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Fragments of pinax with Persephone and Hades enthroned
 © Institute and Museum of the History of Science

Fragments of pinax with Persephone and Hades enthroned

Clay, 490-480 B.C.
Locri Epizefiri, Mannella district, Sanctuary of Persephone
Reggio Calabria, Museo Nazionale, inv. 60832, 60856, 60893, 60880

This pinax portrays Persephone with a rooster and a bundle of ears of corn, and Hades with a ritual cup and a flowering branch. The ears of corn evoke the connection between Persephone and her mother Demeter who, in Greek mythology, presided over agriculture and the cultivation of cereals.