- “Husband, we talked about this. You can't go around incinerating every hero. Besides, he's brave. I like that.”
- ―Persephone to Hades
Queen Persephone is one of the minor characters in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series. She is the Greek goddess of springtime, flowers, vegetation, and fertility. She is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, as well as the wife of Hades, therefore being the Queen of the Underworld. Her Roman counterpart is Proserpina.
In the 2010 adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Persephone was portrayed by Rosario Dawson, who also portrays Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians[]
The Demigod Files[]
The Sword of Hades[]
Persephone tricks her stepson, Nico, her nephew Percy and her niece Thalia into finding the sword of Hades, which had been stolen. She gave them a yellow carnation that would lead them to the direction of the thief but warns them that the petals will all fall once the thief escapes.
Later, when the demigods had recovered the sword, Percy realized that the sword was ordered to be made by Persephone against Hades' orders to make him more powerful. When Thalia protests about Hades' new weapon of power, Persephone silences her and thanks Percy and Thalia for making their uncle more powerful. However, Hades is angry as Persephone went behind his back and ordered the sword to be made to make her husband the most powerful of the Big Three. He swears an oath that he won't use this sword against the Olympians.
The Last Olympian[]
Persephone convinces her husband that she likes Percy and that it will be ashamed to kill a hero so brave. Hades decides to imprison him instead. Persephone does try to object but she goes back to arguing with her mother.
Towards the end of the Battle of Manhattan, Persephone, Demeter, and Hades come to their family's aid with reinforcements against Kronos outside the Empire State Building. She turns all the Scythian Dracanae's spears into tsunflowers and reduces attacks from foot soldiers.
Film Adaptation[]
In the film adaptation of The Lightning Thief, Persephone is vastly different from her book and mythological counterpart. Persephone is the Queen of the Underworld, daughter of Demeter and Zeus and Hades forced her to marry him. She is said to hate living there and being married to Hades.
Persephone had pearls created and spread across the globe. Percy, Grover, and Annabeth find three of them in Medusa's lair, the Parthenon in Nashville ,the and the third one at lotus hotel and casino. She steals the bolt from Hades after he gained it from Luke's shield and blasts her husband with it. Persephone claims Hades won't remember a thing and tells the four mortals that she has to put up with her husband. She allows Percy and his friends to leave, taking the bolt and his mother. However, Grover is forced to stay behind due to them having three pearls instead of four.
