Proserpina in Pluto's Palace Postcard

"I shall not touch it, I assure you," said she. Thus runs the quote for this illustration by the American artist Virginia Frances Sterrett that depicts the goddess Proserpina in Pluto's palace rejecting his offer of pomegranate seeds. The illustration was one of several undertaken by Sterrett for Nathaniel Hawthorne's adaptation of six Greek myths. These were published by the Penn Publishing Company in 1921 as Tanglewood Tales. The Pomegranate Seeds recounts the tale of Roman goddess Proserpina, or Persephone in Greece, and how she ultimately succumbs, thus creating seasonal changes. Like all myths, there are various versions.