Miscellaneous Myths: Hades and Persephone 

WAY DOWN HADESTOWN. WAY DOWN UNDER THE GROUND

You can tell Persephone was a big frickin' deal because when they had to give her a husband, they gave her the only Olympian who drinks Respect Women Juice.

Not that this entire video isn’t astoundingly captivating, but describing Hades as “the firstborn son of Cronus. The world is his by birth rite and though there is a delay, all become his subject eventually” is so metal and I love it

I have a headcanon that immediately after Hades kidnapped Persephone, he was SUPER awkward. Like, “Ummm… Hi? I’m Hades… You’re very pretty… Wanna meet my dog?”

"If the mortal is lucky..." *shows picture of Cassandra*

So basically Persephone: Babe, someone's talking shit, hold my flower Hades: Go kick their ass baby, I got your flower

Honestly, I like to think that Hades only even kidnapped Persephone in the first place because he literally _had NO IDEA_ how to actually court someone. It's important to realize that Hades was the firstborn of Kronos' children, and he spent his entire childhood isolated in Kronos' guts with only his siblings (besides Zeus) for company. Meaning that Hades was actually _incredibly_ socially stunted and he never learned how to properly engage in romance. This would explain why Hades abducts her, which is usually a sign of cruelty, yet he is easily the best husband out of all the Greek gods. Hades definitely knows how to treat Persephone right once they become a couple (shower her with gifts, offering her the jewels and gems of the underworld, making her his equal queen in ruling the place), but nobody ever taught him how courtship and dating is supposed to work, so he ended up skipping past the "Hey, wanna go out sometime?" phase and straight to the "Let's rule the underworld together for eternity!" phase. Honestly, Hades in Greek mythology canon is actually more tragic than anything else. Hades spent his entire childhood in the dark and stinky pits of Kronos' stomach. Then, when Hades finally escapes and helps Zeus to defeat Kronos and the Titans, Hades ends up spending even more centuries in the dark and lonely pits of the underworld while his brothers get to frolic and screw around in the bright and shiny Olympus, and he only had the Furies/Erinyes and Cerberus for company down there. Whether Persephone was an innocent uwu flower girl or a terrifying queen of darkness, she was probably the first person to make Hades experience love for the first time and gave light to his lonely dreary life (unlike the shallow flings that the other gods get into). So, it's completely understandable that the first time Hades meets someone who makes him feel this way after centuries of cold loneliness, his lack of education about romance leads him to the most direct and simple path possible: kidnap, then marriage, then side-by-side ruling. Even the pomegranate fits into this, because it could easily be Hades' refusal to go back to a lonely and dark existence in favor of the love-filled warmth that only Persephone can bring him.

Things to remember: 1) Hades was the OG Malewife 2) Persephone was a Pastel Flower Queen and a Lovecraftian Goddess all at once, we have to stan 3) Ancient Greece wrote the OG My Little Pony fanfics but with Greek gods

Broke: Hades, Dreaded King of the Dead and his cute wife, Persephone. Woke: Persephone, Dreaded Queen of the Dead and her cute husband Hades.

*Demeter* : It’s just horrible how someone would take my child and do god knows what to them without my consent. *The baby she’s currently setting on fire* : Goo? *Demeter* : See, you get me Demophon

I’m running a Greek mythology d&d campaign where Persephone is the main villain. In it she’s trying to kill Zeus so Hades will become the new king. Not for power, but because she loves Hades and thinks he would be a much better king of the gods that Zeus(which he would probably. He shows mercy to mortals. He does his duty. And HE DOESNT FUCK EVERY WOMAN HE SEES. He is faithful to Persephone)

When you remember that Demeter and Hades are siblings, this makes the Helios pitch hilarious to me. Helios: "Oh, he's a great guy, king of the Underworld. She could do worse." Demeter: "😐 You're really going to stand there and dictate MY BROTHER'S resume to me?"

Ahhh Hades. The God of Minding His Own Business.

I like to think that Hades is attracted to Persephone because she's absolutely terrifying and he sees that as 'cute'.

Something clicked when I saw the Underworld referred to as the "House Of Hades", and now I need a fantasy story where Hades IS the Underworld and Persephone is its caretaker

So, in conclusion: Hades & Persephone are mythology’s Gomez & Morticia Addams 🖤

Speaking of Hades and Persephone not cheating on each other, a nymph once tried to seduce Hades, but was squashed into the dirt by Persephone. That nymph was named Minthe, and the plant she became is mint.

Fun fact: Ares is the only god with no rape stories. In fact he killed Poseidon’S son for raping is daughter.

It’s probably worth noting that gods of the harvest (like Demeter and Persephone) are often very closely linked to gods of the dead, because the harvest is really just a sacred cycle of death and rebirth.

The fact that Demeter apparently turned into a horse to run from Poseidon and they had a horse child, which is almost identical to the Loki mythos of Slephnir. Wild

“Don’t speak her name, you might get her attention” is a terrifying concept.

Hades: "Hey Zeus, there's this goddess I like and I have no idea how to get her to pay attention to me. Got any advice?" Zeus: "Just kidnap her lol." Hades: "Zeus it's Persephone. You know, your *daughter* ?" Zeus: "Okay, you have my *permission* to kidnap her." Hades: "And you're sure Demeter won't mind?" Zeus: "I'm the king of the gods, what could happen?" Demeter: *ANGRY WINTER NOISES* Hades: "I knew I shouldn't have gotten advice from cheater supreme." -_-

2:20 I read the Myth-O-Mania book series as a kid. Basically, it's a fictionalised retelling of the classic Greek myths, all from Hades' perspective. He starts by telling us how one day (modern times) he suddenly discovered our Greek myths, and started reading out of curiosity, hoping to relive the fun times. Instead, he finds Zeus has lied about almost everything, making himself seem perfectly good, while Hades has been villainised. So the series is Hades setting the record straight, according to him. Pretty fun read. And it follows the idea that him and Persephone's relationship was indeed consensual.

As a native German speaker I was so surprised about what a bad rep this story gets in the English speaking world. Mostly because the equivalent word that is used in German "Raub" still just refers to theft or robbery. So when you look at a title like "Der Raub der Perseophone" you just the implication that Hades "stole" her away from Demeter rather than the more horrible implication the English title of the myth points to at first glance.

Hades: *is actually faithful to his wife, keeps his promises and deals, and is basically the most mature male Olympian Hollywood: And you’re the villain!

Why Hades is my favorite Greek god 1. Actually cares about his wife 2. Doesn't actively look for trouble 3. The only Greek god with a functional marriage 4. Has three headed dog

Hades and Persephone are the original Gomez and Morticia. Goth and dark and scary and weird and absolutely adorable and loving.

hades: oh, i hope no one dies, that would make my job worst persephone: minthe tea

Me before this video: Persephone is a pure cinnamon roll that loves her goth husband. Me now: Hades is an emo nerd that loves his Lovecraftian wife.

Plot twist: Demeter was just sending more subjects to them as a wedding gift.

"(Zeus and Hera's marriage) is so far from consensual." I finally found this myth. Holy shit are you not kidding.

I like how she did Hades's reaction to everyone dying: "Oh balls, thats not good, yeah persephone go back to your mom." God i love this channel

Zeus Marriages: Last as long as a knife at 1000 degrees through butter Hades: NOKIA PHONE

"He also takes a moment to ask Persephone not to be sad. As his wife, she'll be a queen of queens, ruler of the dead, and highest among the goddesses, and meanwhile, he will work to be the best husband he can be for her." awwww

I think a lot of people in this day and age miss the really significant point that the kidnapping/rape of Persephone story is most likely an allegory for the ancient traditional practice of fathers arranging for their daughters to be married to an older man within the family, such as an uncle, that way the father's property which would be inherited by the son-in-law through their marriage would stay within the family, making it easier to accumulate wealth over generations down the family line. And when the girl married, she would go from living with her parents to living with her husband and his family and would be pretty cut off socially from other women, especially from her mother. This caused a lot of grief for mothers and their daughters, as they wouldn't be allowed to see each other very often after marriage. And this common grief was preserved in this myth that simultaneously "explained" the seasons. At least, this is a common interpretation/theory. Hades is literally the uncle of Persephone aka Kore, and seems to be a stand-in representing the arranged husband/uncle, so it totally makes sense that in earlier versions if Hades didn't exist, Poseidon would have a prominent role instead! So fascinating how myths change and evolve depending on the societies telling those stories and how their social and legal customs function, for instance how in the modern day West where the custom of arranged marriages to older men aren't all that common, the Hades x Persephone dynamic has kind of become like...a spicy fantasy in fanfic and romance novels with more female empowerment, rather than an allegory for how patriarchal societies function and how they affect the women involved, haha. That's not a bad thing, that's just how mythology works and it's neat. I had no idea about the Despoina pseudonym or how that might point to earlier evolutions of Persephone/Kore/Despoina being quite so "dread", even though I knew about the epithet, I just foolishly assumed it was a perfunctory epithet that came with being generally associated with the Underworld. Really interesting!

Zeus: Hades, guess what! We all pitched together and graciously decided to get you a girl! Hades: oh my gosh, that’s amazing! Where is she? Zeus: in the trunk Persephone: help me! Get me out of here! Hades: Wha-you kidnapped Kore?! That’s illegal! Aphrodite: but, Hades. What’s more illegal? Briefly inconveniencing Demeter’s daughter, or getting you laid? Hades: KIDNAPPING KORE, APHRODITE! Zeus: Hades, listen, whatever I may think of you right now, you need a queen and you have a crush. The Greek gods are counting on you Hades: what? To-to kidnap people? Zeus: to work together Hades: TO KIDNAP PEOPLE?! Eros: Lord Hades, we all agreed that us gods are above a people

"There was almost no difference between the stock pose for "Marriage" and the stock pose for "Kidnapping"." _o no_

When the “bad guy” has the most functional relationship

We need a retelling of the "pastel-goth love story" where Hades is the pastel and Persephone is the goth 😆

Reading some of the Greek myths, I’ve noticed that when a hero goes into the Underworld, Persephone is there. Theseus, Orpheus, Odysseus, and Hercules mention that Persephone is in the Underworld. Either 1. All Greek heroes apparently only visit Hades in winter. Or 2. Persephone is a Queen of the dead, of course she is going to be there when the heroes appear. The idea of Persephone having been thought of as a queen of the dead is also supported in that, there aren’t many myths about her NOT being in the Underworld. The beginning of the abduction myth is the only example I am aware of. (If there is one with her being out of the Underworld feel free to let me know.) Of course that doesn’t mean there might have been a myth once that had Persephone out of the Underworld, but that’s not the impression I’m getting from the general mythos.

yall remember that time a nymph named minthe tried to seduce hades so persephone trampled her and destroyed her turning her into the plant we know today as mint? cool shit.

"This abduction was sponsored by Zeus!" At this point, I'm not surprised.

all this talk about "Dread Persephone" made me realize that I really wanna see a retelling where yeah, Hades is the King of the Dead and all, but Persephone is way, WAY scarier than him. Like Hades is a mild-mannered guy just trying to keep the underworld running smoothly and Persephone is more of the scary Big Bad Queen Of Hell archetype that normally gets assigned to Hades.

I suppose it would make sense for the ancient Mycenaeans to believe Poseidon (or whatever they called him since they were before the classical Greeks) was both god of the sea and god of the underworld since from an ancient person’s perspective the bottom of the sea was probably the closest thing they had to an underworld. After all, it’s dark, cold, murky, filled with monstrous looking creatures and the only people down there are dead.

Okay, so basically Hades is a introvert and an actual sweetheart who loves his wife but just stays in his whole life because he doesn’t want to while Persephone is the scary badass queen and loves her quiet husband.

Hades: *monotone* "I like... death." Persephone: *lights up* "OMG! I like death too!" *HUGS* "Now let go back to your place and watch entropy slowly destroy everything your brothers love." Hades: *smiles* "OK."

One of my friends is a total mythology nerd and he has ensured we're very aware that Hades was a pretty chill dude compared to his siblings and extended family. Now Poseidon on the other hand, I will always have a personal hatred for

Helios should have told Demeter "Its Hades you should be worried for. There is a reason no one wants to summons your daughter. Go and make sure she doesnt traumatize the guy."

Zeus: kidnaps his wife and immediately cheats on her with everything and everyone Hades: kidnaps his wife but also lets her go back to her family regularly if it means she’ll be happy Media: *it ain’t lookin good for ya chief.. in the satan bin you go*

Me as a child: Hades is a horrible god Me as a adult: Hades is a literally the absolute fairest god you could ask for, great husband to his wife and a brow beaten account of dead people and the least problematic and drama-free god

To think that Zeus started off by rigging the lots so that he got the big glorious title of sky god, thinking he was getting the best deal. Meanwhile, Hades gets an effectively infinite kingdom *and* the most functional marriage in the entire Greek pantheon.

Would you ever consider doing a video about Demeter? Because it seems like there's an annoying tendency for people to, in order to legitimize Hades and Persephone, characterize Demeter as a horrible mother whom Persephone was glad to escape, which is... so far from the truth. (Edit: Holy shit that's a lot of thumbs up, I thought this comment was going to get lost in the comments section how did this happen XD)

Hades comes up behind Persephone petting two of Cerberus' heads while crying. "Persephone, what is wrong, why are you crying?" Hades asks urgently And she turns to him and weeps, "I don't have enough hands to pet them all!" And like... I could just see Hades dropping what he's doing and petting his dog with his wife for a while.

“Even your favorite” My favorite is Hestia and she doesn’t exist enough to do anything bad.

The original version of Persephone is basically the Great Mother, which makes her something like Nyx, which is why she's so scary. like, even-Zeus-is-going-to-run-away scary.

Demeter: My brother gave some guy the go-ahead to kidnap my daughter. Ameterasu: Mine threw a dead horse into my living room. Demeter: ...It's not a contest.

In Greek schools we are taught that Hades is actually the most mature and wisest SON of Kronos. Zues is just the overpowered brat favoured by fate.

Hades: * is the only Greek deity that loves his wife, doesn’t cheat, does gummy is job well and doesn’t go out of his way to cause drama, and is the only one that doesn’t rape mortal women for no reason* The rest of the pantheon: weird but okay Modern day peeps: SATAN

It occurs that the thing with the pomegranate seeds can be written off as a moment of weakness on Hades' part - the only point in this story, and perhaps the only point in the mythology ever, where he acts as impulsively as Zeus does.

Take this account with a grain of salt: Early on in my practice of Wicca, at the point where Persephone was already firmly established as my Matron goddess and I had started doing work with Hades, I communed with my gods while on a call with my friends and drawing fanart for a game I like. I was asked by Persephone what I was doing, and I told her I was drawing. She said, and I quote, "That's adorable. When you die, I'm going to keep you." I literally got a chill down my spine.

Persephone: *Scary as heck when she gets pissed* Hades to Poseidon: She's so cute when she gets pouty! Poseidon: *side-eyeing a mint plant* ... bruh.

What people think Persephone is like: Innocent flower girl What she’s actually like: She who shall not be named

You know this make sense if you see this myth on three purposes: 1. Explaining the season 2. Grief of a mother 3. A death goddess's origin story, like how Zeus was born, but there is a whole myth on how he became king and retains being king.

“Even Olympian soft boy Dionysus” I was like “wait NO NO NO NO STOP YOUR KIDDING NO NO” you were not wrong

OK real talk here, having your ruler-of-the-underworld death goddess called just "The Mistress" who's real name is kept secret and is so frightful that namedropping her is inviting her presence is unironically metal as shit

Pop Culture: “One shudders to imagine what inhuman thoughts lie in the head of the king of the underworld... what dreams of chronic, and sustained cruelty...” Hades, in reality: “I wanna be a good husband!”

two things- one abt demeter/feminism and one abt personifications 1. always annoys me how the “feminist” retellings demonize demeter and make her over possessive of persephone which. like. can be done well. however the closest we have to the original to me feels like it fits that more bc remember, persephone was born because zeus assaulted demeter. looking in a modern feminist lens, the story of someone who was assaulted trying to save her daughter from that bc of something her father/said assailant arranged feels way more of a feminist narrative to me 2. someone on tumblr once mentioned that like. the gods were personifying concepts. hades takes kore away from demeter. death rips children away from their mothers. idk it was just a very interesting way to put it

Demeter: helps out a local ruler while trying to bring her daughter out of the underworld, then tries to make the ruler's child immortal by burning them, but is discovered Isis: helps out a local ruler while trying to restore her brother to life, then tries to make the ruler's child immortal by burning them, but is discovered Coincidence?

“This abduction was sponsored by Zeus!” Zeus: Should’ve bought premium, *daughter*

Hades: "I know I kidnapped you but your dad said I could and I love you" Persephone: "that's okay it's warm and you have a big dog, I think I'm gonna stay"

Honestly, Mycenaean Poseidon and Demeter having a relationship makes sense just based on how scary nature is. Chthonic Demeter embodying the hostile power of nature instead of just "growing plants" and Underworld King Posiedon being into that.

Common misconception of Artemis is that she hated men, this is not true as for some stories males could join her hunts but lived by somewhat different rules, some were even fancied by the goddess as skilled hunters and willing to be named champions of the hunt by her. The thing is they all kept dying on the hunt randomly that probably had something to do with Apollo. Have you ever covered this tip bit or thought of it.

Zeus: UGH. I gotta go home. Hera will bitch if I don't. Aphrodite: I'm gonna go to Ares. I don't want to go home to my ape of a husband. Poseidon: I'm gonna see if Demeter is home. Hades: I am going home to my wife. Because I love her. THAT'S WHY I MARRIED HER.

Everyone's talking about Hades loving Persephone because she's secretly terrifying, which gives me the headcanon that Persophone, as goddess of the spring created the damaging, deadly or carnivorous plants like nettles, nightshade and venus flytraps.

I always love how shocked people are to learn how mostly benevolent Hades actually is compared to the rest of the Pantheon.. also just food for thought to everyone.. it’s PERSEPHONE who persuades Hades after Orpheus moves him with music.

its worth noting the angle that back then, daughters went to live with their husbands family & rarely saw their parents anymore, & that Demeter's characterization would have recalled the grief of such a separation in the original cultural context.

Sitting here realizing that Hades and Persephone are like a divine cthonic Gomez and Morticia.

Persephone: “Wait a minute? If I eat these seeds I’ll have to stay here and spend time away from my sweet mother. My mother who is currently murdering the entire mortal world because she is so protective of me. My mother who is so over protective she never let me out of her sight even once…. Or ever gave me any alone time…. Who I desperately need space from if only for a while at a time….” Hades: (Shit, she figured out my ploy to keep her here, what am I going to d-) Persephone: OMNOMNOMNOM!

If Poseidon originally filled Hades's role while also being Persephone's dad, could the original story have been something more like a custody battle?

Something tells me Persephone and Hades roles were similar enough to each other to the two societies that the ancient greeks came from, that once their cultures merged the “marriage” was the embodiment of their metaphorical bond.

It’s kinda funny that Ares, the god everyone hates, is the only one who doesn’t have any myths about being horrible to women. He was even the father of the Amazons.

Man it sucks that the only respectful god who is loyal to his wife and doesn’t fall in love with every other mortal girl is the most hated. I feel bad for him :(

I like to think the pomegranate seeds is something akin to a wedding ring binding Persephone to the House of Hades. It may not be historically accurate but the thought of Hades proposing to her with fruit seeds makes me giggle.

Hades: I don't know if I can do this after all. How do I even approach her? Zeus: Don't worry so much, brother. Just go to her and sweep her off her feet! Hades: *proceeds to literally sweep Persephone off her feet via chariot*

So Hades is depicted as the devil while in reality he just wants to chill with his Eldritch Abomination wife and Multiheaded Dog Spot

Hades has the only stable relationship and named his three headed dog Spot How can you hate this guy?

Helios: Well I mean he's a good husband Demeter: SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO STAY SINGLE!!!!!

I think in older stories, Persephone was actually the scariest godess of all time, ruler of death, and the greeks were *terrified* of her, but then in later stories, since ancient greek people are generally sexist, they had Hades be the original ruler of the underworld and Persephone as this sweet maiden child who got tricked into staying in the underworld, needing another person to come and look for her, which explains why Hades is so vague. I'm not sure I have an explanation for Demeter, but I think maybe in older myths, they were also still together; just not mother and daughter, but a closer bond.

As a woman in ancient greece you usually had 2 options: 1. You get impregnated by a god and then chased to death by monsters, other gods and/or your own child 2. There is no second option

Everyone says Hades is evil, when Hades is the only one who doesn't cheat on his wife, and he is, in fact, ONLY DOING HIS JOB!

When I was in middle school my class had an assignment where we split into groups and made videos re-enacting Greek myths. My group got this one. I had to play Zeus. You cannot imagine my horror when my friend had to look me in the eyes and say “brother, I wish to marry your daughter” (yes, that was the exact line). I have no idea why my teacher thought that was a good idea.

Hades in Greek also means the underworld itself. Of course, it might have been named after the god. It could also be, however, that the underworld was already named Hades and the god was vreated later as a personification of that. Persephone being called queen of Hades could have just meant the realm and then evolved to mean a husband of hers, which would also explain why he was a later addition and not as important.

I love the idea that Persephone is just this insanely powerful eldritch god of death and that Hades finds that super hot

Zeus: “I may be an A$$hole but at least I’m a likable a$$hole.” Mortals: “Are you?”

5:56 Can we just acknowledge how damn cool this shot is? The glowing eyes, the glowing, blue crown-ish thing I forgot the name of, even the particles in the background!

Wait, did Hades and Persephone inspire the Adams Family? Specifically them having a great relationship?!

Doesn’t Hades rip open the earth to kidnap Persephone? Sounds like something Poseidon the ‘Earthshaker’ would do. I’m totally down to believe they used to be one god.

"Hades is rather passive" Me who played and fought Hades: yeah sure but the mothereffer knows how to swing that damn spear.

My biggest take away from this (jokingly) is that yes Hades and Persophone are pastel meets goth couple goals but there is a real argument to be made that Persophone was the goth and Hades was the soft pastel uwu figure.

Despoina, the veiled one, the mistress, she-who-must-not-be-named. That’s fucking cool.