Hades & Persephone
Now it's time to look at my next topic. Hades & Persephone!
Greek mythology has been around for centuries. Though we can’t pinpoint exactly when it all started, it has been estimated that greek mythos evolved from stories that were orally told in the Minoan civilisation of Crete which flourished around the time of 3000-1100 BCE.
This means that over decades and centuries, the stories of many of the gods and goddesses have changed, been expanded on or simply have hardly any information altogether. This may be due to the nature that the old way of passing historic information used to be by word of mouth.
There are many stories and legends within Greek Mythology, but the main one I wish to focus on was specifically Hades & Persephone.
The legend of Hades & Persephone is well-known, it has been open to interpretation over the years by new-media like movies, games and comics.
Before I talk about that stuff, let's revisit the original story between these two:
Hades fell in love with Persephone and decided to kidnap her. The myth says that in one of the rare times he left the Underworld, he traveled above ground to pursue her, while she was gathering flowers in a field.
One day Hades, God of the Underworld, saw Persephone and instantly fell in love with her. Hades confided his secret in his brother Zeus, asking for help, so the two of them concocted a plan to trap her. As the Persephone played with her companions, they caused the ground to split underneath her.Persephone slipped beneath the Earth and Hades stole her to the Underworld where he made her his wife.The myth says that Persephone was very unhappy, but after much time, she came to love the cold-blooded Hades and lived happily with him.
It's interesting to see this story as when I first saw anything about Hades & Persephone, was when I watched the movie of Percy Jackson. Within part of the movie they have to try and see Hades, and Persephone in the movie abhors Hades, screaming at him and wishing she was free. Back then I didn't know about the famous legend, but once I learned about it, it started to make a lot of sense to me.
In games like Hades, their relationship has more meaning, showing that they once loved each other and their relationship then grew complex due to the apparent death of their son Zagreus.
We then have one of my favourite re-tellings of the two- Lore Olympus. This story really explores the relationship and build up between Hades & Persephone. It is currently still ongoing, but it really shows brining a new kind of perspective in the stories that show us that they are more than just myth. Through the different iterations and examples of the characters, I feel like we really get to see them as humans more than just immortal beings.
When thinking about how this could inspire a game in anyway- I would mainly try and focus on the story. I like how stories can have many layers and isn't just black and white. That the characters can be more complex and have more reason to their actions.
Exploring that within a theme and within my own game could be really interesting.
Links To Articles of Research
https://kidskonnect.com/history/hades/
https://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Hades/hades.html
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hades-Greek-mythology
https://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/myth-of-hades-and-persephone/
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Greek-mythology
https://hades.fandom.com/wiki/Hades#Relationships
https://hades.fandom.com/wiki/Persephone#Relationships