Phersipnai
/pɛr.sɪpˈnaɪ/ (approx.)noun
An Etruscan goddess of the underworld, corresponding to the Greek Persephone.
Did you know?Phersipnai appears in Etruscan funerary contexts alongside Aita, the Etruscan underworld god, revealing how Greek myth was absorbed and transformed in Italy.
Etymological Timeline
1st millennium BCE
Etruscan
Phersipnai
“Etruscan goddess associated with the underworld and the dead”
6th–5th century BCE
Ancient Greek
Περσεφόνη (Persephonē)
“Greek goddess of the underworld and seasonal renewal; the name’s deeper etymology is uncertain”
3rd–1st century BCE
Latin
Proserpina
“Roman goddess identified with Greek Persephone”
Middle English
English
Proserpine
“A literary English form of the Roman underworld goddess’s name”
Modern English
English
Persephone
“The Greek queen of the underworld and goddess associated with spring”
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