When reading in mythology one must be aware of the difference that can be found in the telling of each story. Many of the basic themes are repeated, but details and story lines vary noticeably from teller to teller, ethnographic region to ethnographic region, and century to century. Think of it this way, myths are stories that have told and retold for centuries, and no one wrote them down until about 800 BCE. That’s a very long time to be sharing stories.
But it does make it easier for a writer to find some aspects that deviate from the recognizable myth. I took advantage of these differences when I constructed My Lord Hades because I didn’t want it to be this predictable story that we all learned in school. I started this short series with Persephone and I thought I would continue with Hades. Of all the characters, Hades has received the fewest complaints over the changes I made even though he was the most drastically changed of all the characters. Most of those complaints have made me laugh because they have little basis in mythology and more basis in cartoons and movies. So here’s the list:
1) Hades origins
In most mythology Hades is the son of Coronus and Rhea, and the brother of Zeus and Hades, but since Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, Hades’ sister, I knew I needed to make a change in someone’s origins. Looking through the mythology of Hades I found several references to Hades being called Aides, Dis, and Orcus by the Greeks and the Roman authors, so I looked up each of these names. Under Orcus or Horkus I found the most interesting piece of information. Orcus was the son of Eris in ancient times, later changing to Rhea and Coronus as his myth was assimilated by Greek and Romans from the Etruscans. This lead me to changing his origins to something still based in mythology, but also more conductive to my purposes, after all I was not looking forward to niece and Uncle marrying.
2) Leuce and Menthe
Both were mythical nymphs with basically the same story. Hades loved then, Menthe was changed into a mint plant by Persephone when she caught her and Leuce was made into a white poplar by Hades after she died. So I took creative license in changing their stories. Menthe became a love interest before Hades and Persephone get together that he almost kills with a passionate kiss. I made Luece his half-sister by Horkus. Then I tried to explain away the whole divergence from mythology by having the Olympians confusing the stories of Leuce and Menthe. Guess it might have confused everyone else.
3) What is a Phlegethon daemon?
This was actually explained in the story three separate times, but I still have people ask this question. They also want to know where it comes from. Phlegethon is a river in the Underworld meaning “fiery.” I took the name and added daemon, or the greek daimon to the end and made my own daemon. Phlegethon daemons are the children of gods and daemons that are ruled by their passions. They feel more and they feel more passionately. They can also consume non-Phlegethon with the power of their passions. Hence the unfortunate incident with Menthe and why Hades feared hurting Persephone in the story.
4) Why isn’t Hades upset at Persephone for being in her prison for all this time?
I made a brief mention of this, but more from Persephone’s point-of-view. The reason Hades wasn’t pissed at her was because even if she was Queen of the Underworld, her control stopped at the mortal shades. She has no control over the gods’ or daemons that are imprisoned in Tartarus by Coronus. I should have made this more clear in the novel.
Where I found my information Online:
http://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Haides.html
