Hades/Persephone

Pairing
Pairing:	Hades/Persephone
Alternative name(s):
Gender category:	f/m
Fandom:	Greek Mythology
Canonical?:	yes
Prevalence:	common
Archives:
Other:
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Hades/Persephone is one of the most popular het ships in the Greek mythology fandom.

Canon(s)

Adaptations

• Perséphone (1934), a melodrama by Igor Stravinsky
• Persephone (Daughters of Zeus #1), a novel by Kaitlin Bevis
• Persephone's Orchard by Molly Ringle
• The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
• The Goddess Letters by Carol Orlock
• Abandon by Meg Cabot
• The Receiver of Many and Destroyer of Light books by Rachel Alexander
• Persephone Remembers the Pomegranates by Samantha MacLeod
• Persephone, a comic by Allison Shaw
• The Matrix series has a character named Persephone, who is married to The Marovingian, a lord of the underworld
• Lore Olympus
• Persephone - Queen of Hades, Webtoons comic by coloricioso
• Hadestown musical by Anaïs Mitchell
• Persephone, Ukrainian animated movie based on the screenplay by the Greek author Alki Zei

Fandom

Fan Reactions

I see the myth as a story of Persephone's individuation and personal growth. Her story is also an archetypal coming of age tale, an innocent flower child raptured into adulthood. I also think that she ate the six pomegranate seeds to spend time equally with both her mother and Hades. Demeter was by all means a beloved mother to Persephone, but she was also stifling her. She embodies both Great and Terrible Mother archetypes, she is both loving and smothering. She did have the right to fear and be angry of her daughter's disappearance, but she has no right to keep her daughter all to herself, and neither does Hades for that matter. Demeter is the goddess of growth, but what good is that if she doesn't grow herself.

That being said, I also think Demeter and Persephone is one of the best examples of a mother-daughter bond.

God, I was so confused when I first saw this reinterpretation pop up on Tumblr! How is a site that routinely picks apart storylines for being sexist rolling with shipping a kidnapper and his victim? I'll allow people their preferences for tropes and dynamics, but I was kinda weirded out by this pairing being popular on there of all places, haha. But I guess there are two ways of looking at it: Greek myths are sexist so we should reinterpret them to work for us, or Greek myths are sexist so we should probably look somewhere else for stories that mesh with our ideals. Both are valid options, but I've never really liked erasing Persephone's kidnapping in the process. We can definitely appreciate how she became Queen of the Underworld and served an important role in other myths in that capacity, but that doesn't have to mean that she took on that role voluntarily. Still, there are so many versions of Greek myths floating around that there are bound to be some where Persephone chose to stay herself, in which case we can (and should) appreciate *that* story!

Symbolism

Pomegranate frequently shows up in fanwork as the fruit of Persephone. Themes of light and darkness as well as death and rebirth are also popular.

Fanworks

Fanfiction

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

• The Taste Of Divinity by TheAnnoyingBitch

Fanvids

• Persephone & Hades by callback1800 (Aug 22, 2012)
• Hades & Persephone: Cosmic Love by Kitty le Fay (Jan 25, 2014)
• Hades & Persephone by pixieloulou1982 (Apr 28, 2017)

Fanart

• Hades and Persephone by sandara
• Hades and Persephone 2 by sandara
• Hades and Persephone 3 by sandara
• concept: turkish delight instead of pomegranates by slaymate
• Blood and Sand by slaymate
• Fanart by fdevitart
• Fanart by jmadorran
• Fanart by marcelam_arts

Zines

• The Autumn Flowers
• Garnet Seeds

Fannish Links & Resources

• persephoneeeeee, a Tumblr blog dedicated to the pairing
• fyhadesandpersephone, a Fuck Yeah blog dedicated to the pairing
• Fanworks tagged Hades and Persephone on Tumblr
• Fanworks tagged Hades/Persephone on AO3
• Hades & Persephone works at FFN
• Hades and Persephone Community at FFN
• Hades and Persephone; Best of the Best Community at FFN
• Hades and Persephone at DeviantART
• Hades and Persephone tag at Shipcestuous

Canon Resources

• The Myth of Hades and Persephone at Greek Myths & Greek Mythology