Editing Persephone (section)

== Name ==
In a [[Linear B]] [[Mycenaean Greek]] inscription on a tablet found at [[Pylos]] dated 1400–1200 BC, [[John Chadwick]] reconstructed{{efn|The actual word in [[Linear B]] is {{lang|gmy|{{script|Linb|𐀟𐀩𐁚}}}}, ''pe-re-*82'' or ''pe-re-swa''; it is found on the [[Pylos|PY]] Tn 316 tablet.<ref>{{harvnb|Raymoure|loc="pe-re-*82"}}; {{harvnb|Aurora}}.</ref>}} the name of a goddess, ''*Preswa'', who could be identified with [[Perse (mythology)|Perse]], daughter of [[Oceanus]], and found speculative the further identification with the first element of Persephone.<ref>{{harvnb|Chadwick|1976|page=95}}</ref>{{efn|Comments about the goddess ''pe-re-*82'' of [[Pylos]] tablet Tn 316, tentatively reconstructed as ''*Preswa''
:"It is tempting to see [...] the classical Perse [...] daughter of [[Oceanus]] [...] whether it may be further identified with the first element of Persephone is only speculative."<ref>{{harvnb|Chadwick|1959}}{{pages needed|date=December 2024}}</ref>}} ''Persephonē'' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: {{lang|grc|Περσεφόνη}}) is her name in the [[Ionic Greek]] of [[Epic poetry|epic]] literature. The Homeric form of her name is ''Persephoneia'' ({{lang|grc|Περσεφονεία}},<ref name="Homer1899">{{harvnb|Homer, ''Odyssey''|page=230}}</ref> ''Persephoneia''). In other dialects, she was known under variant names: ''Persephassa'' ({{lang|grc|Περσεφάσσα}}), ''Persephatta'' ({{lang|grc|Περσεφάττα}}), or simply ''Korē'' ({{lang|grc|Κόρη}}, "girl, maiden").<ref>H.G. Liddell and R. Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon''</ref> On 5th century Attic vases one often encounters the form ({{lang|grc|Φερρϖφάττα}}). [[Plato]] calls her ''Pherepapha'' ({{lang|grc|Φερέπαφα}}) in his [[Cratylus (dialogue)|''Cratylus'']], "because she is wise and touches that which is in motion", and ''Phersephona'' ({{lang|grc|Φερσεφόνα}}) in ''[[Meno]]''.<ref>Plato, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plat.+Meno+81b&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0177 Meno, 81b]</ref> There are also the forms ''Periphona'' ({{lang|grc|Πηριφόνα}}) and ''Phersephassa'' ({{lang|grc|Φερσέφασσα}}). The existence of so many different forms shows how difficult it was for the Greeks to pronounce the word in their own language and suggests that the name may have a [[Pre-Greek substrate|Pre-Greek origin]].<ref>{{harvnb|Nilsson|1967|p=474}}</ref>

The etymology of the word "Persephone" is obscure. According to a recent hypothesis advanced by [[Rudolf Wachter]], the first element in the name (''Perso''- ({{lang|grc|Περσο-}}) may well reflect a very rare term, attested in the [[Rig Veda]] (Sanskrit ''parṣa-''), and the [[Avesta]], meaning "sheaf of corn" / "ear [of grain]". The second constituent, ''phatta'', preserved in the form ''Persephatta'' ({{lang|grc|Περσεφάττα}}), would in this view reflect [[Proto-Indo-European]] ''{{PIE|*-gʷn-t-ih}}'', from the root ''{{PIE|*gʷʰen-}}'' "to strike / beat / kill". The combined sense would therefore be "she who beats the ears of corn", i.e., a "thresher of grain".<ref>{{harvnb|Bremmer|2020|page=74}}; {{harvnb|Beekes|2009|pp=1179–1180}}.</ref>

The name of the [[Albanian folk beliefs|Albanian]] dawn-goddess, goddess of love and protector of women, [[Prende|''Premtë'' or ''P(ë)rende'']], is thought to correspond regularly to the [[Ancient Greek]] counterpart {{lang|grc|Περσεφάττα}} (''Persephatta''), a variant of {{lang|grc|Περσεφόνη}} (''Persephone'').<ref name="Hyllested&Joseph">{{cite book |last1=Hyllested |first1=Adam |last2=Joseph |first2=Brian D. |date=2022 |chapter=Albanian |editor1-last=Olander |editor1-first=Thomas |title=The Indo-European Language Family: A phylogenetic perspective |doi=10.1017/9781108758666 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-108-75866-6 |s2cid=161016819 |page=223 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xzKAEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA223}}</ref><ref name="Dedvukaj">{{cite journal |last=Dedvukaj |first=Lindon |date=2023 |title=Linguistic evidence for the Indo-European and Albanian origin of ''Aphrodite'' |journal=Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America |publisher=[[Linguistic Society of America]] |volume=8 |number=1 |page=5500 |s2cid=258381736 |doi=10.3765/plsa.v8i1.5500 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The theonyms have been traced back to the [[Indo-European]] ''*pers-é-bʰ(h₂)n̥t-ih₂'' ("she who brings the light through").<ref name="Hyllested&Joseph" />

A popular folk etymology is from {{lang|grc|φέρειν φόνον}}, ''pherein phonon'', "to bring (or cause) death".<ref name="SmithPersephone">{{harvnb|Smith|1873|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=persephone-bio-1 "Perse'phone"]}}</ref>