Daily Deities: Skadi

    With all the snow and cold weather, I decided to talk about Skadi, the Norse goddess of winter and skiing.

    Skadi is a bit different from the other Norse gods. She is neither Aesir nor Vanir but is a Jotunn/giantess. Skadi's story starts off with her dad, Thjazi, who pisses off Loki and begins carrying him in the form of an eagle. Loki begs to be put down and Thjazi agrees, on the condition that Loki should lead Idunn, the goddess of youth, out of Asgard. Loki agrees, leads Idunn out of Asgard (as well as her apples of youth), and Thjazi kidnaps her and carries her to Jotunheim (the realm of the dwarves). Without her apples, the gods began to grow old and they had last seen her with Loki, so they confronted him and threatened him to rescue her. So, Loki borrowed Freya's falcon jacket/cloak, became a falcon, and flew to Jotunheim. He rescues Idunn, and Thjazi turns into an eagle to chase them. The other gods see Loki coming with Thjazi at his tail and so they kill him.

    To celebrate, The gods have a party, but Skadi crashes the party because she wants revenge for her father's death. But before she does something drastic, the gods calm her down, apologize, and say that they'll make her a goddess just like them. They also say that they'll let her choose a god to be her husband. But, she has to choose them by looking at their feet. So, she looks at all their feet and sees a pair of beautiful feet. Assuming they belong to Baldr, she chooses the man with the beautiful feet. But it isn't Baldr. It's Njord, the god of the sea and fishing. So they get married and seem to have had a good relationship, but for some reason, they split later on. Skadi doesn't really have many stories outside of that, but she was the one who placed a snake overtop Loki to drip poison on him for all eternity until Ragnarok. That's really it.

    What do you really think about Njord and Skadi? Any thoughts? Comment below! (Please comment responsibly. Constructive criticism is welcome.)

Daily Deities: Hel

    I've recently learnt about a lot of "dark-themed" things. I recently learnt about Goth and Punk fashion and philosophy. I wanted to know where they came from and why they're different. I also learnt about Gothic literature. I also learnt about Noir fiction and what defines it. I've also been listening to Gothic and Noir music to help me relax recently, and overall, I've been experiencing a very morbid vibe. So I decided to talk about one of my favourite topics: Chthonic gods! Specifically Hel.

    Now, Hel is spelled with one "L", but it's pronounced like "hell". Hel is the Norse goddess of death and the ruler of Helheim, the Nordic realm of the dead. She is the only daughter of Loki and is described as being half-woman, half-corpse; split down the middle. She is also one of those misunderstood gods in mythology and so I want to talk about her today.

    Loki was the trickster god of Norse mythology and he had three children with the jotunn/giantess Angrboda. His three children consisted of Jormungandr (a snake), Fenrir (a wolf), and Hel (a goddess). Well, Hel is technically half a goddess. She's also half a giantess/jotunn. Loki tried to hide his kids from the other Aesir gods, but they found out eventually. But, unfortunately for Loki and his children, there was a bad prophecy about them. Odin has many magic advisers and seers who spoke of a prophecy in which Loki's children will be the cause of Ragnarok (the Norse apocalypse). Not wanting Ragnarok to happen, Odin decides to deal with Loki's children. The gods throw Jormungandr in the Midgard ocean, turning Jormungandr into the giant World Serpent that he's known to be. The Aesir tricked Fenrir and tied him to a rock, losing Tyr's hand in the process.

    Once Hel was banished to Helheim, she was trapped. She became one of the most powerful goddesses in the Norse pantheon, but she couldn't leave her realm any better than the dead souls she welcomed. The road to Helheim was guarded by Hel's guard-dog Garmr. She was also the only goddess who could control the dragon Nidhogg. Helheim may sound like "hell", but there is no evidence to suggest that it was a terrible place. Dead warriors would go to either Valhalla or Folkvangr, while people who died of old age and sickness would go to Hel. Helheim isn't a place for sinners, it's just a place for all people who didn't die in battle. Why would it be a terrible place for them?

    The only story where Hel plays a small role is in is the death of Baldr. Baldr was the son of Odin and was the god of light, purity, happiness, love, forgiveness, and basically all good things. Everybody in the nine realms loved him. But then he started having nightmares about his coming death, and so his mother Frigg got everything in existence to swear not to hurt him. All except mistletoe (because mistletoe, am I right?). Because of this, Baldr was basically invulnerable. So, at parties, the Aesir would play games in which they threw all kinds of dangerous and non-dangerous things at him, which would all bounce off him and not harm him. Now, Loki (who likes nothing better than causing trouble) makes an arrow out of mistletoe and gives it to Hodr (Baldr's blind twin brother). Hodr may be blind, but he's actually a very good archer. He shoots Baldr and kills him. Odin then has a child with a giantess named Vidar, who avenges Baldr by killing Hodr. Baldr and Hodr both go to the underworld. Hel welcomes them very warmly with many festivities and wealth (further proof that Helheim wasn't THAT bad).

    Everyone was sad about Baldr's death, and so Hermod (the messenger of the gods), went to Hel to see if he can persuade her to return Baldr. Hel agreed to let Baldr go if everything in the nine realms wept for him. And everything did. Everything except for one giantess, Thokk. "Thokk" was actually Loki in disguise. So, Baldr had to stay in Helheim with Hodr and Hel. He would return after Ragnarok, to rule in the new world.

    Loki would be punished for what he did, but all of these events would lead up to Ragnarok. Loki, Fenrir, and Jormungandr would be free, and Loki would take Hel's army of the dead to attack Asgard. Hence, Loki's children would be the cause of Ragnarok. Strangely enough, this actually places Odin and Loki's children in the mythical motif of the "prophecy". This is a  motif in which a king hears about their doom at the hands of a relative, they try to stop it and in the process, they give the person in question EXACTLY what they need to fulfil the prophecy. Odin heard a prophecy about his doom, then tried to stop it, but ended up giving Loki's kids exactly what they needed to fulfil their role in the prophecy. Jormungandr never would have grown so big if he wasn't thrown into the Midgard ocean. Fenrir wouldn't have been so angry if he hadn't been tricked into being chained up. Hel would have never had an army of the dead if she hadn't been made the queen of the dead in the first place. In trying to stop Loki's children, he gave them EXACTLY what they needed to fulfil the prophecy of Ragnarok (in which Odin dies).

    Odin could make an easy antagonist since the Aesir gods aren't really GOOD PEOPLE. They always get drunk, cause problems, ask Loki to fix it, and if it goes wrong, they blame Loki for it. This bad representation could be because of Christian bias. The only primary source we have for Norse mythology (The Prose Edda) was written by Christian Icelandic mythographer Snorri Sturluson. He wrote it from a heavily biased perspective. We don't have any sources before that, so we don't know how much of Norse mythology is legit or not. But, on the topic of Hel, a lot of scholars have come to the conclusion that Hel probably didn't exist in Pre-Scandinavian-Mythology. They have theorized that Snorri very likely created her as the personification of the underworld that was also called Hel. But who knows?

    Thanks so much for reading! In my opinion, I think Hel is nice and I like her. I also hardcore ship Hel and Baldr. No regrets. :)

    What do you think of Hel? Good, bad or neutral? Do you think she existed pre-Snorri? Comment below! (Please comment responsibly. Constructive criticism is welcome.)

Daily Deities #7: Anubis

    I don't know why I am thinking about Anubis today but for some reason I am. I guess I like him like I do with all chthonic gods.

    The idea that the ancient Egyptians were OVERLY OBSESSED with death is actually a myth. They weren't THAT obsessed with death, but it did play an important role in the lives of the Egyptians. I guess it makes sense that in order to understand life, it would be important to understand death as well. Hence, the ancient Egyptians knew a lot about death and believed that the soul was immortal and needed help to reach the afterlife after it left its body.

    Considering how important death was, it makes sense that Anubis, the jackal-headed god of death and mummification, would be a very important figure for the ancient Egyptians. Anubis was the son of the gods Nephthys and Osiris. The story goes that Nephthys looked a lot like Osiris's sister-wife Isis, and so tricked him and gave birth to Anubis. Sometimes this affair is said to be the inciting incident for Set's reign of terror over Egypt. Sometimes, it happens because Set is jealous of Osiris and Isis and so neglects his wife Nephthys, causing her to seduce Osiris. Whatever the outcome or reason, Anubis is born as the son of Osiris and Nephthys and hence, is rejected by his stepfather Set.

    Anubis leaves home and soon encounters his aunt Isis, who had just lost her husband Osiris and was trying to find his body. She took in Anubis and taught him magic. Once he had learnt, they parted ways and Anubis left for the Duat/the underworld. Anubis became the king of the dead and the god of death. He judged the dead souls on how good or bad they were in their life. Eventually, Isis and Nephthys found Osiris's dead body. They asked Anubis for help with resurrecting Osiris. So Anubis preserves Osiris's body and brings him back to life, making Osiris the first mummy; and making Anubis the inventor and god of mummification. Outside of that, Anubis doesn't really have any other stories about him.

    Now, just because he didn't have many stories doesn't mean he wasn't widely worshipped. He was one of the most popular Egyptian deities. His historical development goes as far back as before "Egypt" became official. The Egyptians have always buried their dead in tombs with many treasures to help the soul in the afterlife. Unfortunately, the buried goods attracted the attention of thieves. So, to scare the thieves away, the carved and painted black jackals on the walls of the tomb. Jackals were often seen near tombs and would scavenge and eat the remains of any dead body it finds. After connecting jackals with death, they began to worship a god with the head of a jackal in order to protect them from jackals. This figure would become Anubis.

    Anubis's head is specifically the head of an African golden jackal (as of 2015, due to observation and study, scientists have renamed it to wolf). At first, he was just depicted as a full jackal but soon morphed into a human with the head of a jackal. Anubis was the all-powerful king of the underworld and the god of the dead. He would judge souls and reward or punish them in the afterlife based on their deeds. But, with the discovery and invention of mummification and embalming, Anubis also became the god of mummification. embalmers would often wear Anubis/jackal masks while preserving or wrapping a body.

    Anubis was highly popular and worshipped all throughout Egypt as the god of death and the dead. At first, Anubis didn't have any parentage, so they made him the son of Ra, the most-important sun god. Eventually, He was given the whole Osiris-Nephthys birth story. As time moved on, Osiris would replace him as king of the underworld, and Anubis was reduced to a psychopomp and balancer of souls. When the Romans conquered Egypt, they syncretized Anubis with Hermes and Hades. In fact, a new god, Hermanubis, was formed. He's basically Hermes and Anubis combined.

    Anubis has been depicted in many different ways throughout pop culture. Sometimes he's a mysterious god who's tortured by the sins he committed for whatever reason. Sometimes he's a good guy and sometimes he's just neutral. Sometimes he's the divine sexy teenage love interest of the main character. Often he's portrayed as the sinister god of death and a merciless villain. This has ZERO precedent in the mythology and I wish it would stop. I hope to portray a nice version of him in the future.

Anubis: Picture credit link

    So that's my thoughts on Anubis. What do you think about him? Who do you think is a better king of the Egyptian underworld, Osiris or Anubis? What is your favourite portrayal of Anubis and why? Feel free to comment down below! (Comment responsibly. Constructive criticism is welcome)

Daily Deities #6: Nikumbila/Narasimhi/Pratyangira

    I was in a bad mood recently. I was feeling very angry at myself for no reason. I was walking around and thinking to myself and so I did some research on Hindu goddesses, specifically the scary, angry ones. Whenever I look at the angry goddesses, there's always some form of good, powerful symbolism behind them and it makes me feel good. I stumbled upon one in particular who I found very interesting and so I wanted to share what I learned with you.

    I have watched and read the Ramayan on multiple occasions and I'd always heard that Ravan's son, Meghnad/Indrajit had gotten all his strength and magical power from a goddess named Nikumbila. I'd heard of how he performed Tantric rites in order to please her. I just never looked up this goddess to learn if she was an actual Hindu goddess. I sort of just assumed she was some kind of Rakshasa goddess who only appears in the Ramayan because I'd never heard her name anywhere else. Now, I had also heard of another goddess, Pratyangira, who was a form of Goddess Durga with a lion's head. I knew that she was one of the Matrikas, who are 7-8 forms of Goddess Durga who help the goddess fight in battle. The Matrikas each represent the energy and power of a god or an avatar of Vishnu (except for Chamunda, who has no male counterpart). Pratyangira is also called Narasimhi because she is the female energy of Narasimha, Vishnu's lion-man hybrid avatar. Narasimha is one of Vishnu's most powerful incarnations. His anger nearly destroyed the universe. So, if Narasimha is so powerful, just imagine how powerful Pratyangira is since she's the physical representation of his entire power.

    It wasn't until recently that I learned that Nikumbila was just another name for Pratyangira and it surprised me. She also goes by a couple of other names. In Vaishnavism, she is considered the wife of Narasimha. Narasimha literally means "human-lion" (Nara-simha). Narasimhi is the feminine version (name-wise). While she is often associated with Goddess Kali, she is also considered a form of Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu. Hence, she is also called Simhamukha Lakshmi ( lion-headed Lakshmi). In South India, she is known as Atharvani Bhadrakali, identifying her as the goddess of the Atharva Veda (which also makes her the goddess of magic and spells, since the Atharva Veda has magic spells in it). Prati means reverse, while Angiras means attacking. Hence, Pratyangira is the goddess who can reverse and protect oneself from black magic. She is the goddess of both offensive and defensive power.

    Her lion head on a human body is a representation of the balance between good and evil. She also rides a lion and sometimes has blue skin and fur with a wide-open mouth and lots of teeth. Her eyes are often red with anger and in her four hands, she carries a trident, a damaru (basically a hand-drum), a cobra snake as a noose (badass!), and a skull.

    Pratyangira has a couple stories. She is often present whenever Durga or Shiva summons the Matrikas to help them fight in battle, and she also helps Goddess Lalitha when fighting Bhandasura. One story states that some sages were performing a yagna to the Ashta-Lakshmis (the eight forms of Lakshmi). While doing so, they were attacked by a powerful demon. To protect them, Lakshmi transforms into Pratyangira and kills the demon.

    Another story states that when Narasimha killed Hiranyakashipu, he was still so angry, that his anger and power were burning the universe and threatening to destroy it completely. In fear, the gods all ran to Lord Shiva for help. So Shiva sent his incarnation Veerbhadra to stop him. Veerbhadra tried to explain to Narasimha, but when words and reason failed, the two started fighting. Shiva felt that things were getting out of hand and so he incarnated as Sharabha. Sharabha was a bird-lion monster who began to fight Narasimha, but neither could defeat the other. So, Pratyangira Devi burst forth from Sarabha's wings and nullified Narasimha's power in a second. JUST. LIKE. THAT. No fight or anything! If Narasimha is so powerful, just imagine how powerful SHE is.

    Remember that as we segway into how her devotee became so powerful thanks to her. In the Ramayan, Pratyangira made a cameo appearance under the name Nikumbila. Nikumbila is actually Ravan's Kuldevi (family goddess). Meghnad was given a boon by Brahma that gave him knowledge of her mantra and the Tantric rites that he should perform to get her power. He did so and became very powerful, especially in the magical arts (like sorcery and illusions, since Nikumbila is the goddess of magic). Using this power, Meghnad defeated Indra, earning him the name Indrajit. Indrajit caused tons of problems for Lord Ram and his army during the Ramayan. At one point, He caused Ram and Lakshman to fall unconscious, and also nearly killed Lakshman. But luckily, Lakshman survived thanks to Hanuman and returned to kill Meghnad. He attacked Meghnad at the cave where he worshipped Nikumbila. If he disrupted Meghnad mid-worship, then Meghnad would be vulnerable, because he hadn't completed his sacrifice. Lakshman killed Meghnad, giving Lord Ram the upper hand in the war.

    Considering how powerful Pratyangira is, I'm not really surprised that Meghnad was as powerful as he was. Anyone would be if they worshipped her at his level. Well, you know what they say: Behind every great man is a great woman.

Nikumbila: Picture credit link

Pratyangira: Picture credit link

    What do you think of Pratyangira? Which of her names is your favourite? Did you know about Meghnad and Nikumbila? Comment below! (Please comment responsibly. Constructive criticism is welcome)

Daily Deities #5: Hestia/Vesta

     Hestia is the greek virgin goddess of the hearth, the household, and domesticity. I decided to write about her because I was feeling very comfortable and cozy in my home. I also reread the Dark Phoenix Saga. Together, they gave me a Hestia vibe (I don't know). My brother and I are X-Men comic fans and we love Dark Phoenix, so whenever we think of a "fire-related person", we tend to think of "badass-phoenix-powerhouse". So, when I told him about Hestia, he completely ignored the domestic, household part of Hestia and only focused on the fireplace aspect. He thinks she is some kind of Dark Phoenix-like fire goddess, and it's hilarious.

    Hestia is the oldest child of the Titan Kronos and his wife Rhea and the first deity in the Olympian pantheon. Her name has Proto-Indo-European origins and literally means "fireplace", or "hearth". She was the first child to be eaten by Kronos and also the last to be vomited. Hence, she is the oldest AND the youngest. When the Olympian gods defeated the Titans and set up shop on Mt. Olympus, Hestia's role was tending the sacred flame. She was a peaceful, benevolent deity, and never meddled in the crazy affairs and bickering of the other gods. When the god Dionysus came to Olympus, Hestia gave her position as the 12th Olympian to Dionysus, arguing that her place was at the fireplace (This story is actually more modern, but it never actually happened. When people list the twelve Olympians, they'll either include Hestia OR Dionysus. As Dionysus became more popular with time, people kind of assume he "took her place", but there are no primary sources for this story).

    One thing Hestia is known for is her virginity. Apollo and Poseidon both fell in love with Hestia and asked for her hand in marriage. But Hestia wanted to be unmarried for life. So, she went to Zeus and swore an oath to be unmarried and a virgin for all life. Because of this, Hestia is one of three goddesses whom Aphrodite has no power over. Once, the mother goddess Cybele was hosting a feast where gods, goddesses, satyrs ad nymphs were all invited. Hestia attended the feast, but Priapus (a minor fertility and wilderness god) saw her and became attracted to her. While she slept, he attempted to assault her, but Silenus's donkey started braying. Everyone woke up and rushed to defend Hestia and Priapus was chased away.

    One thing to note is that there is a small difference between Hestia and Vesta (her Roman counterpart). When people learn about the Greek and Roman gods, they tend to think they're the same gods, just with different names. That is only 70% true. The thing with the Roman deities is that they already existed before the Romans met the Greeks. The Roman deities evolved from various Italian tribal gods and from a hypothetical Proto-Indo-European Mythology (where the Greek gods also came from). The Roman gods had fewer stories about them but were still worshipped. When the Romans met the Greeks, they adopted a lot of their stories about their gods, and the two cultures heavily influenced each other. Hence, there is a difference between the gods.

    The difference between Hestia and Vesta is that Hestia isn't important in the Greek pantheon, but has a few stories about her. Vesta, meanwhile, is one of the most important Roman goddesses, but there are no stories about her (Vesta was more of an abstract goddess). Scholars can't seem to agree on where her name came from and what it means. Vesta wasn't depicted in human form and was represented by the sacred flame in her temple. The only people allowed in her temple were her priestesses, who were called Vestal Virgins. Their jobs were tending to the sacred flame. Assaulting them was seen as the worst crime in all of Rome. Vesta had almost no stories about her other than Vestal Virgins getting pregnant thanks to fire from a hearth (don't ask how).

    Vesta was the purest and good-mannered of the gods and was also seen as a fertility goddess and a mother goddess. She was represented by a fire stick in some fertility cults and was also a goddess of impregnation (ok? weird). Hence, in some versions, she played a role in the birth of Romulus and Remus (the mythical/historical founders of Rome). Because the fireplace and the earth both played an important part in the household (and because Vesta is a fertility goddess), Vesta has been linked to Terra, the goddess of the earth, by many scholars and poets. Thresholds were also sacred to Vesta. Hence, brides usually stepped over the threshold for good luck by not disrespecting Vesta. Both Vesta and Janus (the god of doorways) were present at all weddings and sacrifices and neither was fully depicted in human form.

    Vesta has always been one of the most important goddesses to the Romans and her worship goes as far back as the beginning of Rome itself, with her origins being even older. She was believed to be one of several Trojan gods whose worship was brought to Italy by Aeneas (ancestral Trojan founder of Rome). Her household worship expanded into a full-blown cult that was popular throughout Rome and regarded as the most important. All emperors were priests of Vesta from the title alone. But when Christianity began to rise in popularity, Vesta's popularity went down and was one of the last Roman cults to be deleted from existence.

    I like how Hestia is so calm and composed and that the Romans worshipped Vesta so much. Do you agree with my brother's Dark Phoenix representation? What do YOU like about Hestia/Vesta? DO you like Hestia/Vesta? Why or why not? Comment below! (Please comment responsibly. Constructive criticism is welcome.)

Daily Deities #2: Sun Wukong

    Today's Daily Deity is Sun Wukong. It's not actually a topic I've been thinking about, but is one that my little brother Neel has been thinking about. So I decided to talk about Sun Wukong today.

    Sun Wukong, or Monkey King, is a character from Chinese Mythology. He comes to us by way of The Journey to the West, one of China's four great classical novels. Sun Wukong is a stone monkey who was born from a magic rock on a mountain called Flower Fruit Mountain. When the wind blew over him, he came to life and already knew how to walk and talk. This origin story could have been based off of that of Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god of bravery, courage, and devotion. Anyway, Sun Wukong proves himself to be the bravest amongst the monkeys and becomes their king. One day, when one of his monkey citizens dies, he gets sad and so goes to a Taoist immortal to teach him knowledge and how to become immortal. He then uses an iron pillar from the palace of the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, which he uses as a weapon.

    Sun Wukong is then taken to the underworld, which makes him angry, so he erases the names of all the monkeys that he knows from the records of the underworld, making them immortal. To control him, the Jade Emperor, the ruler of all deities in the Chinese heaven, gave Sun Wukong different positions in heaven. But, each time, Sun Wukong would abandon his post for some reason and cause tons of chaos in Heaven. Soon, the Jade Emperor is forced to send the entire heavenly army and their most powerful divine warriors and gods to fight and take down Sun Wukong, but they all fail. So Guanyin, a powerful Bodhisattva, suggests that they send Erlang Shen, a powerful warrior monk, to go and fight Sun Wukong, who he defeats with the help of Lao Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher who founded Taoism. They then fail to execute him many times before he escapes and starts causing more destruction in heaven. The Jade Emperor is finally forced to turn to Buddha himself. The Buddha is the enlightened founder and main deity, or focus, of Buddhism. Buddha easily uses his powers to test, and then trap Sun Wukong under a mountain for 500 years.

    Sun Wukong stays under the mountain until Guanyin meets him and tells him that a pilgrim will come and free him from the mountain, after which he must help the pilgrim get where he's going. The pilgrim who comes is the Buddhist monk Tang Sanzang (or Tripitaka), who has been sent on a journey to the western heaven to obtain Buddhist scriptures. He frees Sun Wukong, who is then forced to help him on his journey. At first, he's kind of unhappy at this, but soon he takes the journey and it's purpose more seriously. Throughout the journey, demons kept trying to abduct Tripitaka to eat him, because it was believed that if he was eaten, then his flesh would grant them immortality. So, Sun Wukong was basically his bodyguard and constantly had to fight all kinds of demons throughout the story. By the time he had finished the journey, Sun Wukong had become fully enlightened. He got to meet Buddha again and achieved Buddhahood.

    That is the basic gist of it. The reason my brother is thinking about Sun Wukong today is because he was feeling a sense of mischievousness and fun, which reminded him a lot of the story of Sun Wukong, who was a very impulsive, incontrollable, and powerful trickster, and also very funny. Thank you for reading! Do you have a favorite character from The Journey to the West? Do you have a favorite story from The Journey to the West? Why? You're free to comment down bellow!

Daily Deities #1: Hades and Persephone

     Happy Valentines Day! This is Dev. This will be the first of a longish series of Daily Deities, where I take a moment to talk about a certain god or concept or something from mythology that I've been thinking about that day and why. I know that it's called "Daily" Deities, but I won't always have time to make one of these posts every day, since I have a limited amount of computer time a day, even on weekends. During weekdays, I have schoolwork to do and so I may not always write one of these every day, but I will try. I also might not write one of these if my head is still stuck on the previous topic.

    With that out of the way, let's talk about Hades and Persephone, who have both caught my attention recently, and both of whom I've been thinking about lately. Recently, Valentines Day happened and it made me think about love stories in mythology. My mind moved to Greece, since they have their fair share of love stories, most of which, unfortunately, end terribly. So, a question came to mind: "what are some really good love stories in Greece that have a happy ending and are actually functional?" I've only been able to determine two couples: Eros and Psyche, and Hades and Persephone. If you find any more, please comment down below.

    Eros is the god of love in Greek mythology and he shoots arrows to make people fall in love. Psyche was his beautiful wife, whom his mother Aphrodite was jealous of and did her absolute best to keep them separate. Eventually she gave up and Eros and Psyche were happily married, and unlike most Greek gods, Eros remained totally faithful to his wife.

    Hades and Persephone, instead, got off to a rough start. Demeter, the goddess of the harvest was very overprotective of her daughter Persephone, who was also Zeus's daughter. So, when Hades fell in love with her, knowing that Demeter would refuse, he asked Zeus for permission to marry Persephone, and Zeus specifically told him to kidnap her, which he did. In reality, this wasn't some terrifying assault, but instead, an arranged marriage. Demeter didn't respond happily to the disappearance of her daughter and refused to let anything grow on the earth unless she got her daughter back. Zeus sent Hermes to go get Hades to release Persephone. Hades and Persephone had actually gotten along well and when Hades heard what Demeter was doing, he actually told Persephone to return to her mother to sort things out. But he promises her that she will be his queen and that he will try to be the best husband for her. Persephone returned to earth, and then admitted to her parents that she had eaten some food in the underworld and so she had to stay there for one third of the year, while she spent the rest of the year with her mother. When Persephone was with Hades, Demeter would become sad again and it would become winter, and when Persephone was with Demeter, she would be happy and spring and summer would occur.

    What I find which I thought was pretty nice, was that Persephone did end up loving Hades, and Hades did keep his word. Him and Persephone never cheated on each other, and Persephone was in the rare position of getting to share equal power in the underworld with her husband. This was not standard in Ancient Greece, because Greece considered women to be very unimportant and less than men. So, knowing that Persephone was being treated equally by her husband makes me feel good inside, because that's how relationships should be like, and it's good know that Hades isn't a bad guy at all. When people think of Hades, they either make him a default Satan analog, or you think of the Hades interpretation in Disney's Hercules movie. These versions are both inaccurate, since Hades has never done anything cruel ever. He is a good person who does his job and loves his wife. So, I really hope that somewhere along the line, we will get a modern interpretation of Hades that matches his good original characterization, which is the characterization that I like. My current favorite adaptation of the story is Rachel Smythe's Lore Olympus Webcomic. I'm a huge, hardcore fan.

    I hope you enjoyed my first Daily Deity, and I'll try to write more of these as the time goes by. I hope this has reshaped how you think about Hades and Persephone and I hope you are all safe at home during this pandemic. Please wear your masks and socially distance where necessary. We'll get through this together!