#yeah myths are one of my fav topics so if i let myself talk i don't really shut up

[queerandcartoons]

ok in the notes I mentioned I might reblog this later for specifically why I tagged this with Persephades later, so let's go:

Go watch this video by Overly Sarcastic Productions for more details, but the video also talks more in-depth about Persephone and Hades. It mostly focuses on their origins in pre-Classical Greece, like where they came from and how their mythos progressed throughout time (it's all very fascinating), and towards the end, with all that in mind, OSP takes a look at the infamous Abduction of Persephone myth, the historical context, and (most importantly to my discussion here), where the fake "original myth" of Persephone wandering down to the underworld and willingly marrying Hades, but she has to deal with her overbearing mother, so she eats Pomrgratnite seeds to be able to stay with her husband at least for part of the year. Insert Power Couple of the Underworld here (which they are regardless of origin myth). Insert "they wanted to erase women's agency" here, etc. etc.

I have nothing against that retelling, but just acknowledge that that's what it is- a retelling. There are no classical origins for this version, and while I thought it originated on Tumblr (because lets' face it this website doesn't have a good history with "real myths", see Mesperyian the "most beloved daughter of hades" and the idea that women in ancient Greece used Medusa's head as protection.), the OSP video actually traces it to 1978, where a woman named Charlene Spretnak wrote the book "Lost Goddesses of Early Greece: A Collection of Pre-Hellenic Myths", but didn't cite any "pre-hellenic sources" and just wanted a clean collection of myths for her daughter to read. tbh I kinda want to read the book regardless of its real sources, just to see what she changes.

Look, I get why this version of the myth is popular. Persephone and Hades are what I'd consider one of those weird internet OTPs, since everyone here seems to ship it and support the couple, especially on Tumblr. Especially when the alternatives are gods like Zeus and Hera, Apollo and his hundreds of failed lovers, and Aphrodite and her many affairs, especially with Ares, and it happening so often people sometimes forget she's married to Hephaestus. Persephone and Hades just work. They're "opposites attract". Miss Flower Sunshine and Mr. Grumpy Goth. They have a lot of appealing traits. So, finding out this "original myth" version exists (even without sources but when has that ever stopped the internet lol) was great! Fantastic! The couple is now completely unproblematic. No more icky kidnapping. Just Underworld Power Couple Vibes from here on out.

Again, I like the version. It gives Persephone agency in a myth where she's otherwise interchangeable with a favorite book or another object, and it's great and perfect for modern retellings. What I don't like are people seeing this and thinking "the patriarchy hid this from us" or whatever. No, the ancient world was just sexist. Surprise, surprise. I'm not shitting on anyone who uses this story, especially in a modern setting where kidnapping someone you like is a HUGE no-no, I'm just a little annoyed at people who use it like it's the real story and correct people who don't acknowledge it. "um, actually in the original myth Persephone WANTED to be there" NO. Just, no. There are no sources. No nothing. Even without this version, Persephone and Hades still have the best marriage in greek myth. No cheating, no drama. They just chill in the underworld. Or in the overworld, if you're Persephone during the spring and summer months.

rant over, thanks for reading if ya did. go check out the video, linked above, I really enjoy Red and Blue's videos they put a lot of research into their videos and they are always fun to watch.

The phrase "original myth" is a term used by people interested in and talking about mythology to describe and give credit to the earliest known way a myth was told, however the term itself is actually misleading. It perpetuates the idea that there was one, true, and "original" story when that is not the case. Even if scholars, archeologists, and historians trace back characters and stories to the earliest records possible, and assuming that the earliest records we can translate and use are, in fact, the earliest written records on that subject and translated 100% correctly, it erases and ignores the oral traditions that the written records pulled from. Oral traditions themselves are ancient, and were ancient when recorded for the first time all those years ago, so it makes no sense to make claims like "the 'original myth' says X, Y, and Z, so saying anything other than that is factually incorrect". It also gives the impression that one person created the story, passed it along, and people were playing a game of telephone until people wrote them down. It gives the impression that saying anything other than what this "one person" created is wrong and should be ignored in favor of the "original" story. There is no original author for most myths. Myths are influenced and shaped by everything around it, like the culture's customs or past histories of natural disasters attributed to angry dieties. Because there is no author, there is no "original myth", since it's been a collaborative effort since the beginning. Myths had been solidified by the time they were written down, but even then details often differ slightly.