Gods, Goddesses, and Ancient Legends
A few pomegranate seeds in the land of the dead, and the girl Pluto dragged underground woke up its queen. Rome grew her name in the wheat and scratched it into its curses — the same goddess for the harvest and the grave.
The word “cereal” comes from her name. So does one of the most politically charged temples in Roman history.
The Romans had three different gods governing the underworld, and they were careful about which one they were actually addressing. Most people today conflate all three into one.
Orpheus walked into the underworld with a lyre and talked his way past Cerberus, past the Furies, past Pluto himself. He got everything he asked for. Then he looked back.
Pluto took Proserpina from a Sicilian meadow and the earth stopped growing. The myth is Rome’s explanation for winter — but what it’s really about is what holds the world together, and what happens when one piece of it goes missing.