❝ I would never keep you down here unwillingly. ❞
once upon a time a girl wished for darkness,
and he welcomed her with open arms.
« a persephone and hades retelling »
Prayer to Persephone Be to her, Persephone, All the things I might not be; Take her head upon your knee. She that was so proud and wild, Flippant, arrogant and free, She that had no need of me, Is a little lonely child Lost in Hell,—Persephone, Take her head upon your knee; Say to her, "My dear, my dear, It is not so dreadful here. – Edna St. Vincent Millay
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B A C K G R O U N D
In the original myth of Hades and Persephone, Persephone was kidnapped in what was famously called "The Rape of Persephone". There are variations to the myth but the general story was that Persephone was a maiden called Kore, whose mother was Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and harvest, and father was Zeus, the god of the sky. She was pursued by many other gods, namely Ares, Apollo, Hephaestus, and Hermes who all tried to buy her over with gifts. Demeter, however, was very protective over her daughter and rejected all of them. One day, Hades, the god of the Underworld, saw Persephone and fell in love with her. He asked Zeus for her hand, and he agreed, without the consent of Demeter. Hades, knowing that Demeter would not give up her daughter, lured Persephone with a beautiful flower, called Narcissus. When she picked the flower, a hole appeared and Hades rose from the ground in a chariot and carried her away to the Underworld, where Hades resided and where the souls of the dead go. When Demeter found out that her daughter was missing she fell into a deep sadness and neglected her duties as goddess, and as a result many mortals died from the lack of harvest. She searched for her daughter, and found out that she had been taken by Hades from Hermes, other sources say Hestia, and she demanded for Persephone to be returned or she would continue to neglect her duties and the world would live in eternal winter. Zeus then negotiated the return of Persephone, but not before she was tricked into eating pomegranate seeds. Anyone who eats food from the Underworld is bound there. Zeus negotiated that she would remain with Hades 1/3 of the year and the rest of the 2/3 with Demeter above ground. That is how the seasons came to be, spring/summer when Demeter was reunited with Persephone, autumn/winter when Persephone was away.
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S Y N O P S I S
"Knife clutched in her hand, she pressed the tip to the red skin of the pomegranate, hunger igniting in her stomach."
Persephone is tired of being hid away by her overbearing mother, spending her days caged in a field of flowers. Her suitors shower her with gifts but they only try to coax her from one gilded prison to another. When a dark haired king arrives in a golden chariot with his kingdom offered in the palm of his hand, Persephone gets a taste of the freedom she so deeply craves.
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A U T H O R ' S N O T E
this is book one in a Greek mythology retelling series I'm planning to write. I've always been fascinated with Greek mythology and especially the tale of persephone and hades. I saw some stuff on Pinterest about a "revisionist" retelling and it inspired me to write this short story. since this is a retelling some of the original elements will be the same but I've added my own details so hopefully it won't be boring aha I hope you all enjoy! –steph
Note: the quote featured in the Persephone edit is from the poem "Persephone Speaks" by Daniella Michallen
