Beauty and the Beast

by anarrowtothefeels

The Rape of Persephone: tale as old as time told by our dear old Homer. But what if Homer didn't have all of his facts straight? After all, a violent rape of the Goddess of Spring sells much better than that introverted pariah, Hades, falling in love. The real story waits to read.

Her beauty is what attracted him but her warmth is what made him need her. She was so unlike himself. So unlike any mortal who had passed through his gates whether they reached Elysium or were condemned to Tartarus. Though of course that had to be because she wasn't mortal, but daughter of Zeus, God of the Sky and Demeter, Goddess of The Harvest. And still, she was unlike any who dwelt in Olympus. Hades had never encountered a soul such as she and he had to have her.

She had been gathering flowers in the meadow as an offering to her mother before the blackness swelled all around her, a figure appearing in the mist. He was dark and cold. An aura surrounded him that made Persephone feel weak, her flowers wilting in her hands. But he had a soft smile on his face and his dark eyebrows were knit in something that resembled timidity. It was clear that he was a God and Persephone had never known the immortals to be timid; certainly not this one. She needed no introduction. Before her stood Hades, God of the Underworld.

—

The Rape of Persephone: a thoroughly bastardized name for a tale of love between a loveless God and loving Goddess.

We all know the story. That is, we all know Homer's version of events. And are you terribly surprised it painted Hades to be the bad guy once again? Because really, if Greece was allowed to see what the God of the Underworld was really like, the Olympians wouldn't look too hot, having condemned one who had done no wrong and was, in many ways, better than some of them, to such a terrible fate.

So yes, The Rape of Persephone is the name for the story, a misleading one, but a name nonetheless.