Marriage of Persephone:
Most of the Hymn to Demeter is concerned with the details of Demeter's search for her lost daughter, because the poem is in many respects more about Demeter and her reactions to the loss of Persephone than about the abduction of Persephone itself. Be this as it may, the young goddess who is enamored of flowers and cavorting with her friends is transformed into the wife of the stern and imperious Hades in the Hymn. This is accomplished through one significant event: once in the Underworld, Hades offers Persephone the seeds of the pomegranate, which she accepts. The act of ingesting pomegranate seeds symbolizes the consummation of their relationship, which is a beautiful poetic touch. Hereafter, Persephone, who was previously known as Kore ("the maiden") is regarded as the spouse of Hades, and she inhabits the Underworld with him for part of the year.
(The goddess Persephone was known as Proserpina in Roman mythology.)
