-
Pluto carries Proserpine off The New York Public Library © The New York Public Library -
The rape of Persephone Kunsthistorisches Museum ©KHM-Museumsverband -
The Rape of Proserpina Alessandro Masnago Kunsthistorisches Museum ©KHM-Museumsverband -
Lidded cup, so-called Proserpina Cup Annibale Fontana Kunsthistorisches Museum ©KHM-Museumsverband -
Persephone and Hades (?) (2/3) Berlin painter Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe © Badisches Landesmuseum -
The Abduction of Persephone Peeter Van der Borcht Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon © Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon -
The Ploutoneion and the Propylaea Ferdinand Noack Universität Heidelberg © Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg / Public Domain -
Plan of the Plutoneion Ferdinand Noack Universität Heidelberg © Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg / Public Domain -
The nymph Arethusa emerging from her pool and telling Ceres she has seen Proserpine in the Underworld Léon Davent The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Proserpina and Ascalaphus Johann Wilhelm Baur The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
The rape of Proserpine Niccolò dell'Abbate The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Rape of Proserpine, after Alessandro Turchi Gaetano Zancon The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Pluto carrying off Proserpine; with the nymph Cyane weeping and dissolving into water Antonio Tempesta The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Black-figured neck-amphora. Return of Persephone from Hades. The Leagros Group The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Pluto abducting Proserpine (Persephone) Circle/School of: Maso Finiguerra The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
The rape of Proserpina by Neptune Gaetano Gandolfi The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
The rape of Proserpina, carried off by Pluto Jean Lepautre The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Proserpine kneeling desperately in front of Pluto Philippus Velyn The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Pluto in chariot holding Proserpine in his arms, the nymph Cyane opposing After Frederick Richard Pickersgill The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Rocky landscape with Pluto and Proserpine on a chariot plunging into a chasm leading to the Underworld; the nymph Cyane is emerging from a pond and trying to stop the god. Léon Davent The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
The rape of Proserpina. Pluto's chariot plunges into the crevice. Giuseppe Scolari The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Plate XII: a scene from the Nasoni family tomb showing the rape of Proserpina Pietro Santi Bartoli The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Pluto carrying off Proserpine; an elderly woman implores him to stop and beyond the chariot is parked. Cornelis Cort The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
The kidnapping of Proserpina, from the tapestry "The Loves of the Gods" Simon Vouet Musée du Louvre © 2018 Musée du Louvre / Objets d'art du Moyen Age, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes -
The Abduction of Proserpina Ottavio Semino Musée du Louvre © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée du Louvre) - Michel Urtado -
Pluto abducting Proserpine Hendrik van le Vieux Balen Musée du Louvre © Musée du Louvre, dist. RMN-Grand Palais - Photo M. Beck-Coppola -
Pluto abducting Proserpine After François Girardon Musée du Louvre © 2008 Musée du Louvre / Martine Beck-Coppola
The Ploutonion, or temple of Pluton, was the inaugural holy site visible upon entering the Eleusinian sanctuary, evoking both dread and wonder among those uninitiated into the profound tranquillity and enlightenment promised by Demeter’s mysteries. This cave, rather modest in depth, offered only a glimpse of its shadowy depths to those journeying along the Sacred Way. Its interior featured two smaller recesses, divided by a natural rock ledge, with the temple of Pluton situated in front of the larger chamber. The northern wall of the lesser recess houses a notable aperture, observable from the Sacred Way, and in front of this, a six-step stairway hewn into the rock. The precise purpose of this feature remains speculative, but it might have symbolised Persephone’s return from Hades, with a priestess ascending the steps to emerge before the devotees.
This situation presents a geographical conundrum. The mythological narrative clearly states that Persephone’s abduction occurred in the Nysian Plain. Despite their desires, the Eleusinians could not authentically assert that the cave’s entrance was the actual site of this mythic event. Nevertheless, this did not hinder them from integrating the theme of Kore’s return into the Greater Mysteries’ ceremonies, with the cave’s compelling ambience serving as a dramatic setting for the annual depiction of Persephone’s rise from the Underworld.
During Peisistratos’ reign, a temple dedicated to Pluton, the Underworld’s ruler was constructed here. In the 4th century BCE, the Eleusinians embarked on an extensive renovation project, erecting a well-crafted retaining wall of poros stone, shaping a triangular courtyard and precisely defining the sanctuary’s boundaries. This courtyard, with a peribolos, was directly accessible from the Sacred Way, with steps located in the southeast corner. A more bigger edifice, featuring a pronaos and nave, took the place of the smaller Peisistratan temple, likely necessitated by Persian destruction. An inscription from the time of Cephisophon’s archonship (329/8 BCE) details expenditures on elm planks for temple doors, costs of refining pilasters and painting capitals, indicating the thoroughness and investment in this significant rebuilding effort.
