The definition you gave also applies to "personification" and so the two words are synonyms.
However, "personification" has a second meaning of "embodiment" which refers to when an abstract concept takes or assumes a bodily form e.g.
"The receptionist at the Dorchester Hotel is the personification / embodiment of charm when greeting guests."
This means that he is so charming that if charm had a human form, he would be that form, he would be charm itself. It's obviously a literary way of speaking.