Choking on Pomegranate Seeds
by Arthur DeHart (Maine, 23)
9/29/23
9/29/23
At this point, we have all heard the myth of Persephone and Hades. Persephone, the Goddess of Spring and Hades, God of the Dead, are too classical Greek characters that show up in a lot of today’s fiction.
As the original myth goes, Hades is enamored with Persephone and traps her while she is playing with her nymphs and dryads. He lures her in with a beautiful flower, and then takes her down to the depths of the Underworld. Her mother, Demeter, scours the Earth looking for her and all of the crops and greenery of the land die. While this happens, Hades manipulates Persephone into eating six pomegranate seeds. Once it is demanded that Persephone be returned to her mother, it is revealed she has eaten the pomegranate seeds which if you eat anything in the Underworld, you cannot return to Earth. Zeus strikes a deal with both Hades and Demeter saying that Persephone must return to The Underworld for six months of the year and to her mother for the other six. This is the myth of how we have Spring.
When I first heard this myth as a child, I was appalled and saddened. How could someone do this? Then I grew up, and a lot of media started coming out romanticizing what happened to Persephone. The most popular being Lore Olympus that turns all of the myths on their heads. Like a lot of modern retellings, they paint the Persephone and Hades story as light bickering and enemies to lovers, instead of what it is: a trapped woman with a man in power.
I find it uncomfortable that this trope is made into a romantic tale instead of the horror that it is. It is more of a stockholm tale than Beauty and the Beast. A man lied and manipulated a young and innocent woman while trapping her from her mother who she loves, and we are romanticizing it.
Persephone and Hades are not in a happy relationship. This can be depicted in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and also Hadestown the hit Broadway musical. These tales show the harshness of their relationship and a more realistic tone than the modern retellings touching on how Persephone just has complicated feelings for the dark God that took her away.
Making that myth romantic is taking away power from women who are trapped in abusive relationships with no way out. It is almost telling those women that they should just learn to love their very real captor.
This type of enemies-to-lovers tropes of abusive relationships paint real abusive relationships in a not-so-bad light. Women shouldn’t have to fall in love with their captors and abusers. I am almost positive Persephone is not having a good time down in the Underworld like modern re-tellings are just jumping to tell. We as a culture need to stop confusing a woman in need of help for a woman in a taboo, yet lovely relationship.
There is a difference.
Arthur DeHart is a trans man from Eastern Tennessee. He has written and published many poems and stories. He is EIC of Naked Cat Lit Mag with his husband Ryan.
As the original myth goes, Hades is enamored with Persephone and traps her while she is playing with her nymphs and dryads. He lures her in with a beautiful flower, and then takes her down to the depths of the Underworld. Her mother, Demeter, scours the Earth looking for her and all of the crops and greenery of the land die. While this happens, Hades manipulates Persephone into eating six pomegranate seeds. Once it is demanded that Persephone be returned to her mother, it is revealed she has eaten the pomegranate seeds which if you eat anything in the Underworld, you cannot return to Earth. Zeus strikes a deal with both Hades and Demeter saying that Persephone must return to The Underworld for six months of the year and to her mother for the other six. This is the myth of how we have Spring.
When I first heard this myth as a child, I was appalled and saddened. How could someone do this? Then I grew up, and a lot of media started coming out romanticizing what happened to Persephone. The most popular being Lore Olympus that turns all of the myths on their heads. Like a lot of modern retellings, they paint the Persephone and Hades story as light bickering and enemies to lovers, instead of what it is: a trapped woman with a man in power.
I find it uncomfortable that this trope is made into a romantic tale instead of the horror that it is. It is more of a stockholm tale than Beauty and the Beast. A man lied and manipulated a young and innocent woman while trapping her from her mother who she loves, and we are romanticizing it.
Persephone and Hades are not in a happy relationship. This can be depicted in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and also Hadestown the hit Broadway musical. These tales show the harshness of their relationship and a more realistic tone than the modern retellings touching on how Persephone just has complicated feelings for the dark God that took her away.
Making that myth romantic is taking away power from women who are trapped in abusive relationships with no way out. It is almost telling those women that they should just learn to love their very real captor.
This type of enemies-to-lovers tropes of abusive relationships paint real abusive relationships in a not-so-bad light. Women shouldn’t have to fall in love with their captors and abusers. I am almost positive Persephone is not having a good time down in the Underworld like modern re-tellings are just jumping to tell. We as a culture need to stop confusing a woman in need of help for a woman in a taboo, yet lovely relationship.
There is a difference.
Arthur DeHart is a trans man from Eastern Tennessee. He has written and published many poems and stories. He is EIC of Naked Cat Lit Mag with his husband Ryan.