PERSEPHONE A daughter of Zeus and Demeter, Persephone was carriedoff to the Underworld by Hades, who, having received the sanction of hisbrother---and Persephone's father---Zeus, suddenly rose up from a hole in the earth while the girl was gathering narcissus, seized her and dragged her, in his black chariot, down to the kingdom of the dead. Persephone, frightened, implored the gods to help her, but Zeus' word having been given to his brother, he made no move tohelp, nor would he suffer any of the other gods to render assistance to the strickengirl.