Alas, Persephone's content to vilify (7)
I believe the answer is:
asperse
'to vilify' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'alas persephone's content' is the wordplay.
'content' indicates a hidden word (letters contained within the clue).
'ASPERSE' is hidden within 'alas persephone'.
(Other definitions for asperse that I've seen before include "See spar could slander oddly" , "Defame" , "Call names" , "Malign" , "Slander or calumniate" .)