The Homeric Hymns

"I think there are many reasons. The rise of a certain genre of fiction around it suggests that a lot of women are not against the idea of being whisked away and turned into a queen – especially with the additional bonus of being able to come back for six months of the year. You only have to be adored and worshipped as the queen of Hell for six months, and then you get to come back to Earth and be a sort of princess of spring. It’s all very pretty and lovely. What spoke to me about it is perhaps not what speaks to other people about it. I loved this idea of someone who everyone had goals and ideas for, determining her own path: Zeus wants her married and out of the way, her mother wants her to stay at home and just be a daughter forever, Hades obviously wants her to be his eternal bride and wife. But she carves out her own destiny in a way that simultaneously defies and satisfies everyone –it’s the ultimate democracy, no one is happy but everyone got something they asked for. Her mom gets her precious baby girl at home for six months of the year, Hades gets his wonderful bride for six months of the year, and Zeus gets her married off—but not entirely in the way he wants. Goddesses often didn’t come out very well in Greek mythology, and I think Persephone is possibly the one who does best. That’s what really appealed to me about her story, and why I wanted to do a reimagining of it. There is an element of autonomy in her story, which isn’t there in a lot of Greek mythology . It’s very much the whim of the gods for everyone, mortals and other gods alike. She’s the standout figure who carves out such a high position for herself that she never has to be at anyone’s whim again. Hades is quite whipped by her. He’s very much: ‘This is the one I want, I’ll do what it takes to keep her – whatever she says is fine.’ He softens for her. He becomes something new because of her as well. So the appealing thing about this myth is the idea of a woman gaining power on her own terms, despite the fact that a lot of people are trying very hard to make sure she doesn’t get any power. Yes. I mean, he does seize her very much against her will in the original, let me be very clear. It’s known as the ‘rape of Persephone’ for a reason. She’s very happily in a field, and he bursts out of the ground in a chariot, says ‘Mine!’, and pulls her back down to Hell with him – which she really isn’t thrilled about initially. So the fact that she negotiates away to a stronger position is good, but it doesn’t necessarily start out well."