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A massive thread on modern Persephone & Hades (mostly romanticized) representations, based on a seminar. I see reference to the popularity of the phenomenon, but rarely see the examples. So, here they are!
Start with analysis of fanart on the right to ground layers of reception
Start with analysis of fanart on the right to ground layers of reception
I see reference to the popularity of the phenomenon, but rarely see the examples. So, here they are!
First: some reminders from the "Hymn to Demeter." Especially note the emphasis on Persephone's intelligence in the second slide after she has been in the underworld.
Start with https://daniellamichalleni.tumblr.com/tagged/poetry
Year: sometime before 2017
Focus on the anaphoric desire "I wanted" and the use of agency of taking Hades; taking her narrative; taking her return.
Year: sometime before 2017
Focus on the anaphoric desire "I wanted" and the use of agency of taking Hades; taking her narrative; taking her return.
Then @VeneficusIpse's tiktok about the phenomenon; especially the reminder that you can make whatever version you want, just don't claim it's connection to the ancient myth. https://www.tiktok.com/foryou?lang=en#/@veneficusipse/video/6906608432560770309
We go far back to "Silly Symphony: The Goddess of Spring." A steretotyped Hades as Satan. But notice how the earth opens up and closes without leaving a mark. Very Hesiodic. @CBPolt likely has more to say about this
Back to the Internet and N. Gill's mythology poetry that began as viral tumblr posts.
First: "Hades to Persephone"
Bad pick up lines; he speaks for her emotions: "restless in your emotions." Language of giving and allowing.
This is the language of Hades as simp.
Bad pick up lines; he speaks for her emotions: "restless in your emotions." Language of giving and allowing.
This is the language of Hades as simp.
Persephone answers in only four stanzas. She claims her own knowledge over "how our tale is told."
"Persephone to Theseus and Pirithous" centers P as the real power in the underworld.
Image creates an easy way for people less inclined to participate to make observations.
Image creates an easy way for people less inclined to participate to make observations.
The longest poem in the cycle is "Persephone and Hades, After."
From Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson's The Greek Gods Ch7 (Persephone Marries Her Stalker)." (recently discussed by @sierraschiano for the WCC panel "Think of the Children" at the SCS). Complicated because PJ narrates and his misogyny mediates reception.
WattPad is also a crucial site of Persephone reception. Look at the number of views.
None of these are simple (or even worse descriptor ignorant). Note: "chthonic deities" in "The Queen Below." We see the "other versions are wrong" trope in "Hades Lesbian Version." And lying Demeter in "Persephone and Hades."
Music interlude: "Our Lady of the Underground" from "Hadestown."
On to "Lore Olympus." [first three episodes] https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/lore-olympus/episode-1/viewer?title_no=1320&episode_no=1
Lore asks us to make the ancient connection (what Maxwell's tiktok warned of) by epigraphing the "Homeric Hymn to Demeter."
First glimpse of Hades is him texting and driving and getting rejected by Minthe, a sexy nymph in a bathtub. Awww, he has feelings.
Interesting portrayal of Zeus (we see him yell) and Hera (he godhandles her). Hades is uncomfortable.
Meanwhile Artemis (wtf) is making over Persephone. "Relic" to sheath dress tells us, in case we did not know, that we are not in the Hymn but on the Internet.
Hades' relationship with his brothers acts to give us some more mythy bonafides: Poseidon's name has not appeared, but we know him because he hates Odysseus.
The art is really beautiful.
Exposition to explain why Hades does not know Persephone: conflict between Demeter and Zeus.
Plot kicks off because Hades says Persephone is more beautiful than Aphrodite: kicks off a jealous Aphrodite motivation...
More poems: This time from the Persephone section in "Ovid and Company"
"Persephone Leaving" by Mary Jo Bang
From Lisa Bernstein's "Post-War Persephone"
"The Pomegranate" by Eovan Boland
Rita Dove's "The Narcissus Flower"
Margaret Lloyd's "Queen of the Dead and her Mother"
"Persephone Tells" by Dashka Slater
"Persephone" by Joyce Wilson
From the "After Ovid" volume: "Ascalaphus" by Ciaran Carson.
I learned about "Mythic Warriors Guardians of the Legend Persephone and the Winter Seeds" from @sierraschiano
Another text I learned about from the WCC panel mentioned above:
"Persephone" by Loïc Locatelli-Kournwsky
"Persephone" by Loïc Locatelli-Kournwsky
I'll keep adding to this thread (and drop your links in the replies). But wanted to cap this first round off with Aimee Hinds's "Rape or Romance?: Bad Feminism in Mythical Retellings" for @eidolon_journal. https://eidolon.pub/rape-or-romance-1b3d584585b8
Oh, and Louise Glück's "Averno." Here is "Persephone the Wanderer" from that collection. https://poets.org/poem/persephone-wanderer
Two articles:
" Reflections on a Modernized Myth" By Alanna Byrne for @LupercalLegit
https://www.lupercallegit.org/post/reflections-on-a-modernized-myth
&
"Hades and Gentlemen: How the Myth of Hades and Persephone Has Been Used in the 20th and 21st Century Entertainment Industry" by Talia Miller https://anucssxenia.wordpress.com/2020/09/14/hades-and-gentlemen-how-the-myth-of-hades-and-persephone-has-been-used-in-the-20th-and-21st-century-entertainment-industry/
" Reflections on a Modernized Myth" By Alanna Byrne for @LupercalLegit
https://www.lupercallegit.org/post/reflections-on-a-modernized-myth
&
"Hades and Gentlemen: How the Myth of Hades and Persephone Has Been Used in the 20th and 21st Century Entertainment Industry" by Talia Miller https://anucssxenia.wordpress.com/2020/09/14/hades-and-gentlemen-how-the-myth-of-hades-and-persephone-has-been-used-in-the-20th-and-21st-century-entertainment-industry/
Adding this stop-motion 2001 film thanks to @ChiaraSulprizio https://twitter.com/FolkloreFilmFes/status/1316796796237209601?s=20
