bright flower maiden and dread underworld queen, Persephone traversed the worlds of life and death, innocence and initiation. Her story demonstrated to humanity both the cyclic and the transcendent nature of reality and the soul.

Image source: Attic Red Figure Vase, ca. 350 BCE