Hades and Persephone, the Original Myth

Hades & Persephone retellings are having a moment in fantasy / romantasy books, but how much do you know about the original myth?

I created my own version of Hades + Persephone, Gate of Myth and Power, which is a trilogy set in an Urban Fantasy world. There are a lot of obvious differences between the two core stories, but there are also a lot of similarities! But you won't catch the similarities if you aren't familiar with the original myth so it's time to revisit my infamous practice of sarcastic summarization, and sarcastically retell the myth!

Important Disclaimer:

I love to use sarcasm and modern humor in my summaries–I poke fun of the stuff I love. I’m more interested in entertaining you all and giving you a base idea of the original myth than aiming for 100% accuracy.

Additionally, this is more than likely going to be the only Greek myth I ever retell. Some of the Greek myths make even the creepiest fairy tales–like Donkeyskin–look mild in comparison, and that’s not my jam. Hades and Persephone’s story is possibly the happiest myth with the healthiest relationship, which is saying something considering it all started with a kidnapping, which is why I wanted to retell it in the first place.

Now, with that out of the way, let’s begin my sarcastic–and hopefully funny–summery!

Our two main characters are Persephone–according to the Greek mythology, the goddess of spring and the daughter of Demeter, who was the goddess of harvest/cultivation AKA growing things–and Hades–King of the underworld, and god of death. (He sounds like a fun guy, right?)

Hades was a shockingly good king considering the antics most of the Greek gods and goddess got up to in their spare time. He was also a bit of a workaholic, so he didn’t leave the underworld a whole lot and thus was a bachelor–unlike his brother, Zeus, who I’d  consider enemy number one of women everywhere due to his creeptastic ways that I wouldn’t get into to save my life.

On one of his rare trips out of the underworld, Hades saw Persephone and instantly fell in love. Despite being a decent king, Hades apparently lacked common sense, because instead of trying to talk to Persephone, he decided to consult Creepy-Crawler-Bro, Zeus. Zeus–who was also Persephone’s father–was like “Nifty, you should abduct her! I’ve got some mad tips for you since I do a lot of kidnapping, lol.” (See? Public enemy # 1!)

There are a few variations of how our budding Father-of-the-Year and Good-King-Bad-At-Boundaries bros exactly captured Persephone, but the general consensus is that one way or another they split the ground open underneath her, and she fell into Hades’ kingdom where he trapped her and married her.

Some variations say the goddess Hecate heard Persephone’s kidnapping, but didn’t see who took her, but the sun god Helios did. Depending on the story, Hecate and Helios help Demeter figure out what happened, but that’s on Demeter’s side of the myth.

Most variations make it clear that initially Persephone was not happy about her kidnapped status, but she came to love her new hubby and actually enjoyed her life in the underworld–possibly because her mother was famously domineering and Hades had given Persephone power and called her his queen, which was a big deal in the mythos and didn’t happen that often. (So Hades’ romance skills are bad, and I’m still displeased about the kidnapping thing, but at least he was aiming for the end result to be a balanced relationship!)

Back on the ranch, Demeter–Persephone’s mother–lost it. Since she couldn’t find Persephone, she didn’t let anything grow, and actually went off on an adventure on her own, dressed as an old woman, but we’re not going to get into that since Hades and Persephone are our focus. Eventually, Demeter figured out where Persephone was–the exact method depends a lot on the variation, sometimes Helios tells her, sometimes Hecate guides Demeter to Helios who tells her, there’s a lot going on, but basically Demeter gets help and figures out where Persephone is.

Demeter demands Hades release Persephone, and her refusal to let things grow gets Zeus to actually do something useful for once, moving him to tell Hades that Persephone needs to be released.

Now, we don’t exactly know how Persephone felt about this–there is a really old written version of this legend and this specific part sustained some damage–but it’s relatively agreed upon that Persephone was not thrilled with this turn of events as she seemed to truly love Hades. Keeping that in mind, I’d like to think that she chooses to fall for Hades’ obvious ploy when he gets her to eat pomegranate seeds–which the Greeks considered to be the fruit of the dead, which would have been a flashing warning light to our intrepid heroine. There is some basis for this theory, as other Greek myths and stories note that Greek gods and goddess didn’t have to eat, so it’s not like she was hungry and wanted a snack.

The number of pomegranate seeds she eats changes drastically in each story. I looked all over the internet and I different sources said she ate three, four, six, or seven seeds. As you’re probably guessed, there isn’t a truly correct number due to all the variations of this story, although one website I used for research mentioned the different numbers are possibly because of different calendars/ways of recording seasons and months.

Regardless, she ate some fruit, which then tied Persephone to Hades so she had to return to the underworld for several months every year, aka, winter! (Again, the span of time she has to return to the underworld changes greatly per variation.)

Demeter wasn’t very happy about this, but there was no other choice, so Persephone split her time between serving as the goddess of spring and the queen of the underworld. Demeter got her for spring/summer, and Hades was rejoined with his wife for Fall/Winter while Hecate–the goddess who usually helps Demeter find Persephone–ends up serving as Persephone’s companion and goes to the underworld with Persephone every year.

Circling back, when Hades gives Persephone the seeds, and Persephone chooses to eat them, Hades gives Persephone a touching speech about how much he loves her, that he’ll give her all his wealth, and she’s his queen–it’s basically an adorable confession scene that is also threaded with Hades essentially giving Persephone power in his kingdom. This little confession is what sold me on this myth as a kid. There are fairy tale princes who could stand to learn a thing or two from Hades in terms of healthy relationship dynamics, despite his rocky start.

So, that’s the original source material I worked with! If you'd like to read about what I used from this source material you can check out this blog post: Hades & Persephone: My Take on the Myth

And if you're interested in reading and urban fantasy/paranormal version of this fascinating my you can check out my completed trilogy, the Gate of Myth and Power series, which is available in audiobook, ebook, and paperback!

Click here for Amazon.com or Click here for other Amazon stores

Donkeyskin: the original story

It's awesome how many different ways you can twist a fairy tale into a well known story. My urban fantasy trilogy, Hall of Blood and Mercy, is loosely based on the the fairy tale: Donkeyskin. There are a LOT of differences between a modern setting story and a French tale published in the 1600s but I packed in a lot of hints to the original work that won't make sense if you aren't familiar with it. So let's take this chance to catch everyone up with my sarcastic summary of Donkeyskin!

Donkeyskin was written by Charles Perrault–a Frenchman who is famous for many French versions of fairytales, including Cinderella. It was first released in 1695 and republished in 1697 in a book that also contained Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, and more. As you read through the original, you’ll find it is reminiscent of a few other fairy tales–including the original fable I based my Princess Who Chased Sheep on.

Most people are familiar with this fairy tale through Robin McKinley’s Deerskin, which–truthfully–captures more of the original story that I wanted to. (Spoiler: Donkeyskin is another one for the Creepy category. It’s perhaps just as bad as Sleeping Beauty, though in a different way.) As a warning, I’m more sarcastic than usual with this one. With all the icky stuff that happens I had to let the sarcasm flow or I wouldn’t be able to get through it. So let the ‘fun’ begin!

Once upon a time there was a super rich, super handsome, super kind King and his gorgeous and charming Queen. They had a beautiful daughter, and were the most powerful rulers in the whole world, probably because they had a magic donkey that literally pooped gold. Everything was great…until the Queen got sick.

No one could heal her, and the Queen knew she was dying, so she called the King to her side and told him “Only marry someone wiser and more beautiful than me if you want to provide an heir for the throne.”

PAUSE! The King always gets a bad rap in this story–AS HE SHOULD–but a lot of people don’t see the treachery in the Queen. So we need to get a few facts straight. 1) She is aware her daughter can’t inherit the throne–she specifically acknowledges the King needs an heir which means his people will be putting a lot of pressure on him. 2) She knows she’s the most beautiful woman in the world, so by telling him this she’s trying to get him to promise he won’t remarry.

You probably think I’m overthinking this, but I know the Queen is a hag, because the story tells you she knew what she was doing. The original story says… “Confident that it would be impossible to find such a woman, the Queen thus believed that her husband would never remarry.”

In other words, dear old Queenie knew that by making him promise this, she was screwing him over politically–not to mention blocking him from any kind of romantic relationship which could give him happiness later in life–and she didn’t care.

HAG!

After Queenie-the-Selfish died, the King mourned her for months, crying 24/7. (I’m assuming this means the princess was raised by her nanny, which is probably a good thing considering how her parents act.)

Eventually the courtiers started nagging the King about remarrying and producing an heir, and he agreed. He tried to keep his word and looked all over the world for a woman as beautiful and wise as dear ol’ Queenie. Unfortunately, Queenie was right, and the King couldn’t find anyone…except for his daughter. (And this is where we start calling the King GK for Gross King.)

GK proposes marriage to his daughter, who is legitimately  grossed out by the idea. Disturbed, she seeks out her fairy godmother who lives in a grotto of coral and pearls. (Does this mean her fairy godmother is the sea witch from Little Mermaid??)

The Fairy godmother tells her not to worry, there’s now way GK is that far gone, but in the meantime ask him for an impossible task–a dress that resembles the sky. Since he won’t be able to have one crafted, the Princess will be safe.

The Princess does as she is told. GK rises to the challenge and tells the tailors that if they can’t produce a sky-dress, he’ll hang them all. (Geez, what happened to being the kind king that the story took pains to point out at the start?)

The tailors pull it off, and it’s the most beautiful thing ever, filling the Princess with both happiness and fear because GK succeeded. She runs back to fairy godmother, who tells her to ask for a dress that is the color of the moon. Threats are issued, the embroiderers encounter stress overloads, and the dress is successfully made. This happens a third time when the fairy godmother tells the Princess to ask for a dress as bright as the sun, and some severely stressed-out jewelers produce a gown of gold and diamonds.

It’s becoming pretty obvious that GK lives in a really fashion-forward country, so the fairy godmother finally decides to change the task, and tells the Princess to ask for the skin of the gold-pooping donkey. (She assures the Princess there’s no way GK would kill his wealth-producing donkey–he’s not that crazy.)

SURPRISE!! GK immediately has the creature killed and its skin brought to the Princess.

By now Fairy Godmother has figured out how cray-cray GK is, so she tells the Princess to pretend to give into GK, but then run away using the donkey’s skin as a disguise and hiding her new fabulous dresses and jewels in a magic chest. (This furthers the notion that the fairy godmother isn’t so bright. Not only did it take her 3 dresses and a magic donkey to figure out GK had lost his marbles, but she also suggested taking these easily-identifiable dresses ON THE RUN.)

Run, Princess. RUN! (Illustration by Gustave Dore)

The Princess makes a break for it, and with her disguise no one is able to find her. She travels all the way into a different kingdom and is hired to work in a farm owned by the royal family as a kitchen servant. During the week she wears her donkey skin disguise–it’s a little sketchy how anyone can mistake a DONKEY for a person, I think they actually knew but thought she was just weird, but whatevs–and on her days off on Sunday she cleans up and puts on her famous dresses to feel pretty again.

Since she’s on a royal farm, of course the Prince of the Kingdom makes it a habit to drop by this particular farm after his hunting excursion. Apparently the prince was really handsome because the Princess–in disguise–enjoys gawking at him. She notes how gracious his manners are, and thinks that if he gave her even just a simple dress, she’d love it more than the fancy ones GK gave her. (I’D HOPE SO! EW!)

One day the Prince visits the farm on a Sunday and wanders around all the way to the servants’ quarters where he happens to put his eye to the door key hole. (Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Pervert.) Since it’s Sunday, the Princess was wearing one of her gowns–the sun one.

The Perverted Prince was astounded by her beauty, and almost bursts into her room, but barely manages to restrain himself. Since the dude has apparently never heard of leaving a letter or verbal message, he meanders back home and proceeds to pout.

He won’t hunt, won’t go to any balls, he refuses to have any fun and sighs all day long. (Poor thing.) Finally he loses his appetite and sinks into a deadly melancholy, and only THEN does he bother to ask the farm managers who ran the place who the gorgeous girl was. The farm managers tell him the room belonged to Donkey Skin, who isn’t pretty at all.

The prince doesn’t believe them and moans and sighs some more until his mother–the Queen–asks him what’s wrong. He tells her he wants Donkey Skin to make him a cake. She is mildly weirded out, but commands it to be done.

Our Princess-in-disguises makes the cake while wearing one of her jewels–specifically a ring. Proving that she is GK’s and Queenie’s daughter, the princess purposely drops the ring in the cake because she knew Prince Pervert was watching her through the keyhole. (What can I say? They deserve each other.)

The Perverted Prince almost swallows the ring (no one ever called him smart) when he eats the cake, and is very happy to find it, but he still grows sicker every day. It seems it was his method of protest, because he’s so sick his parents don’t object when it is claimed that marriage will cure his lovesickness. (And YES that is a line from the book, it seems Perrault a sarcastic streak) Perverted Prince decides he fancies a Cinderella story, and declares he’ll only marry the person whom his cake-ring fits.

The ring trials begin, and all the princesses, duchesses, and titled ladies of the land give it a try, but none of them can get the ring on. Eventually everyone from the middle class, and even the servants are given the chance to try on the ring, until our disguised princess is the only one left.

The princess–being Queenie’s and GK’s daughter–knows what’s going on, so she asks permission to change, and dresses in her sun dress and puts on all her jewelry. The King is stoked she looks so rich while the Queen delights in her manners, so when she tries on the ring and it fits everyone is happy.

Preparations for Perverted Prince and our no-longer-disguised Princess’s wedding begins immediately, and invitations are sent everywhere. And I mean everywhere.

So it was no surprise when GK shows up–still super rich and handsome, but thankfully no longer cray-cray. He’s so glad to see his daughter and begs her forgiveness–and Perverted Prince’s parents are now twice as thrilled to see that their son’s father-in-law was such a rich and powerful king.

The borderline useless fairy godmother shows up at the end and insists on telling all the wedding attendees the whole story–because that wouldn’t be awkward or creepy–and the disguised Princess is happy.

So. That was…something.

I’m not afraid to admit I like the stories that borrow aspects of this tale but skip the whole creepy-king/selfish-queen aspect of the princess’s parents. To reassure you guys–I DON’T DO THAT. EW. NO. Also, NO DONKEYS ARE HARMED IN THE DURATION OF THIS STORY!

If you're interested in how I reused aspects of this fairy tale in my urban fantasy trilogy check out these blog posts:

Donkeyskin + Hall of Blood and Mercy Similarities Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

And if you'd like to read a paranormal romance/urban fantasy version of this... interesting tale, then check out my Hall of Blood and Mercy trilogy where my "Princesses" is a Wizard on the run and the "Prince" is the top Vampire in the region who on a whim decided to accept her allegiance in exchange for sheltering her. And it's available in audiobook, ebook, and paperback!

Read it on Amazon.com or Click here for all other Amazon stores

Apprentice of Magic: Diamonds and Toads

The fairy tale Diamonds and Toads is pretty well known... or at least the very, very basic plot points are. But how well do you know the full original story?

As I mentioned on my previous post, my book, Apprentice of Magic, is an Epic Fantasy story (not a fairy tale retelling) but since Enchantress Angelique has already had to deal with so many fairy tales in the Timeless Fairy Tales series I knew I had to include a few fairy tales and Diamonds and Toads is one of those

Which is why today Diamonds and Toads will be the lucky recipient of my sarcastic summary of a fairy tale!

Most people are familiar with the Charles Perrault version–and if that name sounds familiar it’s because he also recorded Puss in Boots and Cinderella.

It goes a little something like this:

Once upon a time there was a really cross/mean widow who had two daughters. The eldest was equally as cross/mean as the mother, but the youngest, beautiful daughter took after her deceased father, who was sweet tempered.

Anywho, the mother favored the shrewish daughter because she was similar to her, and as a result the youngest daughter got stuck with most of the chores, one of them being she had to draw water from a fountain twice a day.

One day an old woman approached the younger daughter when she was at at the fountain, and asked her for a drink. The daughter obligingly used her pitcher to give the woman a drink, and SURPRISE (or not because this is a fairy tale) the old woman was actually a fairy. This fairy gives the daughter the “gift” of every time she spoke, a flower or jewel would fall from her lips.

The girl returns home where her mother scolds her for dawdling but, lo and behold, when the youngest daughter apologizes jewels fall from her lips. The cross widow is astonished and orders her daughter to tell her what happened. Once the entire tale is told, the widow bids her older, shrewish daughter to go to the fountain as well and to act kindly.

The shrewish daughter protests, but the mother kicks her out anyway. The elder daughter reluctantly goes to the well where she finds…a beautiful princess. The princess was really the fairy in disguise #surprisednotsurprised who asks the daughter to give her water.

The shrewish daughter insults the princess/fairy and implies the princess/fairy is a brat, though she does tell her she can use the pitcher if she likes. (Though it seems that she does not offer to draw the water for her.)

In response, the fairy calmly bestows a gift upon the eldest daughter: that every time she speaks a toad or snake will drop from her lips.

The eldest rushes home and tattles to her mother (while dropping a toad and viper from her mouth.) The mother decides this is the youngest daughter’s fault (because…reasons) and banishes her from the house.

A king finds the youngest daughter, crying, and bids her to tell him what’s wrong. She explains–dropping jewels the whole time–and miraculously the King’s son, who happens to be with him, falls in love with her jewels–I MEAN HER! He totally fell in love with her! In the span of a single conversation. Yep.

Since the girl could drop jewels with a word, they decided it didn’t matter that she’s a peasant, and she’s taken off to the palace where she weds her prince. The shrewish older daughter, however, continues to act so spiteful the window banishes her from the house as well, and eventually she starves and dies.

And…er…Happily Ever After??

So I decided to mix up this story a bit in Apprentice of Magic. I knew I wanted to make the oldest daughter good, because as a kid I never really understood why it was such a bad thing that she spoke toads and snakes. (I made a toad farm every summer as a kid, and I was fascinated with amphibians and reptiles in general.)

Moreover, I knew as a law-abiding adult who pays taxes, that miraculously producing bucketfuls of gems would also be a gigantic pain because of the logistics of selling them, and being taxed for them. (Not to mention the mysterious ability would likely be questioned by officials, who would muck up the girl’s daily life. And does anyone really think the prince fell in love with the youngest daughter because he heard how she was kind to a fairy one time??)

So instead, the tale worked perfectly into Apprentice of Magic as a teaching moment–not for the girls, but Angelique.

In fairy tales, enchantresses, fairies, and the like usually run around, tossing out curses and granting boons without actually talking to their victims. Frankly, that’s a horrible way to grant magical gifts. So I wanted Angelique to learn discernment. And thus, my plan for Diamonds and Toads was born.

And if you're now interested in reading how I incorporated Diamonds and Toads into my book you can find it using the links below in Kindle Unlimited, or ebook / paperback!

Click here for Amazon.com Or Click here for all other Amazon stores