a discussion on greek mythology and its modern adaptations || importance of sex and wrath in mythology
okay before i get into this a couple of things:
this is more of a rant/tangent style post and is just something I thought I would talk about in regards to a major interest of mine. If you dont agree with some of the things I say or reference, thats okay! again this is my perspective on the issue but I do think it adds insight to many communities involved in adaptations of mythology.
this talk involves discussions of sexual assault and uses the word rape and dissects the word in regards to its original meaning, if you are not in the headspace to read stories or read the word, please come back later or do not read.
this talk also focuses on the harsh treatment of women in mythology, and same warning as before click off if you wish
okay now that youve been fully warned, lets get into it.
as someone who reads Lore Olympus(i know! blasphemy) i will say that there are a lot of controversial themes or storylines that do not sit right with me. If you know the series you probably know that I am talking about the storyline between Persephone and Apollo. This is not a defense of it at all, however I am also not fully condemning it.
First, I want to look at Greek Mythology as a whole. To make it clear, not all myths are told the same. A good majority of mythology has been passed down through word of mouth or paintings or any other art form and will have inconsistencies or changes. Mythology as a whole is a tool used to explain human nature, the universe through the eyes of a certain group, and hierarchy systems along with many other things. Mythology and their stories are also used for morality based subjects. What I mean by this is that these stories are meant to teach a lesson or a type of behavior. This is typically why you will see inconsistencies between the retelling of myths. To use a very popular example of this, the myth of Hades and Persephone varies, but still have their own messages attached. For example, the myth where Hades forcibly kidnaps Persephone and highlights Demeter's determination to get her daughter back is a story about how a mother's love conquers all and how that love made her continue on her quest. However, in another telling where Persephone willingly enters the underworld and marries Hades, the story is about breaking free from authority and gaining back your own control. Again, myths vary depending on what message they want to send to their audiences.
Now I want to look at the gods and their behaviors throughout mythology. I know that everyone is tired of the 'Zeus fucks everything' joke but it is important to note it. Specifically, in the Greek mythos, Gods are the reason many things exist. Or at least are involved in some way in that process. This is why sex and wrath are important jumping-off points in creation mythology. Uranus(or the night sky) was born from Gaea, and then produced the Titans. Because of his hateful nature Uranus had his children imprisoned, until his son Cronus(time) castrated him and dispersed his remains. From this, he created Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. The cycle of sex and wrath is seen time and time again through these myths, and unfortunately the combination of these two is also very commonly seen in mythology.
//Tw SA (i am speaking about this topic from a mythological perspective, but also adding in modern day views of it)
Sexual assault is unfortunately very common place in Greek Mythology. Zeus is typically the mastermind behind these plots, however other Gods are also involved in it as well. The story of Medusa is another myth with many different iterations, however I want to look at the version that falls in line when her name which means "protect, rule" or "guardian". In this myth, Poseidon being jealous of Athena decides to rape Medusa, a servant to Athena, on the steps of her temple. This is again where wrath comes back into play. Athena, being infuriated by the violation of her temple, curses Medusa to become a gorgon. Depending on the interpretation, this 'curse' can also be seen as a gift of protection under the guise of punishment. Most of these horrific acts done by the Gods can be seen as being caused by their own or an outsider's wrath. I do also want to note that the word 'rape' meant something slightly different. Rape used to be defined as "to seize or abduct; carry off by force" as well as our modern definition to it. While in cases like Medusa or anything to do with Zeus really, we understand these cases do mean sexually assalt. Here is where I want to talk about Persephone.
The myth of Hades and Persephone goes by many different names, however one that can be seen around is “The Rape of Persephone”. While in some myths, authors have concluded that Hades may have assaulted persephone, the rape that is being refered to here is abduction. The Rape of Proserpina is the title of a popular sculpture created by Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini between the years of 1621 and 1622. While this statue is about the Roman counterparts of Hades and Persephone, Pluto and Proserpina, the Romans basically stole the Greeks mythos and changed the names slightly. While it is more complex than that, the stories are the same if not similar, which is why I am bringing this statue up. The statue depicts Persephone, being held up by Hades, with her arms and legs in motion kicking away from him. Her expression is fearful and terrified. Hades is joyful and excited. He doesn't look hateful. Why is that? One way to explain it off is the lighting or the fact it's a statue, or that art and its meaning differs from person to person. However, I'm me and I'm very annoying so I'm going to go deeper into this by looking back on a different spin of their myth. While Hades did fall deeply in love with Persephone and was given permission from Zeus to kidnap her, another telling of the story from the Roman perspective sheds more light on the situation. According to a section from Metamorphosis, Aphrodite was wronged by the Gods and wanted to enact revenge. She elected her son Cupid or Eros to shoot Hades with an arrow of love, which would cause him to become infatuated with the Goddess of Spring. It appears wrath is commonplace amongst all the Gods.
I know that I am bouncing all over the place, but stay with me. I now want to talk about Apollo and his connection to all of this. To reference back to Lore Olympus, Apollo in the series plays the role as the story's main antagonist. In the series, he sexually assaults Persephone. Now before I continue, I would like to say that using Apollo in this way is a gross misrepresentation of his mythology and Persephones. In actual Greek mythology, Apollo is a candidate to be married to Persephone. It is even cited that the God of the Sun and Music stated that he was in love with her. Granted this is mythology, and different versions of the story do appear with Apollo involved or not. Even though the series did not capture the true interaction between Persephone and Apollo, he is not free from the nature of his older counterparts. The myth of Apollo and Daphne shows this plainly. In this myth, Apollo falls in love with a nymph named Daphne who is the daughter of Peneus the River God. However, Aphrodite and Eros become involved again. While Eros shoots Apollo with a love arrow, he also shoots Daphne with one full of hate. This causes Apollo to constantly chase after Daphne, even though she has no romantic interest in him at all. While evading him during a chase, she calls out to her father to help her. To save his daughter, he answers her pleas and turns her into a tree right before Apollo catches her. While this very condensed retelling of the events that took place may not seem like Apollo was going to assault Daphne, it is heavily implied. Because of his infatuation from the arrow, his emotions towards her include not only romantic but also sexual attraction. From patterns we have seen from Gods such as Zeus and also Aphrodite, its only common sense to believe that Apollo was going to rape Daphne if he caught her. Even though Apollo did not sexually assault Persephone, Gods in themselves are selfish and narsasistic, and will take whatever they see as rightfully theirs. It's in their mythological nature.
Even with the background of Apollo falling in the trend of Gods taking advantage of beings deemed ‘lesser’ than them, one could argue the cycle of sexual assault of women is still problematic and that the modern adaptations of these stories diminish what happened to these women. Which to an extent, I agree. However, I do think it's also important to look at the society that these myths were circulating around. The Greeks and Romans were a dominantly patriarchal society and women were given few rights compared to men. While some Greek city states differed and there were a few acceptions, thats all they were, acceptions. Because of this role of women in society, it is not hard to believe that women were treated this way as if it is commonplace. When looking at greek goddesses, this narrative heavily tracks. Even though they are powerful and in their own right bring more fear into the hearts of men compared to their counterparts, they are treated with malice and violence. These goddesses are sexually assaulted, pushed to the side, or diminished simply because of their gender and this is not an accident. A powerful female figure is terrifying to men, specifically men seeking power, which is why these events could have happened to them in myths. These goddesses are portrayed to have envy, anger, disgust, remorse, sadness, alongside a lot of other emotions. They portray human emotions.
I know I know, youre gonna say to me ‘Wrena/Kore, seriously? Now we're talking about humanity? In comparison to Gods?” Yes, but there is an important distinction in this mythology. Mythology is human created. While it does portray all-powerful gods and mighty heroes, it's still human. However, this tends to split from Greek and Roman mythology. Remember when I said the Romans stole the Greeks myths and just switched around the names, well they did do that! But they also took some of the humanity out of the Gods. Greek mythology is known for being very human, having a moral in its stories. While Roman mythology also has a story, the Gods are more like objects, representing their roles and being all-mighty hammers of justice for the 'greater good'. Greek and Roman tellings of mythos can get interchanged or swapped due to how long ago these myths were and how similar they were. This is why mythology is so complicated, you either have an overload of information or not enough. Some events are the same, some contradict each other. This is why mythology is a wonderful source of stories. They tell a different version based on what that individual or society needs at that moment.
To get slightly more personal and not just throw facts or hypotheses at you, when I was little I was told the story of Hades and Persephone. My grandmother told me the version of Persephone being kidnapped by Hades, but falling in love and choosing to stay on her own accord. When I got older, I learned about the other version. I was upset and distraught at this revelation. I thought my grandma was trying to spin a story about stockholm syndrome to get me to accept the patriarchal society we live in. I was pissed. Now that Im older, I realize that wasnt the message she was trying to tell me. What she wanted to say in the story is that even though people will try to control me or take control away from me, dont. Take back the reins and never let someone decide my life for me. Each version of different myths have their own meanings and interpretations, and all are correct.
Unfortunately, that also means all of the bad ones are correct as well. Lets loop back on over to Persephone. Persephone in her myths has been sexually assaulted. Even though Apollo was not the one doing the act, its still stated that it happened. In the creation myth of Zagreus, Zeus sexually assaulted Persephone(his daughter) while she was unconscious. It's fucking despicable and awful to read. But Zeus is gross and that does not diminish the fact that she was in fact sexually assaulted. Wether people like it or not, it's apart of her mythos. Or at least a version. You see, the ‘romanticization’ of mythology is more of a modern trend. Taking old greek myths and modernizing them to make it seem like everything is not terrible is a common trend in writing. However, this attitude is harmful to mythology as a whole. While the modernization of greek myths does leave out some of the awful parts of the stories or ignores them, like incest or graphic violence, it still serves a purpose. While some reasons for re-vamping them could be interest or purely for entertainment sake, some try to stick with a moral messaging. Lore Olympus, while ignoring or misconstruing some of the more graphic details, still has an important story behind it. Persephone being assaulted in that story is a representation of modern day rape victims. She’s scared to tell anyone and terrified of the person who did it to her. When she does finally tell people, she is met with support and comfort. This is the narrative that survivors need today. Support, love, a safe space. Humans are always trying to relate to each other, or see themselves in the things they consume. And mythology is one of those things we just cant help but insert a piece of ourselves into. Mythology changes and shifts with individual needs, and it is all up to the individual and their needs. All versions are right.
TLDR: While I dont like the storyline between Apollo and Persephone in Lore Olympus, it does serve a purpose and reflects on Persephone's mythology without creating a culture shock for modern audiences. Wrath and sex are the two most important themes in greek mythology, and more than often combine in an unsavory way. Mythology has many different versions of its stories, and each version has their purpose. All of those stories are correct depending on the society and individual. Again, you can enjoy an adaptation of mythology while recognizing that there will be inaccuracies and changes you don't like. You can also enjoy traditional mythology while recognizing the values and morals portrayed are from an ancient society with a different view on the world.
heres some links to articles that were insightful into this topic, i recommend checking them out if you want:
In the beginning there was only Chaos. Then out of the void appeared Erebus, the unknowable place where death dwells, and Night. All else wa
Of all the characters in Greek mythology, Medusa is perhaps the one who had the worst kind of fate. The snake-haired gorgon Medusa was not a
Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the wife of Hades, and the queen of the Underworld. Her most important myth tells of how Ha
Learn about Persephone, queen of the underworld, and the many mythological stories in which she plays a leading or supporting role.
Women in the ancient Greek world had few rights in comparison to male citizens. Unable to vote, own land, or inherit, a woman's place was in
