Hades is actually quite alright by Greek god standard. People give him so much hate for this one thing while Zeus swindle his way to girls every other day and usually gets away fine.
Even this interpretation isn't strictly accurate. In general hades is depicted as a good husband and demeter as a control-freak mother. Also iirc it's hinted at that the part about having to stay in the underworld if you eat food there is made up so persephone will be able to go back to hades for a part of the year.
I've actually never seen anyone who hates Hades. Whenever I hear about Hades, it's usually from Greek mythology/PJO fangirls who keep shoving him down everyone's throats lmao like okay we get it, he's your misunderstood sadboi
Well, actually Hades is more tolerable than Zeus. Zeus is called the god of justice, but what is justice of his, if he always abuses his own power and cheating on his wife Hera a lot. We could all agree that Zeus is worse than his own father Cronos (or both worse).
Last time I checked, according to pretty much every person I know who has an interest in Greek mythology, Hades and Persephone are like, the only mythological Greek couple that isn't completely broken all the time, every day of the week.
Yeah it weird that he's seen as such a bad guy the only negative things he did was kidnap his wife and cheat on her. Which makes him a saint compared to the other Gods.
A few things TED-Ed got wrong: - Persephone did end up falling in love with him - She willingly ate the pomegranate seeds (also she's a goddess she can't starve) - This is really the only story where Hades actually did a bad thing - Zeus should take half the credit because he authorized the kidnapping - Btw many women were kidnapped as wives back then. This doesn’t justify it, but rather it wasn’t seen as that bad at the time (also zeus had kids with so many women, and some of them... "unwilling" to participate if you get what I mean)
It’s hard to figure out the true origin story regarding Hades and Persephone. One account said that Persephone was miserable with a Hades and only ate the pomegranate because she was starving and not knowing that would seal her to the Underworld. Other accounts stated that Persephone did eventually fell in love with Hades and did not want to leave him, despite Zeus’s orders so she ate the pomegranate knowing that will bound her to the Underground with Hades forever.
I’m biased, but I definitely prefer the interpretation that Hades was struck by Cupid’s arrow and Persephone eventually fell in love with Hades (since they’re the only godly couple who remained faithful to one another).
One of the major source of the "Hades grabs Persephone" (Homeric Hymn to Demeter, if I remember correctly?) goes pretty out of its way to assert that Zeus is responsible for the whole thing. He tells Hades that grabbing her would work out just fine when he comes to him for advice.
I'd like to believe Persephone tried to stay because Hades was just really sweet so Zeus had to think of an excuse of why she couldn't leave just so Hades and Persephone didn't need to worry about one of their dates being interrupted.
@@notfunny3397 Honestly not really. Hades was not a Satan analogue. He wasn't characterized as particularly villainous or mischievous by the Greeks themselves. That was a narrative applied on to him far after the fact in western Europe.
Not exactly, Demeter is the one creating Spring, Persephone just happens to be there. Persephone was an underworld goddess even before the Greeks adopted Hades.
Also, Phersphone's name is associated with death, in the Odessey she is feared in the Underworld, more than Hades. She is not helpless, nor was her powers limited to Spring.
@@Nicole-nk7jcNot really, her name is Persephone, translated into Destroyer/Bringer of death/..., is because she is an underworld goddes. Before Hades the god exist, there is only Hades the realm and Poseidon/Zeus rule over it (before as in real world time, not mytho time). Persephone presumably existed before Hades and help her father, sometime Poseidon, sometime Zeus, rule over the death. Her name is directly the result of being an underworld goddes. I often think that marrying Hades in later stories is a joke like marrying her job/tie to her job as the underworld ruler, and in this case, Hades ruler, so Hades is her husband, and also her realm.
Good story. You did leave out though that Persephone and Hades actually did love each other in the end. Hades did the wrong thing but Persephone always returned to him willingly and he actually really respected her as his Queen. Being the Queen of the damned would be a pretty hard job. And I also found out that the Greeks rarely used Persephone's name just calling her "The Maiden" because a lot of them feared her as she would usually be the one to collect you once you crossed the River Styx.
@@caseygreyson4178 It's true there are different interpretations of the mythology. But sometimes, TED Ed chooses the versions that paint the gods in the worst ways, depending on the sources. For example, their Athena and Arachne video used the version that was the least flattering to Athena because its source was from a Roman who hated Athena.
@@caseygreyson4178 well I never heard this interpretation... As I have heard many from Hades Kidnapping, to Persephone willingly entered Hades Domain....
Zeus in media: Loving father, kind, generous and nice. Zeus in actual Mythology: _wait I have a wife?_ Hades in media: I HATE YOU I WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING AND RULE OLYMPUS ASDJKFL Hades in actual Mythology: wifey gone, me sad
I feel like Disney helped make this given the portrayal of the gods (Hades looks blue and laughed maniacally). In the myth, Hades took Persephone against her will but he treated her with ABSOLUTE respect. When she was hungry, he offered her a pomegranate and when she ate the seeds she was bound by the technicality with no god being able to take her away. Hades made a deal with the vengeful Demeter that she can spend two thirds of the year with her but must return to the underworld. He loved Persephone, was ethical about being the god of the Underworld, loved Cerberus and was okay with Heracles taking him out so long as he was returned unharmed, and made deals for peace (except for Theseus and the Titans, he hated them). Hades is one of the only decent Greek gods, the rest have a lot of controversy behind them.
@@luckyluke1712 And he did it anyway, lol. Talk about a push-over 😌 Hades isn't a good or bad guy, he's just a little bit better than other gods (which is not that big of an accomplishment) and not to mention there are others who are batter than him. Hades and Persephone's relationship is toxic. Don't take it from me, take it from the oldest (therefore first) record of Homeric Hymn to Demeter.
It is! The original, or at least the oldest exisiting source we have, is the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, which reveals the story of how Hades and Persephone got together.
hades isn't a bad guy. he actually turned out to be one of the most faithful husbands in greek mythology, and even persephone started to warm up to him Edit: After reading the comments, I agree that what Hades did was still wrong, but he still isn't _as_ bad a guy as the rest of the gods.
He cheated on her with minthe and leuce water nymphs he probably would have cheated on her more but the reason there aren't any isn't that he is better than his brothers but because the greeks were afraid of writing about underworld gods
@@omarsalem1219 i know he did cheat on her with two other naiads, but other than that he is the most faithful guy in greek mythology also, were the greeks really that afraid about writing about hades?
Literally yes the greeks considered talking or writing about the underworld a bad omen because it might make your life shorter and they were very afraid of Hades and even persephone
@@justadiamondwithinternetac3662 to be fair a lot of the stories it’s either Zeus who advised Hades to do so or it was willing and basically every version they do at least grow to love each other
This has to be the first time that I have a problem with TED-ED video. Hades is actually one of the few greek gods that is good. He never causes drama like Zeus does and is willing to help heroes if they prove themsleves and doesn't punish mortals for no reason. The kidnapping aside he treated Persephone well and was generous with her and he agreed to send her to her mother and offered her the pomegranate which she ate it willingly to prove to him that she would return. Also Hades has a beautiful palace in the Underworld with halls full of gold and gems, it certainly isn't a bleak and depressing place like you guys are depicting here.
He plagued an entire city because of ONE GUY. At least Ares only participated in wars that were already happening as a sort of embodiment of the existing violence.
@@rishabhverma6457 The story literally said Hades was mad and sent a plague. I don't know how to tell you this but gods can have overlapping domains. Just because Hephaestus was the god of fire doesn't mean Athena can't immolate someone. Just because Zeus controlled the heavens doesn't mean other gods couldn't control the constellations. And Hades, as the story said, sent a plague to Thebes because he was mad at the king and killed a Shitton of people
Well said. I always said if I had to choose between the sky, ocean, or the underworld Hades got the best deal. He has a massive army that is ever expanding who is loyal to him, he is the richest god because he owns everything that is underground, he has a massive palace, a pretty cool dog, and a wife who actually loves and is loyal to him. Not a bad gig.
Reposting a short excerpt from the Hymn to Demeter, the earliest recollection of this myth we currently have, so hopefully people will stop using Lore Olympus as a legitimate source: "Hermes did not disobey, but straightaway he headed down beneath the depths of the earth, rushing full speed, leaving behind the abode of Olympus. And he found the Lord inside his palace, seated on a funeral couch, along with his duly acquired bedmate, the one who was much under duress, yearning for her mother, and suffering from the unbearable things 345 inflicted on her by the will of the blessed one" It's very clear in the text that Persephone was deeply unhappy in the underworld and Hades violated her in some way. It wasn't a love story. You have to consider what this myth meant to the Greeks. The underworld was not a place anyone wanted to be in. Persephone descending into the underworld would not be portrayed as a good thing. The origins of winter would not be tied to a happy love story considering what winter meant for an agricultural society (no food, no warmth, darker nights, etc.).
You only covered the beginning of the story. The argument is that over time Hades and Persephone came to love and respect each other. The arranged marriage and the kidnapping was terrible, but things turned out alright in the end. Stories aren’t sad or happy the entire way through, every story has an obstacle or a trial, the ending is what matters!
Well, he kinda technically did once, but he apologized and Persephone unalived the paramour, and the two went on back to having the most functional relationship in Greek mythology. Ever.
@@lucindayumikane8567 True, true. And even then, given the interpretation, the cheating was probably not even that bad. Cheating's still bad, of course.
@@williamtheconqueror7807 Given that they are gods and it is expected of them to cheat, once is really nothing but what makes Persephone's cheating worse is she raised him, you know 😶
Not the biggest fan of this "interpretation" of the mythology, I'm not gonna lie. Most versions acknowledge that Zeus was to blame for the majority of this entire issue. Not to mention that Demeter threatening to destroy humanity out of spite/grief is normally painted as a flaw on her part too. Also, I've heard a version where Aphrodite and Eros played a part, as well. There's also the fact that they completely ignored Persephone having any agency at all, or the fact that she loved Hades too.
I'd actually love to see TED-ED show this. "The other myth of Persephone and Hades" is less culturally widespread, but both more accurate and imo more interesting. Overly Sarcastic Productions has a video about the whole thing, too.
@@captaincube132 Yeah, I think Overly Sarcastic Productions did a great job at showcasing Hades overall. They usually do a good job at showing the most neutral perspective on Greek/Roman mythology, without showing any bias.
@@Lumosnight Maybe do some research into the various interpretation of this mythology. Because TED Ed is not the only one, nor is it the only accurate version either.
@@Lumosnight If she didn’t love hades why are there versions where she accepted the role of the queen of the underworld or in other words be known as dread queen Persephone.
This comment section is bugging me a little because people cannot seem to accept that there are different versions of the same myth. Especially in Greek mythology. Just cause you know a different version, doesn't mean that the other person or version is wrong.
the issue starts when there's clear misinformation and a clear bias. how about we start with one basic issue, asking the father of the bride for her hand in marriage was a standard marriage proposal, the video in question demonized the entire thing. ED Ed chooses the versions that paint the gods in the worst ways, depending on the sources. For example, their Athena and Arachne video used the version that demonizes Athena because its source was a Roman who hated the Greek Gods. little spoiler that Roman wrote his version thousands of years after the originals. it is literal hate fanfiction.
Hades is always depicted as a villain in fiction even though he is far from being one in the actual mythos so I had hoped you guys would show themore positive version of this tale to balance things...
@@luisandrade2254 fair, but apparently Hades and Persephone ended up actually liking each other in the end (Hades was pretty respectful and decent on his end despite.. the kidnapping part 😰). Persephone in whatever version of the myth, doesn’t seem that against returning to the underworld due to the pomegranate deal as far as I know, so it’s possible that she actually likes being in the position of Queen of the Underworld and wife of Hades.
@@umbra1948 Not really, Persephone didn’t like being in the underground for a third of the year point is that the myth os kidding ur wife is a bad thing
@@adonisblox9198 what the source cause ive havent seen any myths that say Persephone didnt like being in the under world, and not to mention, hades being the most decent husband compared to his brothers who mind you have cheated on their wives multiple times
Why y'all making Hades seem like the worst person in the pantheon? In the original lore, Hades himself didn't force her to stay down there for the months she wasn't up top, it wasn't until when she was practically convinced to see her mother that he tricked her into eating seeds. The jist of it is that Hades isn't literally satan and the both of them are a loving couple.
@@5h3nn0ng There is no “c” in Greek, so it is Herakles, “I proclaim the greatness of Hera”. It was “Hercules” in Latin, though, and they borrowed from Greek mythology wildly. Well before the V separated from U or W, so no “Walter”.
I’m glad this animation doesn’t romanticize Hades and Persephone. This was never a love story, it was a story of a mother loosing her daughter to a kidnapping marriage. Honestly, anything about Hades and Persephone being lovely dovey and romantic is almost surely a total lie made up by people online. Another thing that people seem to forget is, in Ancient Greece, girls were often married off when they were teenagers, or had just hit puberty (the youngest I’ve found is *Twelve* )So yes, this isn’t too far off, all things considered
Persephone was NOT hopeless in all this. Her mother was controlling and kept her hidden in her garden. Hades was loving and treated her as his equal in every version I've read. There are many different versions of this myth and none of them keep Persephone hopeless, they always add that she was a badass in Hades (the underworld). Guiding the dead, creating new realms. Also, as a goddess she wouldn't need food for sustinence and wouldn't have eaten the pomegranate seeds without knowing full well what that would mean. Many versions show she ate the seeds on purpose in order to stay with her loving husband who gave her freedom. Some say Hades tricked her, or even Hermes did, but I don't think so. She'd know what eating food from the underworld would do. This is a very very very basic retelling of the myth and leaves out a lot. If even say gets some of the details wrong.
@@suisui7481 It does exist, but not in the way people often use it. Stockholm Syndrome is when a victim develops _sympathy_ for their captor. Not love.
Wasn’t Hades actually a faithful husband to Persephone? Without comparing him to Zeus? Persephone became the Queen of the Underworld because of this. In fact, when Odysseus made his journey to the underworld, didn’t he actually fear the idea of meeting Persephone more than the idea of meeting Hades himself?
The only time either Hades or Persephone cheated on each other was because they were tricked into it. other then that, they did genuinely love each other and there wasnt any drama like what we see with Zeus. And yes he did. She was terrifying. Her name roughly translates to bringer of destruction.
@@LadyoftheDreamless14 also, literally every time someone tried to take Persephone, Hades rightfully punished them severely. They’re arguably the best couple by Greek mythological standards.
@@drsharkboy6568 They were one of i think... 2 couples that didnt ruin their relationships and actually LIKED their spouce. Im so disappointed in the video.
All that just to explain the seasons. That’s one reason I love Greek mythology. The stories are so in depth and unique even though they’re just an ancient people’s way of explaining natural things.
While it's common for modern retellings to give Persephone agency, it's nice to see a story more centered around Demeter, who normally just gets sad and does nothing lol.
What are you talking Demeter kill hundreds of people, pretend to be a wet nurse and burn a baby alive and Trenton people to build a Temple in her name.
@@trla6505 Nope, the one we’re Persephone was willing to go to the underworld is as ancient as 1970 because it’s fabricated in all of them hades kidnaps Persephone
Amen. I hate how people have change the narrative people think this myth is about a love story, but it is actually about the grieve of a mother. And all the retelling make Demeter as a controling mother, when she was mad because Hades and Zeus did not take her opinion or the one of Persephone in the matter.
This is a rather heart-warming mother-daughter story, it's just unfortunate that Hades was painted in such a bad light. Sure, ruling over dead people is a creepy job to have, but someone had to do it. He was tasked with the duty of ruling over the underworld, just as simply as Zeus was given the sky and Poseidon the sea. He was a very fair ruler, even kind and helpful on occasion- especially compared to his brothers. And in terms of Persephone's capture, some versions claim that Hades was, in fact, unknowingly struck by Cupid's arrow causing him to fall deeply in love with Persephone. He then went and got permission from Zeus to take her as his wife. And while at first Persephone wasn't happy about being taken away from her mother and her life, she did end up loving Hades and they had the purest marriage amongst all the Gods. We should give Hades a little credit. After all, he still generously allowed her to spend a period of the year with her mother despite the whole fruit-eating-thing binding her to the underworld which by the way happened willingly on Persephone's part as a promise to return to him. He also was the *only* god to remain faithful to his wife, never dallying with other beings, godly or mortal.
I totally agree! There are a lot of additional politics in the video's version... And how can Persephone be starving if she's immortal? Not to mention that she's also being treated with utmost respect as the Queen of the Underworld, more feared than Hades himself. Moreso, Hades did abduct Persephone because he was struck by one of Cupid's arrows, this is just based on other accounts
"which by the way happened willingly on Persephone's part as a promise to return to him." This is an old comment I just realized hey how ya doing, have you read Homer recently? Homeric Hymn: "[370] When he said this, wise Persephone was filled with joy and hastily sprang up for gladness. But he on his part secretly gave her sweet pomegranate seed to eat, taking care for himself that she might not remain continually with grave, dark-robed Demeter. " "....but he secretly put in my mouth sweet food, a pomegranate seed, and forced me to taste against my will. Also I will tell how he rapt me away by the deep plan" [415]
@@daughterofthalassa5339 it is not… persephone’s hunger is not canon, nor her stumbling on a pomegranate fruit rather than hades offering it to her, nor hades’ villanization when the bad guy is zeus here, nor the way they painted persephone’s relationship with her husband. they loved each other and were equal in all matters, which is something that’s weirdly left out here. the homeric hymn to demeter is very different to the interpretation they decided to give it in this video
@@Julia-yk6sb Zeus was acting well within his right to marry his daughter off. I don't under where this hatred of the king of the gods comes from. This was what was culturally appropriate at the time. And while Persephone's hunger might not have been cannon, would you prefer they talk about Hades forcing the pomegranates inside of her (which, if you read the hymn that's what happened). Also, the pomegranate is a symbol of fertility, as we see with Hera carrying it around. I'll let you come to the same conclusions some scholars came when they read the part of Hades forcing the seeds into her. I'm not saying they didn't love each other - I'm talking about how in every single Greek cult worshipping Persephone/Kore, she's always venerated as the kidnapped goddess. This doesn't subtract from her power or how they came to love each other later on. But I HATE when people change her story to something 'more woke' because they refuse to dive deeper into the cultural aspects of a society foreign to them.
@Bharath G Marriage in Ancient Greek society was a complex procedure. It definitely wasn't kidnapping. Kidnapping was rare and the myths that include it do not present it as a good thing. Even in this one, Persephone describes it as awful and traumatic.
I feel like the people saying that “actually Persephone wanted to be with Hades, she” or make Demeter out to be overbearing or are complaining about how “inaccurate to the original” this telling is, are off the mark. At no point does the original Hymn mention anything about Persephone being into the abduction (at least at first), and that “He seized her against her will”. And given that Demeter nor Persephone consent to Zeus randomly “gave Persephone away” to Hades, Demeter is completely justified in her worry and motherly wrath. It just happens that Hades is the least problematic and most respectful major male god, and Persephone is a girlboss, so they turn out ok. It is also unclear if Persephone consumed the pomegranate knowingly to stay in the underworld, with Hades described as “stealthily” giving it to her because “he did not want her to stay for all time over there”, while there is no mention of Persephone’s wishes, other than being overjoyed at hearing Hades will be nice and she’s going to see her mum again. I’m a massive Persephone X Hades shipper myself, but if we’re talking Hymn accuracy, it’s more “arranged marriage to power couple” than “escape from your controlling mum”. Also, the Hymn is dedicated to DEMETER, and that’s why she’s the protagonist and focus. My take is that she gets to see her daughter and the arranged marriage turned out fine so happy ending
Might I add that if anyone is to blame, it is Zeus since he was approached by a lovelorn Hades and willingly granted Hades permission to marry Persephone, as well as the fact that she was gifted a pomegranate by Hades who told her not to be sorrowful as she was about to depart back to Demeter, since they had grown to love each other during her time in the underworld. This is one of the few relationships in Greek Mythology that actually did work out, so it annoys me when I see a bastardised version of Hades according to Christian belief.
This vidéo is based off of Homeric Hymn to Demeter where Hades kidnaps Persephone. Ironically it's your and most of the pro-hades commenters' version of Hades that is bastardised acc. to the christian belief because you cannot accept Hades' bad actions. You feel the need to either excuse or deny what he did because he has to be a misunderstood good guy for you to like him. But greek gods are a lot like humans in the way that they are neither 100% good nor 100% bad.
I don't like how Hades is portrayed in this video, since he's LITERALLY the only Greek God with a healthy and stable relationship with his wife, sure, he kidnapped her at first but as they get to know each other, Persephone began developed a strong, sincere and caring feeling's for Hades while Hades fell in Love with her at first sight, he even made her the QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD, they're literally the One and only Wholesome Greek Power Couple.
And that was basically what happened to maidens in ancient Greek when they were put into arranged marriages. They would be abducted from home and never returned
@@alexisdesmall95 this story openly presents the abduction of a girl and separation from her mother as a tragedy so "it used to be common in the past" cannot be used as an excuse.
I have read from greek stories that Demeter was actually an overbearing and very strict mother. So, I literally believe that Persophone actually loved Hades and Hades was the only one who can get her out of her mother's control. Hades was kind enough to come to an agreement with the seasons AND he was loyal. Get you a man like Hades though. He's not a murderer and a sadist too, but he gave them a resting place where price is due. He provided justice rather than eternal pain tbh.
The original source we have of the myth is the Homeric hymn. Persephone describes her own abduction as a horrible thing and she's more than delighted to go back to her mother. She's so happy in fact that that Hades was afraid she'd never return, so he stealthily passed the seeds to her and forced her to eat them, therefore bounding her to the underworld. Those things were more or less agreed upon in the Ancient Greek world.
@@Eleni1002 there are many sources that describe different ways of it happening, and for that particular source, it is generally believed that he was trying to flatter and gain the approval of demeter
@@Eleni1002 since you address that we can see the flaws already it's a heavily biased version of the unknown original the pomegranate seeds thing being stealthily passed or being given without her knowing? A staple of the story her being forced to eat? More unknown
@@augustuslunasol10thapostle How do you know its a biased version? Who's to tell you that the original wasn't similar? This is the oldest one we have. I'd like to see an unbiased version.
The illustrations could be considered inaccurate considering all the Greek gods except Hephaestus where described as beautiful/handsome even Hades. And the image of Demeter looks aged even though the olympians where immortal. But other than that you explained this iteration of the story pretty well.
@@trla6505 true but you have to remember the olympians are all massive narcissists they wouldn’t make themselves look old in that way because even though Zeus has white hair in the mythos he’s never depicted as wrinkly is he now
I actually love the interpretation about how the story of Persephone was meant to show how a mother’s grief can be destructive, it meant to show how a mother would rage against nature itself to bring her daughter back that was taken by death too young from her, more than the interpretation about how Hades and Persephone is the only unproblematic couple.
Of all the versions of this myth you animated one that was quite biased towards Hades. Most of the version I saw stated that Hades was in love with her (sometimes voluntarily, sometimes by cupid arrow) and that Perspehone loved him back too. Or at least respected each other. Plus she usually had some sort of her own agenda. Besides Hades was one of the kindest gods from all the mythos we heard about the other ones. And especially if we compare him to his brothers.
I second that! It wasn’t exactly a “Beauty and the Beast” romance, but they did love/respect one another and ruled side by side, as seen in the Orpheus myth. He was faithful to her, and even if Persephone did cheat on him with Adonis, they otherwise appear to be a great couple by mythology standards.
One story I know is that Demeter cursed a king with eternal starvation after he killed her favourite nymph. It got so bad the king ate himself alive. Lesson is don't **** with Demeter
Demeter killed almost the entire population of the earth because she was mad at Zeus instead of talking to Hades and Persephone All this could have been avoided because Persephone knew what she wanted, Hades wouldn't hurt a fly and Demeter wanted her back
@@sunmal1599 huh every version I have read tells me she's very protective but not controlling but every story eventually gets distorted so believe the version that you love the most
And then they also had a son who kept trying to escape the underworld and Hades tried everything to make sure he doesn't escape. Seriously if you enjoy Greek Mythology play Hades, it is beyond awesome and an interesting take on it, not to mention one of my favorite depictions of Hades.
While the animation is very appealing, I much prefer the versions of the myth where Persophone loves Hades back and is content with or at least toleratant of living in the underworld.
One of my favorite myths. Glad you guys finally made a video on it! Wish this was the interpretation where they actually loved each other tho. Hades and Persephone are one of mythologies happiest and least problematic couples imo.
@@rougestarlight4308 there's only one source for this myth, the Homeric Hymns. They are written down, so there's no question. Anything else you cite is fanfiction. Fanfiction is fine, but just recognize the REAL story.
@@wargames2796 There's only ONE source for this myth....the Homeric Hymns. It's literally the only reason we know this myth in such detail. Anything else you read is fanfiction. Why don't you cite your sources of them being "in love" and I'll prove that source is just fanfiction.
It's sad how many people think "Percy Jackson" is a legit resource for greek mythology. Some of the things people say here are wacky! That said....this was a great video! It's very true to the original myths. I wish you mentioned Hecate helping Demeter look, but overall, this was great!
When I was a child, my father would recount to me old myths, most commonly Greek ones. (This was the start of my love for Greek mythology) and he told me this story in the kitchen one day, as he was making a birthday cake for me. I always remembered this myth and went over it many times, and as soon as I saw the video title, I rejoiced. This myth is one of my favorites.
@@ssahnkim1703 I originally thought it was just a different interpretation, as there are a lot of interpretations of myths, so possibly its just a new interpretation.
@@rabukaxen9595 It's the Christianized version of the myth, which often twists anything related to Hades (the realm) and Hades (the god) into a far darker version. Not to mention that it removes or hides Persephones own agenda. Still, the animations are wonderful, even if the myth depicted isn't really true to the Greek versions of the myth
I feel a lot of the commenters here are a little too attached to OSP's specific telling of this myth. (And I say this as a huge fan of OSP). While I do feel that Hades being characterized here as a cackling villain who "demanded" Persephone is a little much, a version of the myth which focuses on the tragic elements and the violence and coercion of the kidnapping is a perfectly valid interpretation. The nature of mythology is that it is told in different ways every time, there isn't a canon for the gods. So Hades and Persephone don't always need to be depicted as couple goals.
I would agree but this kind of stretched well being reinterpretation. Much of this video has no basis in the original mythology. Hades was not a cruel husband in the source material for this and the entire thing of Persephone is kind of nonsense with no basis. Ignoring OSPs version, this is still promoting a very false version of a mythology. While reinterpretations are ok, it is not ok when you are trying to retell a myth from an educational stance like this channel seems to be trying to do. It's falsely portraying a mythology that was a real part of a people's culture in history as as such it's falsely portraying that culture. While a few little changes or simplifications would be ok, this version is mostly making things up that aren't apart of the original story in such a way that it dramatically changes it. That's what really isn't ok. Also, while the stories change over time, there is actual sources for a lot of it. Parts may be broken or incomplete, but this story does have some textual sources that pre-date Christianize of it that shows that no, the original culture that told this myth did not tell it like this. It's not about telling the story like Hades and Persephone are "couple goals" either. It's more that this is really falsely showing what the actual mythology was in an educational sense.
In mythology, Persephone as an underworld god predates Hades. The hint is in her name, Persephone, which translates to 'All-destroyer'. Hades was added in much later by a culture that wasn't into women having their own autonomy/positions of authority.
Kind of sad that it defaults to the most superficial version of the myth despite the gorgeous animation- see here for more details ua-cam.com/video/Ac5ksZTvZN8/v-deo.html
Looking deeper into the origins of demeter and persephone and the other tales of persephones further time with hades, its obvious that while a surprise and not something she asked for, it became a part of her to the core. Persephone even has nicknames calling her things like "persephone bringer of death". She is likely a much older goddess than greece or probably even rome (meaning she vastly predates hades), with her and her mother being connected goddess connected with both life and death.
Scholars believe that the reason Persephone was mentioned as little as possible is that it was a BIG taboo to say her name for fear you may get her attention. She was basically the boogeyman of ancient greece, or rather, boogeywoman.
The comment section shows people mistake romantized fanfics of hades × persephone as the actual myth smh. Originally this wasn't a love story but the tragedy of a mother losing her daughter. This video accurately portrays the og myth as told in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter.
If I'm not wrong, I think she ate 3 pomegranate seeds, which denotes the 3 months she's in the underworld for. And yes, like so many others have stated here. Hades and Persephone loved each other in the end. In fact Persephone was pretty cool with all the Queen of the dead thing and Hades respected her a lot. One godly couple who isn't so messed up all the time
Most versions disagree with this interpretation. Persephone predates Hades and was originally a goddess of death/etc herself until she was retconned to being a victim....which Greeks liked to do with women... a lot.
No in that myth she was just kidnapped by Poseidon was was the chief god of the time. Persephone was also a major agricultural deity like her mother along with being an underworld goddess.
@@ryanpowell7397 i mean the version where its alluded/seen that persephone goes/stays willingly. Its not the "original" version (as original as an oral story/myth that changes with retellings can be) but it certainly is my favourite one. The original story is the one from the video, where Hades is the typical male ancient god, so he abducts (and rps) her. Edit: the "loveful" version is indeed modern interpretations of the myth. You can find it in kids versions of greek myths. Its very interesting how with time Hades got redeemed, first by omiting the rping part, then by them falling in love with each other and making her eat the pomegranate willingly, knowing the consecuences.
@@capuchinosofia4771 There's only one legit source for this myth, the "homeric hymns" AND they are written down, so there's no confusion about what happened. Anything else you see is fanfiction.
@@ryanpowell7397 and the homeric hymns are from oral stories as far as im aware, if memory serves me right. If that were the case we can assume the author wrote down his favourite version. But yes im aware that the modernized version is not the original. It is still my favourite
I read the Homeric Hymn to Demeter again. The list of inaccuracies in the video is long. -Hades's chariot is golden, not dark. -Zeus didn't just approve of the kidnapping, he outright ordered it to happen. -Only Helios witnessed Hades kidnap Persephone. He also comforted Demeter by telling her that Persephone would be married to one of the strongest Gods. This also happened BEFORE her "crusade", not during. -Demeter did not "crusade" but, rather, disguised herself as an old nurse caring for the infant Demophoon who was the son of King Celeus and Queen Metaneria, burnt his mortality little by little, got caught doing so by the Queen who freaked out, revealed her Godhood, ordered the royal couple to build her a temple and retreated into it. THEN that's when the crops started to not grow. Adding on to this, the Gods noticed the lack of sacrifices and tried to pay Demeter to leave but she'd only accept Persephone herself. -Hades genuinely loved Persephone, and even though she was kidnapped, Persephone grew to love him back. She also can't starve because she's immortal. The pomegranite is the only thing that Hades is truly guilty for, as he snuck them into her mouth to bind her to the underworld.
It's been quite a while, since I've seen Hades represented in an almost entirely villainous light. Really, the only reason he was feared by the Greeks, was because death was scary in and of itself. Not because you have to spend your afterlife with him, but because that means it's the end of your life. As far as Greek gods go--at least of the big Olympian 3--Hades is the most responsible, faithful, and respectful. He's basically the responsible big brother of the Olympians.
It's also kind of ironic this paints Demeter in a very sympathetic light even thought... She personally ALLOWS countless people to starve and die thanks to her playing "Chicken" with the rest of the Pantheon using the human race being wiped out as her tool for the bluff (which she wasn't even bluffing about). Guess it's a metaphor for how "reasonable" Mother Nature is when something is taken from her. Shrug.
People need to stop commenting "actually, Hades and Persephone loved each other" because mythology is incredibly old, and especially with a myth as widely spread among different people and commonly told as this one, there are bound to be different versions, so there is often no "actually" in mythology. It's fine to prefer a version where Hades and Persephone fall in love, but you shouldn't say it's the only version and this one isn't right.
However that would track with other myths, including Persephone being treated at least as Hades equal. Persephone and Hades not getting along would lead to more questions regarding the mythology later on. Also this version seriously messes up by associating Persephone with life. The myth of Psyche makes it pretty clear that she is a straight up goddess of death. Her name and title together place her as the Dread bringer of destruction.
@@adrianmcbride1666 While she may be a goddess of destruction, she's also commonly the goddess of spring. (at least in every version I've ever read.) Her arrival in the upper world after having lived in the underworld during winter is the most often used myth the ancient greeks used to explain why nothing grows in winter and everything starts growing in the spring. I'm not trying to say this version "is right", in fact, I haven't ever heard a lot of the stuff mentioned in this video in the other versions I've read. I'm just trying to say that mythology is pretty fluid and when we correct people for telling a myth wrong we most often have to just base it on the most widely told version.
@@Sel5581 read the myth again, what you said is all true. What you need to note is who is doing the whole spring thing. Demeter is bringing spring, Demeter is bringing life back into the world because her daughter is with her again. Spring I'd still Demeter's job. Persephone I'd just the reason.
@@adrianmcbride1666 Yes, that's true. I'm calling her the goddess of spring because she was widely worshipped along with Demeter as the goddess of spring, even if she was just the reason and Demeter was the one who made it happen.
Love the fact I’m not the only Greek mythology fanatic here that noticed the major flaw in this retelling of the story. Hades and Persephone were literally like the only couple to have a good relationship in all of Greek mythology. This just depicts Persephone to be more like a prisoner every time she visits Hades rather than her being his equal as Queen of the Underworld. Unsure how anyone could ever overlook this blatantly obvious detail that made the unique myth of Hades and Persephone stand head and shoulders above the rest and gain so much love and attention from the public eye
The Ted-Ed version here is very accurate, as far as I'm aware, it's a very faithful adaptation of the myth in The Homeric Hymn to Demeter. I think it's a mistake to say that it's inaccurate or that they "got it wrong."
I heard a slightly different version of this once. Supposedly an older one than the story we know today. It was Persephone who wandered into the underworld and decided to stay for her own amusement. Hades was more or less startled to see her there, but didn't chase her out and just let her do what she wanted. She became infatuated with him and started following and spending time with him. Over time, they grew close and developed affection for each other and Hades decided to make her his queen. Zeus was on-board with this and agreed to the arrangement, but Demeter demanded she come back. So Hades made the compromise, saying that she won't be able to leave forever after consuming fruit in the underworld that bound her to it, but can leave temporarily. Same story outcome, but they really did love each other and Persephone was willing to stay with him forever if not for the fact all life on earth would die if she didn't. I'd like to think this might have been the original version, as it shows Hades didn't kidnap/force Persephone into marrying him against her will and Persephone wasn't some helpless girl who couldn't fight back. She was stubborn and determined to stay with the one she fell in love with.
That comes from a retelling from the 1970's and has nothing to do with the actual myth. Also, this "retelling" didn't feature Hades. All the myths featured the kidnapping simply because that is how weddings were conducted in those times - and Persephone represented the archetype of the Bride of Hades.
The truly oldest version has Persephone as the underworld queen even without Hades (because he apperantly was not even worshiped at that time, way back in the day), so you can say about that.
You could imagine my excitement when I saw that TED-Ed finally did an animation of Hades and Persephone, my favorite Greek mythology story, only to get them so wildly wrong 😂 in most cases Persephone actually did eventually fall in love with Hades, and willingly ate the Pomegranate. Still, the animation is amazing. Props to the animators.
@@genevieveramoss not really. The Hymn of Demeter mostly blamed the fault on Zeus for orchestrating the kidnapping of Persephone. Hades really didn't do anything except offering her the pomegranate seeds. Persephone and Hades share equal power over the underworld and Persephone is actually recognized as dread queen of the underworld since Mycanean Greece. Demeter and Persephone were given the title Wanaso while Poseidon had the title Wanax. Poseidon was also a Cthonic God in Mycanean Greece and was linked to them with Persephone being his daughter with demeter.
Yall in the comments keep pulling this “eventually falling in love with him” talking point as if thats not just Stockholm syndrome 💀 she shouldn’t have to “eventually fall in love” with someone shes married to…
@@arunsooknarine4738 well one, she actually wanted to leave because she misses her mom. Hades let her go see her mom once Hermes told them that Demeter was depressed
You know Hades is one of the nicest God in Greek mythology. And yes I am including Persephony in this. She is much cruel than Hades. And their relationship is also least problematic amongst the Gods.
I’m pretty sure in like most if not all of Greek mythology Hades is literally the nicest god out of the majority of them. And I’m pretty sure other than that one time with minthe (which is only in like certain stories) Hades was loyal to persephone.
Hestia is the nicest, I'm pretty sure. But Hades is unbelievably misunderstood. People... why... He literally has a dog. Who has three heads. Named 'SPOTTED'.
I would said that maybe Hestia is the nicest. Hades as the rest is not bad or good but he was villanized because of Christianity but in standards of the gods he is not that bad.
@Bharath G Hestia, in Hellenic religion, was the goddess of the hearth, one of three maiden deities, the others being her nieces Artemis and Athena. She was the eldest of the Olympian deities, the firstborn child of Kronos and Rhea, and though she rarely appears in myth, she was highly revered in everday religion.
I think a better description would be "most reasonable". Hades isn't really malicious, but he's hardly the most open-hearted. He's fair, disciplined, stoic, and somewhat gloomy; overall, you could say he's Gothic.
Hades, while feared, was still a respected and decent god among his corrupt family in the pantheon. While in the mythology, Hades and Persephone's marriage was planned, it grew to become a strong partnership that outlasted and outclassed almost every other relationship in Greek mythology as a whole. They had power and were respectful towards one another. On very few occasions did anyone ever interrupt their relationship, nor did either of them fight or commit adultery. This bond was so prevalent that it is one of the main focuses in many books and other forms of media today. More recent stories even include them getting married on their own terms, and getting to know each other like decent people.
Never heard this version before. Hades is actually moral compared to his younger brother Zeus (that guy who will "make love" with everything that has a hole and lives - no joke). I read it that Persephone and Hades really behaved like a real couple, except that Persephone was sad because she misses her mother. Hades let's her go in order not only so the mortal realm can florish, but because he's a reasonable guy - except that out of fear of her never returning to the Underworld, he gives her a couple of pomegranate seeds to swallow so she can bind her to his realm and always return.
So if we want to look at this historically... Demeter and Persephone's cult was actually a EXTREMLY old cult that worshiped them as underworld goddess. When the Greeks came and discovered the cult they took on the deities as earth goddesses. Persephone has another name "Kore" witch just means madden or girl. BASICLY she was a super scary underworld goddess that cult members were too afraid to say her name. ua-cam.com/video/Ac5ksZTvZN8/v-deo.html
OSP doesn't research their topics very well so please do not take their videos as fact. The cult worshipped in Arcadia they refer to is the cult of Despoina, who according to Pausanias and other ancient Greek historians, is NOT Persephone. This video does an AMAZING job at being true to the original myth. If you want to read more about it, please read the Homeric Hymn to Demeter and stop changing the mythology to fit a narrative that did not (and does not) exist.
@@daughterofthalassa5339 amen! It's nice seeing you know legit mythology sources! it's almost impossible these days to discuss greek mythology online because of Percy Jackson!
Inaccurate portrayal of hades. He isn't the villain that other media portray him to be. He's honestly the most moral Greek god who actually cares about his job over messing with mortals. The worst thing he did was torture 2 mortals who came down to the underworld to steal and marry persephone after he was married to her. And yes he kidnapped persephone, but that just how it was back then and Zeus told him to do it to avoid the disapproval of Demeter after giving hades persephones hand
in a different version of the story I heard,Persephone was a beautiful goddess loved by many and even other gods, Demeter told aphrodite to avoid Persephone and one day when Persephone with the nymph, Aphrpdite and her son made Hades fall in love with Persephone by shooting him with an arrow. so in this version Hades wasn't involved at all and he was merely a victim of aphrodite
Hades always gets a bad rap these days (especially after Disney's hercules) even though hades is by far the most likeable of the Greek gods as he does his job very well and doesn't do ruin the lives of mortals for no reason unlike 90% of the other gods . Him kidnapping persephone is the only bad thing he ever did and even so hades and persephone have the best relationship out of all the gods.
Hades did some messed up stuff in this story but it mainly wasn’t all his fault and he actually promised Persephone all that he could give as the god of the dead and let her leave willingly to go see her mother to comfort her. But he believed she wouldn’t come back if she went to Demeter so he gave her a pomegranate that would bind her to the underworld. This was more out of fear then malicious intent to keep the separated.
It’s so aggravating that a story focuses on the struggles of Demeter and Persephone in myth of Hades and Persephone and everyone ignores how much both Persephone and Demeter suffered during the myth and everyone in the comments is going to WAR defending Hades
Hades: man I wanted to make a move to Persephone, but I don’t know how maybe I should ask my younger brother Zeus, he know how to get women Zeus: eh just aggressive kindnap her, it always work for me. Also since I’m her father you have my bless to that, Hades: cool, this will no way cause trouble
Persephone means "bringer of destruction" and really has nothing about life associated with her. Spring is her mom's job and Persephone's title is Dread Persephone
Fun facts, In the surface world Persephone is known as Kore and she actually liked living with Hades and did not want to leave. In some stories she actually went willingly and when she was told to leave she purposely ate the pomegranate . Also Hades is only the god of the Underworld, the god of death is Thanatos and the goddess of souls is Psyche
He's also the God of Wealth. So not only is he the God of the Underworld which has several layers to it not just some bleak dark chasm, he's also obscenely wealthy.
this adaptation of hades is actually not like him at all, hades is actually a pretty nice god, and the only reason he kifnapped her was because he asked zeus what to do to win over her heart (not literally) and he just said kidnapp her
No he asked Zeus because at the time men just had to ask the father for the daughter’s hand in marriage as the mother and daughters had no say in who the father married the daughters off to. At this time period motherhood was seen as meaningless and only fathers had the claim to parenthood. It’s literally spelt out in Orestes’s tale.
Going to join the general Chorus here and say that I prefer versions of this story that acknowledge that - while their relationship doesn't meet modern standards of consent - Hades and Persephone are by far the happiest and healthiest couple of the Olympians. Persephone was a co-regent with Hades, respected and recognized as the Queen of the Underworld, a position she preferred to being the idealized perfect child of an overbearing mother. She is Fairest Persephone come Beltane, Dread Persephone come Samhain, and of these two roles she greatly prefers the latter. Overly Sarcastic Productions does this story and their relationship much better.
Their LOVEstory has many versions. This visualisation of the myth is not accurate and can be misleading. Plus Hades was more faithful to Persephone than his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, and genuinely loved her. I suggest that everyone should reseach more about the story of the King and Queen of the underworld!
I'm super biased too lol I like the idea that they were both truly in love 🥺💖 but Demeter just missed her daughter and went on strike until she got visitation. 💕
Bruh you pictured it as if Hades was a bad boyfriend. He is actually a great husband compared to others in Greek mythology. The only other one I can point out is Eros and Psyche
Yes. Hades even ended all his previous romances with the godesses and nymphs in order to please Persephone. This is probably also one of the few examples of true love. And Demeter wasn't so great eighter. She was really possesive of the Persephone, and did nothing when she was graped by Zeus (her father). Also as TED didn't mentioned - she was taken after she picked up Hyacinth - flower connected to the Underworld.
Hades is actually quite alright by Greek god standard. People give him so much hate for this one thing while Zeus swindle his way to girls every other day and usually gets away fine.
Even this interpretation isn't strictly accurate. In general hades is depicted as a good husband and demeter as a control-freak mother. Also iirc it's hinted at that the part about having to stay in the underworld if you eat food there is made up so persephone will be able to go back to hades for a part of the year.
Hades is actually Zeus favorite brother.
@@savagedarksider5934 it's 50% chance, though
I've actually never seen anyone who hates Hades. Whenever I hear about Hades, it's usually from Greek mythology/PJO fangirls who keep shoving him down everyone's throats lmao like okay we get it, he's your misunderstood sadboi
Well, actually Hades is more tolerable than Zeus. Zeus is called the god of justice, but what is justice of his, if he always abuses his own power and cheating on his wife Hera a lot. We could all agree that Zeus is worse than his own father Cronos (or both worse).
Last time I checked, according to pretty much every person I know who has an interest in Greek mythology, Hades and Persephone are like, the only mythological Greek couple that isn't completely broken all the time, every day of the week.
You forgot about Ariadne and Dionysius as well as Eros and Psyche.
Yeah ! And I hate how Hades is always shown as the villain when in reality he was the best out of his brothers.
That is one Version of the myth, yes.
But there are many others too.
Yeah it weird that he's seen as such a bad guy the only negative things he did was kidnap his wife and cheat on her. Which makes him a saint compared to the other Gods.
@@Kage-jk4pj Hades cheating? I don't remember that.
A few things TED-Ed got wrong:
- Persephone did end up falling in love with him
- She willingly ate the pomegranate seeds (also she's a goddess she can't starve)
- This is really the only story where Hades actually did a bad thing
- Zeus should take half the credit because he authorized the kidnapping
- Btw many women were kidnapped as wives back then. This doesn’t justify it, but rather it wasn’t seen as that bad at the time
(also zeus had kids with so many women, and some of them... "unwilling" to participate if you get what I mean)
Did they get it wrong? Or did they tell another version of the story?
@@oscara8454 they did go against mostly greek & roman consensus and considering where story is from you could say that
Is it kidnapping if its an arrangement in a time when it is common.
It’s hard to figure out the true origin story regarding Hades and Persephone. One account said that Persephone was miserable with a Hades and only ate the pomegranate because she was starving and not knowing that would seal her to the Underworld. Other accounts stated that Persephone did eventually fell in love with Hades and did not want to leave him, despite Zeus’s orders so she ate the pomegranate knowing that will bound her to the Underground with Hades forever.
@@davy209 'only ate the pomegranate because she was *STARVING* ' umm How?
She is a God so she is immortal how can she starve?
I’m biased, but I definitely prefer the interpretation that Hades was struck by Cupid’s arrow and Persephone eventually fell in love with Hades (since they’re the only godly couple who remained faithful to one another).
One of the major source of the "Hades grabs Persephone" (Homeric Hymn to Demeter, if I remember correctly?) goes pretty out of its way to assert that Zeus is responsible for the whole thing. He tells Hades that grabbing her would work out just fine when he comes to him for advice.
Kinda ironic that Hades of all people was the faithful one
I'd like to believe Persephone tried to stay because Hades was just really sweet so Zeus had to think of an excuse of why she couldn't leave just so Hades and Persephone didn't need to worry about one of their dates being interrupted.
Lol same
@@notfunny3397 Honestly not really. Hades was not a Satan analogue. He wasn't characterized as particularly villainous or mischievous by the Greeks themselves. That was a narrative applied on to him far after the fact in western Europe.
Persephone is one of the coolest deities I’ve seen, she’s literally the goddess of spring AND the underworld, a combination that you wouldn’t expect
Persephone is goddess of springs when is above ground and goddess of the underworld while with hades.
When the goth girl has a flower shop
@@gustavomotta8038 it's the other way around 😁
Not exactly, Demeter is the one creating Spring, Persephone just happens to be there. Persephone was an underworld goddess even before the Greeks adopted Hades.
@@melkhiordarkfell4354 facts
Also, Phersphone's name is associated with death, in the Odessey she is feared in the Underworld, more than Hades. She is not helpless, nor was her powers limited to Spring.
She’s associated with death because without her presence all life will die. Has nothing to do with the underworld.
*Persephone
Her name when not in the underworld was Kore.
@@TheSasterMaster No, pretty sure her name just became Persephone throughout time, not because of the underworld
@@Nicole-nk7jcNot really, her name is Persephone, translated into Destroyer/Bringer of death/..., is because she is an underworld goddes. Before Hades the god exist, there is only Hades the realm and Poseidon/Zeus rule over it (before as in real world time, not mytho time). Persephone presumably existed before Hades and help her father, sometime Poseidon, sometime Zeus, rule over the death. Her name is directly the result of being an underworld goddes. I often think that marrying Hades in later stories is a joke like marrying her job/tie to her job as the underworld ruler, and in this case, Hades ruler, so Hades is her husband, and also her realm.
Good story. You did leave out though that Persephone and Hades actually did love each other in the end. Hades did the wrong thing but Persephone always returned to him willingly and he actually really respected her as his Queen. Being the Queen of the damned would be a pretty hard job. And I also found out that the Greeks rarely used Persephone's name just calling her "The Maiden" because a lot of them feared her as she would usually be the one to collect you once you crossed the River Styx.
It seems they did their own version of the story.
Stockholm syndrome
@@river_lost “their own version”? No, it would seem they just picked an interpretation of the myth that is different from what you’re used to.
@@caseygreyson4178
It's true there are different interpretations of the mythology. But sometimes, TED Ed chooses the versions that paint the gods in the worst ways, depending on the sources. For example, their Athena and Arachne video used the version that was the least flattering to Athena because its source was from a Roman who hated Athena.
@@caseygreyson4178 well I never heard this interpretation... As I have heard many from Hades Kidnapping, to Persephone willingly entered Hades Domain....
Zeus in media: Loving father, kind, generous and nice.
Zeus in actual Mythology: _wait I have a wife?_
Hades in media: I HATE YOU I WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING AND RULE OLYMPUS ASDJKFL
Hades in actual Mythology: wifey gone, me sad
This is so true!!!
Hades is the best one out of both his brothers, and the most faithful one.
haha right
Wasn't Zeus only portrayed as such in the Disney movie?
wifey gone me sad omggg hahaha this is so cute
I feel like Disney helped make this given the portrayal of the gods (Hades looks blue and laughed maniacally). In the myth, Hades took Persephone against her will but he treated her with ABSOLUTE respect. When she was hungry, he offered her a pomegranate and when she ate the seeds she was bound by the technicality with no god being able to take her away. Hades made a deal with the vengeful Demeter that she can spend two thirds of the year with her but must return to the underworld.
He loved Persephone, was ethical about being the god of the Underworld, loved Cerberus and was okay with Heracles taking him out so long as he was returned unharmed, and made deals for peace (except for Theseus and the Titans, he hated them).
Hades is one of the only decent Greek gods, the rest have a lot of controversy behind them.
What's up with Theseus?
@@GrassPokeKing tried to help his brother Pirithous to kidnap Persephone so that Pirithous could marry her
@@foxdota6136 Welp, would you look at that? Hades stay being #1 of my charts, amazing
The abduction was actually Zeus's idea: "Yeah Demeter's never gonna let you have her daughter, so kidnap her bro!"
@@luckyluke1712 And he did it anyway, lol. Talk about a push-over 😌
Hades isn't a good or bad guy, he's just a little bit better than other gods (which is not that big of an accomplishment) and not to mention there are others who are batter than him.
Hades and Persephone's relationship is toxic. Don't take it from me, take it from the oldest (therefore first) record of Homeric Hymn to Demeter.
Zeus is literally the problem 90% of the time in these stories😅
more like 100% of the time every problem somehow goes connects back to him
Zeus always got so many scandals in his hands, what a problematic deity
@@fish-of7tv he also solves most problems aswell tho.
@@N.I.A23 “solve” more like flextape fix
@@phoenixflamegames1 yes, he does.
Honestly this felt more like a story about Demeter herself then it did about Hades and Persephone.
The myth is an hymn to Demeter, what do you spect? It was always a story about Demeter, not about Hades.
Where the part that Demeter set a infant on fire and Trenton the life of hundreds of people just to build a Temple under her name
that's because it is!
That's because it is! Demeter was one of the most popular gods, everyone worshiped her.
It is! The original, or at least the oldest exisiting source we have, is the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, which reveals the story of how Hades and Persephone got together.
hades isn't a bad guy. he actually turned out to be one of the most faithful husbands in greek mythology, and even persephone started to warm up to him
Edit: After reading the comments, I agree that what Hades did was still wrong, but he still isn't _as_ bad a guy as the rest of the gods.
He cheated on her with minthe and leuce water nymphs he probably would have cheated on her more but the reason there aren't any isn't that he is better than his brothers but because the greeks were afraid of writing about underworld gods
@@omarsalem1219 i know he did cheat on her with two other naiads, but other than that he is the most faithful guy in greek mythology
also, were the greeks really that afraid about writing about hades?
Literally yes the greeks considered talking or writing about the underworld a bad omen because it might make your life shorter and they were very afraid of Hades and even persephone
@@omarsalem1219 emo kid be like:
Writing a novel about Hades and Persephone.
'hades isnt a bad guy' dude kidnapped his niece and forced her to marry him
I love the fact that everyone is talking the side of Hades and appreciating the animation
Summed up all my feelings in a sentance. How do you people make it so simple? Thank you!
The man kidnapped his niece and forced her to live with him. Many different versions of this tale exist, not all of them are a fairytale.
@@justadiamondwithinternetac3662 he didn't kidnapped her, nor he forced her to live with him, where are your sources?
@@rougestarlight4308 where are yours? In most versions she was kidnapped and forced to stay with him pick up a book
@@justadiamondwithinternetac3662 to be fair a lot of the stories it’s either Zeus who advised Hades to do so or it was willing and basically every version they do at least grow to love each other
This has to be the first time that I have a problem with TED-ED video. Hades is actually one of the few greek gods that is good. He never causes drama like Zeus does and is willing to help heroes if they prove themsleves and doesn't punish mortals for no reason. The kidnapping aside he treated Persephone well and was generous with her and he agreed to send her to her mother and offered her the pomegranate which she ate it willingly to prove to him that she would return.
Also Hades has a beautiful palace in the Underworld with halls full of gold and gems, it certainly isn't a bleak and depressing place like you guys are depicting here.
He plagued an entire city because of ONE GUY. At least Ares only participated in wars that were already happening as a sort of embodiment of the existing violence.
@@cingkrimson_requiem Plagues weren't a power of Hades. Apollo was the one who sent Plagues.
@@rishabhverma6457 The story literally said Hades was mad and sent a plague. I don't know how to tell you this but gods can have overlapping domains. Just because Hephaestus was the god of fire doesn't mean Athena can't immolate someone. Just because Zeus controlled the heavens doesn't mean other gods couldn't control the constellations. And Hades, as the story said, sent a plague to Thebes because he was mad at the king and killed a Shitton of people
Well said. I always said if I had to choose between the sky, ocean, or the underworld Hades got the best deal. He has a massive army that is ever expanding who is loyal to him, he is the richest god because he owns everything that is underground, he has a massive palace, a pretty cool dog, and a wife who actually loves and is loyal to him. Not a bad gig.
@@cingkrimson_requiem still better than zues, plague or not
Reposting a short excerpt from the Hymn to Demeter, the earliest recollection of this myth we currently have, so hopefully people will stop using Lore Olympus as a legitimate source:
"Hermes did not disobey, but straightaway he headed down beneath the depths of the earth,
rushing full speed, leaving behind the abode of Olympus.
And he found the Lord inside his palace,
seated on a funeral couch, along with his duly acquired bedmate,
the one who was much under duress, yearning for her mother, and suffering from the unbearable things
345 inflicted on her by the will of the blessed one"
It's very clear in the text that Persephone was deeply unhappy in the underworld and Hades violated her in some way.
It wasn't a love story. You have to consider what this myth meant to the Greeks. The underworld was not a place anyone wanted to be in. Persephone descending into the underworld would not be portrayed as a good thing. The origins of winter would not be tied to a happy love story considering what winter meant for an agricultural society (no food, no warmth, darker nights, etc.).
Damn, nobody commented? And only 15 likes?
People really only see what they wanna see huh?
You only covered the beginning of the story. The argument is that over time Hades and Persephone came to love and respect each other. The arranged marriage and the kidnapping was terrible, but things turned out alright in the end. Stories aren’t sad or happy the entire way through, every story has an obstacle or a trial, the ending is what matters!
The most functional relationship in mythology.
Zeus: I have affairs every week!
Hades: I never cheat and I have a dog.
Well, he kinda technically did once, but he apologized and Persephone unalived the paramour, and the two went on back to having the most functional relationship in Greek mythology. Ever.
@@williamtheconqueror7807 Well, Persephone also cheated once too. So, they kinda cancel each other 😂
@@lucindayumikane8567 True, true. And even then, given the interpretation, the cheating was probably not even that bad.
Cheating's still bad, of course.
@@williamtheconqueror7807 I'm in love with Persephone.
@@williamtheconqueror7807 Given that they are gods and it is expected of them to cheat, once is really nothing but what makes Persephone's cheating worse is she raised him, you know 😶
Not the biggest fan of this "interpretation" of the mythology, I'm not gonna lie. Most versions acknowledge that Zeus was to blame for the majority of this entire issue. Not to mention that Demeter threatening to destroy humanity out of spite/grief is normally painted as a flaw on her part too. Also, I've heard a version where Aphrodite and Eros played a part, as well. There's also the fact that they completely ignored Persephone having any agency at all, or the fact that she loved Hades too.
I'd actually love to see TED-ED show this. "The other myth of Persephone and Hades" is less culturally widespread, but both more accurate and imo more interesting. Overly Sarcastic Productions has a video about the whole thing, too.
@@captaincube132
Yeah, I think Overly Sarcastic Productions did a great job at showcasing Hades overall. They usually do a good job at showing the most neutral perspective on Greek/Roman mythology, without showing any bias.
Persephone never loved Hades wtf are you talking about?
@@Lumosnight
Maybe do some research into the various interpretation of this mythology. Because TED Ed is not the only one, nor is it the only accurate version either.
@@Lumosnight If she didn’t love hades why are there versions where she accepted the role of the queen of the underworld or in other words be known as dread queen Persephone.
This comment section is bugging me a little because people cannot seem to accept that there are different versions of the same myth. Especially in Greek mythology. Just cause you know a different version, doesn't mean that the other person or version is wrong.
the issue starts when there's clear misinformation and a clear bias. how about we start with one basic issue, asking the father of the bride for her hand in marriage was a standard marriage proposal, the video in question demonized the entire thing. ED Ed chooses the versions that paint the gods in the worst ways, depending on the sources. For example, their Athena and Arachne video used the version that demonizes Athena because its source was a Roman who hated the Greek Gods. little spoiler that Roman wrote his version thousands of years after the originals. it is literal hate fanfiction.
in the text i read demeter was pissed at hades becuase he took off with the girl instead of courting her with respect.
Their actually aren't any ancient sources for the version where they were in love, it's a modern reinterpretation.
Hades is always depicted as a villain in fiction even though he is far from being one in the actual mythos so I had hoped you guys would show themore positive version of this tale to balance things...
Ah yes the kidnapper is not actually the bad guy makes sense
I agree, but at least they acknowledged Zeus' fault.
@@luisandrade2254 fair, but apparently Hades and Persephone ended up actually liking each other in the end (Hades was pretty respectful and decent on his end despite.. the kidnapping part 😰). Persephone in whatever version of the myth, doesn’t seem that against returning to the underworld due to the pomegranate deal as far as I know, so it’s possible that she actually likes being in the position of Queen of the Underworld and wife of Hades.
@@umbra1948 Not really, Persephone didn’t like being in the underground for a third of the year point is that the myth os kidding ur wife is a bad thing
@@adonisblox9198 what the source cause ive havent seen any myths that say Persephone didnt like being in the under world, and not to mention, hades being the most decent husband compared to his brothers who mind you have cheated on their wives multiple times
Why y'all making Hades seem like the worst person in the pantheon?
In the original lore, Hades himself didn't force her to stay down there for the months she wasn't up top, it wasn't until when she was practically convinced to see her mother that he tricked her into eating seeds.
The jist of it is that Hades isn't literally satan and the both of them are a loving couple.
Yeah. TED is using Hesiod's version of the story. Ew.
I hate this version, why they got to mix up Hades character with the Satan figure?
God's School did a better job on Hades portrayal than this.
Off topic, but I hate that Disney has made a Mandela Effect where Hercules is in Greek mythology. Its HERACLES godsdammit
@@5h3nn0ng There is no “c” in Greek, so it is Herakles, “I proclaim the greatness of Hera”.
It was “Hercules” in Latin, though, and they borrowed from Greek mythology wildly. Well before the V separated from U or W, so no “Walter”.
I've also read a version where Persephone eats the seeds herself to stay with her husband, away from her controlling mother
I’m glad this animation doesn’t romanticize Hades and Persephone. This was never a love story, it was a story of a mother loosing her daughter to a kidnapping marriage. Honestly, anything about Hades and Persephone being lovely dovey and romantic is almost surely a total lie made up by people online. Another thing that people seem to forget is, in Ancient Greece, girls were often married off when they were teenagers, or had just hit puberty (the youngest I’ve found is *Twelve* )So yes, this isn’t too far off, all things considered
I think Persephone learns to love Hades with time. But yeah, it definitely was not love from the first site
Persephone was NOT hopeless in all this.
Her mother was controlling and kept her hidden in her garden. Hades was loving and treated her as his equal in every version I've read.
There are many different versions of this myth and none of them keep Persephone hopeless, they always add that she was a badass in Hades (the underworld). Guiding the dead, creating new realms.
Also, as a goddess she wouldn't need food for sustinence and wouldn't have eaten the pomegranate seeds without knowing full well what that would mean.
Many versions show she ate the seeds on purpose in order to stay with her loving husband who gave her freedom.
Some say Hades tricked her, or even Hermes did, but I don't think so. She'd know what eating food from the underworld would do.
This is a very very very basic retelling of the myth and leaves out a lot. If even say gets some of the details wrong.
I'm curious in what version of the myth did it say Demeter kept Persephone in a garden?
Ummm where did you hear that Hades was loving? It’s not in the original Greek myths. Let’s stop romanticizing Stockholm Syndrome
@@sonicgottagem3531 osp have an amazing video on this,ua-cam.com/video/Ac5ksZTvZN8/v-deo.html
@@suisui7481 It does exist, but not in the way people often use it. Stockholm Syndrome is when a victim develops _sympathy_ for their captor. Not love.
@@Ikajo did you like watch the 1st 10 mins, this syndrome is just pseudoscience and isn't accredited by any medical specialists
Wasn’t Hades actually a faithful husband to Persephone? Without comparing him to Zeus? Persephone became the Queen of the Underworld because of this. In fact, when Odysseus made his journey to the underworld, didn’t he actually fear the idea of meeting Persephone more than the idea of meeting Hades himself?
The only time either Hades or Persephone cheated on each other was because they were tricked into it. other then that, they did genuinely love each other and there wasnt any drama like what we see with Zeus. And yes he did. She was terrifying. Her name roughly translates to bringer of destruction.
@@LadyoftheDreamless14 also, literally every time someone tried to take Persephone, Hades rightfully punished them severely. They’re arguably the best couple by Greek mythological standards.
he had an affair with minthe
@@drsharkboy6568 They were one of i think... 2 couples that didnt ruin their relationships and actually LIKED their spouce. Im so disappointed in the video.
and persephone was a lover of adonis
All that just to explain the seasons. That’s one reason I love Greek mythology. The stories are so in depth and unique even though they’re just an ancient people’s way of explaining natural things.
While it's common for modern retellings to give Persephone agency, it's nice to see a story more centered around Demeter, who normally just gets sad and does nothing lol.
This is the "moder retalling" tho made centuries after the og
What are you talking Demeter kill hundreds of people, pretend to be a wet nurse and burn a baby alive and Trenton people to build a Temple in her name.
@@trla6505 Nope, the one we’re Persephone was willing to go to the underworld is as ancient as 1970 because it’s fabricated in all of them hades kidnaps Persephone
@@adonisblox9198 I'm not saying she went willing
Amen. I hate how people have change the narrative people think this myth is about a love story, but it is actually about the grieve of a mother. And all the retelling make Demeter as a controling mother, when she was mad because Hades and Zeus did not take her opinion or the one of Persephone in the matter.
The scariest thing about this is out of all the Greek gods Hades and Persephone had the healthiest relationship.
despite being very wrong.
This is a rather heart-warming mother-daughter story, it's just unfortunate that Hades was painted in such a bad light. Sure, ruling over dead people is a creepy job to have, but someone had to do it. He was tasked with the duty of ruling over the underworld, just as simply as Zeus was given the sky and Poseidon the sea. He was a very fair ruler, even kind and helpful on occasion- especially compared to his brothers.
And in terms of Persephone's capture, some versions claim that Hades was, in fact, unknowingly struck by Cupid's arrow causing him to fall deeply in love with Persephone. He then went and got permission from Zeus to take her as his wife. And while at first Persephone wasn't happy about being taken away from her mother and her life, she did end up loving Hades and they had the purest marriage amongst all the Gods. We should give Hades a little credit. After all, he still generously allowed her to spend a period of the year with her mother despite the whole fruit-eating-thing binding her to the underworld which by the way happened willingly on Persephone's part as a promise to return to him. He also was the *only* god to remain faithful to his wife, never dallying with other beings, godly or mortal.
I totally agree! There are a lot of additional politics in the video's version... And how can Persephone be starving if she's immortal? Not to mention that she's also being treated with utmost respect as the Queen of the Underworld, more feared than Hades himself. Moreso, Hades did abduct Persephone because he was struck by one of Cupid's arrows, this is just based on other accounts
"which by the way happened willingly on Persephone's part as a promise to return to him."
This is an old comment I just realized hey how ya doing, have you read Homer recently?
Homeric Hymn:
"[370] When he said this, wise Persephone was filled with joy and hastily sprang up for gladness. But he on his part secretly gave her sweet pomegranate seed to eat, taking care for himself that she might not remain continually with grave, dark-robed Demeter. "
"....but he secretly put in my mouth sweet food, a pomegranate seed, and forced me to taste against my will. Also I will tell how he rapt me away by the deep plan" [415]
I wasnt crazy about choosing this version of the myth, but the animation is so good!
Hear hear!
This is the original version though?? Look up the Homeric Hymn to Demeter
@@daughterofthalassa5339 it is not… persephone’s hunger is not canon, nor her stumbling on a pomegranate fruit rather than hades offering it to her, nor hades’ villanization when the bad guy is zeus here, nor the way they painted persephone’s relationship with her husband. they loved each other and were equal in all matters, which is something that’s weirdly left out here. the homeric hymn to demeter is very different to the interpretation they decided to give it in this video
@@Julia-yk6sb Zeus was acting well within his right to marry his daughter off. I don't under where this hatred of the king of the gods comes from. This was what was culturally appropriate at the time.
And while Persephone's hunger might not have been cannon, would you prefer they talk about Hades forcing the pomegranates inside of her (which, if you read the hymn that's what happened). Also, the pomegranate is a symbol of fertility, as we see with Hera carrying it around. I'll let you come to the same conclusions some scholars came when they read the part of Hades forcing the seeds into her.
I'm not saying they didn't love each other - I'm talking about how in every single Greek cult worshipping Persephone/Kore, she's always venerated as the kidnapped goddess. This doesn't subtract from her power or how they came to love each other later on. But I HATE when people change her story to something 'more woke' because they refuse to dive deeper into the cultural aspects of a society foreign to them.
@Bharath G Marriage in Ancient Greek society was a complex procedure. It definitely wasn't kidnapping. Kidnapping was rare and the myths that include it do not present it as a good thing. Even in this one, Persephone describes it as awful and traumatic.
Cyane really cried so hard she dissolved into water, literally died of sadness
Padme ?
I feel like the people saying that “actually Persephone wanted to be with Hades, she” or make Demeter out to be overbearing or are complaining about how “inaccurate to the original” this telling is, are off the mark. At no point does the original Hymn mention anything about Persephone being into the abduction (at least at first), and that “He seized her against her will”. And given that Demeter nor Persephone consent to Zeus randomly “gave Persephone away” to Hades, Demeter is completely justified in her worry and motherly wrath. It just happens that Hades is the least problematic and most respectful major male god, and Persephone is a girlboss, so they turn out ok. It is also unclear if Persephone consumed the pomegranate knowingly to stay in the underworld, with Hades described as “stealthily” giving it to her because “he did not want her to stay for all time over there”, while there is no mention of Persephone’s wishes, other than being overjoyed at hearing Hades will be nice and she’s going to see her mum again.
I’m a massive Persephone X Hades shipper myself, but if we’re talking Hymn accuracy, it’s more “arranged marriage to power couple” than “escape from your controlling mum”. Also, the Hymn is dedicated to DEMETER, and that’s why she’s the protagonist and focus. My take is that she gets to see her daughter and the arranged marriage turned out fine so happy ending
Might I add that if anyone is to blame, it is Zeus since he was approached by a lovelorn Hades and willingly granted Hades permission to marry Persephone, as well as the fact that she was gifted a pomegranate by Hades who told her not to be sorrowful as she was about to depart back to Demeter, since they had grown to love each other during her time in the underworld. This is one of the few relationships in Greek Mythology that actually did work out, so it annoys me when I see a bastardised version of Hades according to Christian belief.
You spoke the right words
This vidéo is based off of Homeric Hymn to Demeter where Hades kidnaps Persephone.
Ironically it's your and most of the pro-hades commenters' version of Hades that is bastardised acc. to the christian belief because you cannot accept Hades' bad actions. You feel the need to either excuse or deny what he did because he has to be a misunderstood good guy for you to like him. But greek gods are a lot like humans in the way that they are neither 100% good nor 100% bad.
The animation of the chariot is so stunning - you can almost feel the warmth of Helios’ light
I don't like how Hades is portrayed in this video, since he's LITERALLY the only Greek God with a healthy and stable relationship with his wife, sure, he kidnapped her at first but as they get to know each other, Persephone began developed a strong, sincere and caring feeling's for Hades while Hades fell in Love with her at first sight, he even made her the QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD, they're literally the One and only Wholesome Greek Power Couple.
And that was basically what happened to maidens in ancient Greek when they were put into arranged marriages. They would be abducted from home and never returned
@@alexisdesmall95 EXACTLY
@@alexisdesmall95 this story openly presents the abduction of a girl and separation from her mother as a tragedy so "it used to be common in the past" cannot be used as an excuse.
I have read from greek stories that Demeter was actually an overbearing and very strict mother. So, I literally believe that Persophone actually loved Hades and Hades was the only one who can get her out of her mother's control. Hades was kind enough to come to an agreement with the seasons AND he was loyal. Get you a man like Hades though. He's not a murderer and a sadist too, but he gave them a resting place where price is due. He provided justice rather than eternal pain tbh.
The original source we have of the myth is the Homeric hymn. Persephone describes her own abduction as a horrible thing and she's more than delighted to go back to her mother. She's so happy in fact that that Hades was afraid she'd never return, so he stealthily passed the seeds to her and forced her to eat them, therefore bounding her to the underworld.
Those things were more or less agreed upon in the Ancient Greek world.
@@Eleni1002 there are many sources that describe different ways of it happening, and for that particular source, it is generally believed that he was trying to flatter and gain the approval of demeter
@@rhyshow3462 All of them agree it was a kidnapping and yeah, that particular one is a hymn to Demeter. Of course it's looking to gain her approval.
@@Eleni1002 since you address that we can see the flaws already it's a heavily biased version of the unknown original the pomegranate seeds thing being stealthily passed or being given without her knowing? A staple of the story her being forced to eat? More unknown
@@augustuslunasol10thapostle How do you know its a biased version? Who's to tell you that the original wasn't similar? This is the oldest one we have. I'd like to see an unbiased version.
The illustrations could be considered inaccurate considering all the Greek gods except Hephaestus where described as beautiful/handsome even Hades. And the image of Demeter looks aged even though the olympians where immortal. But other than that you explained this iteration of the story pretty well.
I always consider that the gods could age themselves, that's why Zeus had white bear and hair even tho hi is the youngest
@@trla6505 true but you have to remember the olympians are all massive narcissists they wouldn’t make themselves look old in that way because even though Zeus has white hair in the mythos he’s never depicted as wrinkly is he now
@@elapse______2557 point, yeah
The Gods can decide whatever they look like, Demeter looks aged simply because of grief.
I actually love the interpretation about how the story of Persephone was meant to show how a mother’s
grief can be destructive, it meant to show how a mother would rage against nature itself to bring her daughter back that was taken by death too young from her, more than the interpretation about how Hades and Persephone is the only unproblematic couple.
Of all the versions of this myth you animated one that was quite biased towards Hades.
Most of the version I saw stated that Hades was in love with her (sometimes voluntarily, sometimes by cupid arrow) and that Perspehone loved him back too. Or at least respected each other. Plus she usually had some sort of her own agenda.
Besides Hades was one of the kindest gods from all the mythos we heard about the other ones. And especially if we compare him to his brothers.
I second that! It wasn’t exactly a “Beauty and the Beast” romance, but they did love/respect one another and ruled side by side, as seen in the Orpheus myth. He was faithful to her, and even if Persephone did cheat on him with Adonis, they otherwise appear to be a great couple by mythology standards.
biased "against" Hades you mean?
Her eventual love is just a white washing in what is essentially an arranged marriage she didn't consent to. If that version makes you feel better...
Source: Lore Olympus
It's the oldest one because the story is actually more about demeter trying to find her daughter of course hades is The antagonist here
One story I know is that Demeter cursed a king with eternal starvation after he killed her favourite nymph. It got so bad the king ate himself alive. Lesson is don't **** with Demeter
Is it just me or I really like Demeter. She's literally like sacrificing for her own child
Dont be. In this video they depicts her as a loving mother. In reality, she was an over controlling obsessive mother.
@@sunmal1599 Oh
Demeter killed almost the entire population of the earth because she was mad at Zeus instead of talking to Hades and Persephone
All this could have been avoided because Persephone knew what she wanted, Hades wouldn't hurt a fly and Demeter wanted her back
@@sunmal1599 a total helicopter mom
@@sunmal1599 huh every version I have read tells me she's very protective but not controlling but every story eventually gets distorted so believe the version that you love the most
And then they also had a son who kept trying to escape the underworld and Hades tried everything to make sure he doesn't escape.
Seriously if you enjoy Greek Mythology play Hades, it is beyond awesome and an interesting take on it, not to mention one of my favorite depictions of Hades.
Zagreus!
The game is so good!!
They also have a daughter, Melinoe
@@agamer5953 Silence Boy
what year is the media of Hades? is it a film, tv series?
"Compromise between life and death.." a goosebumps inducing way to end the story. Wonderful Ted-ed!
People downplaying kidnapping and imprisonment to have their cutsey romance will never not be funny.
While the animation is very appealing, I much prefer the versions of the myth where Persophone loves Hades back and is content with or at least toleratant of living in the underworld.
see here, for a fun and more education examination of the story ua-cam.com/video/Ac5ksZTvZN8/v-deo.html
One of my favorite myths. Glad you guys finally made a video on it! Wish this was the interpretation where they actually loved each other tho. Hades and Persephone are one of mythologies happiest and least problematic couples imo.
cite a legit source that says they loved each other?
@@ryanpowell7397 most of them except Hesiod's
@@rougestarlight4308 there's only one source for this myth, the Homeric Hymns. They are written down, so there's no question. Anything else you cite is fanfiction. Fanfiction is fine, but just recognize the REAL story.
@@ryanpowell7397 homeric hymns were bias to demeter, why would they be loving, tell me every source that says they did not love.
@@wargames2796 There's only ONE source for this myth....the Homeric Hymns. It's literally the only reason we know this myth in such detail. Anything else you read is fanfiction. Why don't you cite your sources of them being "in love" and I'll prove that source is just fanfiction.
It's sad how many people think "Percy Jackson" is a legit resource for greek mythology. Some of the things people say here are wacky! That said....this was a great video! It's very true to the original myths. I wish you mentioned Hecate helping Demeter look, but overall, this was great!
it's not anywhere close to the original myths, not by a long shot.
Please share your correct version…I need a laugh.
@@whitemoonwolf13This is version written by Homer lol
When I was a child, my father would recount to me old myths, most commonly Greek ones. (This was the start of my love for Greek mythology) and he told me this story in the kitchen one day, as he was making a birthday cake for me. I always remembered this myth and went over it many times, and as soon as I saw the video title, I rejoiced. This myth is one of my favorites.
I agree. With the rejoicing and this-story-being-my-favorite part. Until I actually watched the video. And learned that TED ED. Misinterpreted. It.
@@ssahnkim1703 I originally thought it was just a different interpretation, as there are a lot of interpretations of myths, so possibly its just a new interpretation.
@@rabukaxen9595 It's the Christianized version of the myth, which often twists anything related to Hades (the realm) and Hades (the god) into a far darker version. Not to mention that it removes or hides Persephones own agenda. Still, the animations are wonderful, even if the myth depicted isn't really true to the Greek versions of the myth
@@Grig9700 That makes sense, and I agree, this has wonderful animations and narration. Good job Ted-ed!
It’s wrong
I feel a lot of the commenters here are a little too attached to OSP's specific telling of this myth. (And I say this as a huge fan of OSP).
While I do feel that Hades being characterized here as a cackling villain who "demanded" Persephone is a little much, a version of the myth which focuses on the tragic elements and the violence and coercion of the kidnapping is a perfectly valid interpretation.
The nature of mythology is that it is told in different ways every time, there isn't a canon for the gods. So Hades and Persephone don't always need to be depicted as couple goals.
I would agree but this kind of stretched well being reinterpretation. Much of this video has no basis in the original mythology. Hades was not a cruel husband in the source material for this and the entire thing of Persephone is kind of nonsense with no basis. Ignoring OSPs version, this is still promoting a very false version of a mythology. While reinterpretations are ok, it is not ok when you are trying to retell a myth from an educational stance like this channel seems to be trying to do. It's falsely portraying a mythology that was a real part of a people's culture in history as as such it's falsely portraying that culture. While a few little changes or simplifications would be ok, this version is mostly making things up that aren't apart of the original story in such a way that it dramatically changes it. That's what really isn't ok. Also, while the stories change over time, there is actual sources for a lot of it. Parts may be broken or incomplete, but this story does have some textual sources that pre-date Christianize of it that shows that no, the original culture that told this myth did not tell it like this.
It's not about telling the story like Hades and Persephone are "couple goals" either. It's more that this is really falsely showing what the actual mythology was in an educational sense.
@@SaberFangs The version they told is the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, they didn't reinterpret anything.
In mythology, Persephone as an underworld god predates Hades. The hint is in her name, Persephone, which translates to 'All-destroyer'. Hades was added in much later by a culture that wasn't into women having their own autonomy/positions of authority.
I love it when TED-Ed makes videos about mythology.
Kind of sad that it defaults to the most superficial version of the myth despite the gorgeous animation- see here for more details ua-cam.com/video/Ac5ksZTvZN8/v-deo.html
Looking deeper into the origins of demeter and persephone and the other tales of persephones further time with hades, its obvious that while a surprise and not something she asked for, it became a part of her to the core. Persephone even has nicknames calling her things like "persephone bringer of death". She is likely a much older goddess than greece or probably even rome (meaning she vastly predates hades), with her and her mother being connected goddess connected with both life and death.
Or “dread Persephone ”
Scholars believe that the reason Persephone was mentioned as little as possible is that it was a BIG taboo to say her name for fear you may get her attention. She was basically the boogeyman of ancient greece, or rather, boogeywoman.
You are aware that Greece is significantly older than Rome
The comment section shows people mistake romantized fanfics of hades × persephone as the actual myth smh. Originally this wasn't a love story but the tragedy of a mother losing her daughter. This video accurately portrays the og myth as told in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter.
Homero nunca hablo si se odiaban o si se querían
They omit Hermes and give Hades the complete villain treatment.
Also Cyrene is in the Roman versions not Greek so that say accurately is bs.
I know everyone is trying to defend Hades , but DAMN that animation is MAGICAL. One of the finest yet
If I'm not wrong, I think she ate 3 pomegranate seeds, which denotes the 3 months she's in the underworld for. And yes, like so many others have stated here. Hades and Persephone loved each other in the end. In fact Persephone was pretty cool with all the Queen of the dead thing and Hades respected her a lot. One godly couple who isn't so messed up all the time
Didn’t Zeus send Hermes to bring her out of Hades. She couldn’t just come out by herself. This is a very nice brief overview.
Most versions disagree with this interpretation. Persephone predates Hades and was originally a goddess of death/etc herself until she was retconned to being a victim....which Greeks liked to do with women... a lot.
No in that myth she was just kidnapped by Poseidon was was the chief god of the time. Persephone was also a major agricultural deity like her mother along with being an underworld goddess.
Although i prefer the 'loveful' version of the myth, this was a wonderful video!
Love the animation and the narrators voice!
what's your source for the "loveful" version?
@@ryanpowell7397 i mean the version where its alluded/seen that persephone goes/stays willingly. Its not the "original" version (as original as an oral story/myth that changes with retellings can be) but it certainly is my favourite one.
The original story is the one from the video, where Hades is the typical male ancient god, so he abducts (and rps) her.
Edit: the "loveful" version is indeed modern interpretations of the myth. You can find it in kids versions of greek myths.
Its very interesting how with time Hades got redeemed, first by omiting the rping part, then by them falling in love with each other and making her eat the pomegranate willingly, knowing the consecuences.
@@capuchinosofia4771 There's only one legit source for this myth, the "homeric hymns" AND they are written down, so there's no confusion about what happened. Anything else you see is fanfiction.
@@ryanpowell7397 and the homeric hymns are from oral stories as far as im aware, if memory serves me right. If that were the case we can assume the author wrote down his favourite version.
But yes im aware that the modernized version is not the original. It is still my favourite
I read the Homeric Hymn to Demeter again. The list of inaccuracies in the video is long.
-Hades's chariot is golden, not dark.
-Zeus didn't just approve of the kidnapping, he outright ordered it to happen.
-Only Helios witnessed Hades kidnap Persephone. He also comforted Demeter by telling her that Persephone would be married to one of the strongest Gods. This also happened BEFORE her "crusade", not during.
-Demeter did not "crusade" but, rather, disguised herself as an old nurse caring for the infant Demophoon who was the son of King Celeus and Queen Metaneria, burnt his mortality little by little, got caught doing so by the Queen who freaked out, revealed her Godhood, ordered the royal couple to build her a temple and retreated into it. THEN that's when the crops started to not grow. Adding on to this, the Gods noticed the lack of sacrifices and tried to pay Demeter to leave but she'd only accept Persephone herself.
-Hades genuinely loved Persephone, and even though she was kidnapped, Persephone grew to love him back. She also can't starve because she's immortal. The pomegranite is the only thing that Hades is truly guilty for, as he snuck them into her mouth to bind her to the underworld.
Wait my version is he offering her the pomegranite, not pluck in or some sort :))
It's been quite a while, since I've seen Hades represented in an almost entirely villainous light. Really, the only reason he was feared by the Greeks, was because death was scary in and of itself. Not because you have to spend your afterlife with him, but because that means it's the end of your life. As far as Greek gods go--at least of the big Olympian 3--Hades is the most responsible, faithful, and respectful. He's basically the responsible big brother of the Olympians.
It's also kind of ironic this paints Demeter in a very sympathetic light even thought... She personally ALLOWS countless people to starve and die thanks to her playing "Chicken" with the rest of the Pantheon using the human race being wiped out as her tool for the bluff (which she wasn't even bluffing about). Guess it's a metaphor for how "reasonable" Mother Nature is when something is taken from her. Shrug.
People need to stop commenting "actually, Hades and Persephone loved each other" because mythology is incredibly old, and especially with a myth as widely spread among different people and commonly told as this one, there are bound to be different versions, so there is often no "actually" in mythology. It's fine to prefer a version where Hades and Persephone fall in love, but you shouldn't say it's the only version and this one isn't right.
However that would track with other myths, including Persephone being treated at least as Hades equal. Persephone and Hades not getting along would lead to more questions regarding the mythology later on.
Also this version seriously messes up by associating Persephone with life. The myth of Psyche makes it pretty clear that she is a straight up goddess of death. Her name and title together place her as the Dread bringer of destruction.
@@adrianmcbride1666 While she may be a goddess of destruction, she's also commonly the goddess of spring. (at least in every version I've ever read.) Her arrival in the upper world after having lived in the underworld during winter is the most often used myth the ancient greeks used to explain why nothing grows in winter and everything starts growing in the spring. I'm not trying to say this version "is right", in fact, I haven't ever heard a lot of the stuff mentioned in this video in the other versions I've read. I'm just trying to say that mythology is pretty fluid and when we correct people for telling a myth wrong we most often have to just base it on the most widely told version.
@@Sel5581 read the myth again, what you said is all true. What you need to note is who is doing the whole spring thing. Demeter is bringing spring, Demeter is bringing life back into the world because her daughter is with her again. Spring I'd still Demeter's job. Persephone I'd just the reason.
@@adrianmcbride1666 Yes, that's true. I'm calling her the goddess of spring because she was widely worshipped along with Demeter as the goddess of spring, even if she was just the reason and Demeter was the one who made it happen.
Love the fact I’m not the only Greek mythology fanatic here that noticed the major flaw in this retelling of the story. Hades and Persephone were literally like the only couple to have a good relationship in all of Greek mythology. This just depicts Persephone to be more like a prisoner every time she visits Hades rather than her being his equal as Queen of the Underworld. Unsure how anyone could ever overlook this blatantly obvious detail that made the unique myth of Hades and Persephone stand head and shoulders above the rest and gain so much love and attention from the public eye
The Ted-Ed version here is very accurate, as far as I'm aware, it's a very faithful adaptation of the myth in The Homeric Hymn to Demeter. I think it's a mistake to say that it's inaccurate or that they "got it wrong."
my loves for historical things especially about mystical and God/goddess really strong..happy that having to watch this mythic playlist
I heard a slightly different version of this once. Supposedly an older one than the story we know today.
It was Persephone who wandered into the underworld and decided to stay for her own amusement. Hades was more or less startled to see her there, but didn't chase her out and just let her do what she wanted. She became infatuated with him and started following and spending time with him. Over time, they grew close and developed affection for each other and Hades decided to make her his queen. Zeus was on-board with this and agreed to the arrangement, but Demeter demanded she come back. So Hades made the compromise, saying that she won't be able to leave forever after consuming fruit in the underworld that bound her to it, but can leave temporarily.
Same story outcome, but they really did love each other and Persephone was willing to stay with him forever if not for the fact all life on earth would die if she didn't. I'd like to think this might have been the original version, as it shows Hades didn't kidnap/force Persephone into marrying him against her will and Persephone wasn't some helpless girl who couldn't fight back. She was stubborn and determined to stay with the one she fell in love with.
That comes from a retelling from the 1970's and has nothing to do with the actual myth. Also, this "retelling" didn't feature Hades.
All the myths featured the kidnapping simply because that is how weddings were conducted in those times - and Persephone represented the archetype of the Bride of Hades.
This is a really fun version but not accurate in any way. If you want to read the oldest version, check out homeric hymn to Demeter.
The truly oldest version has Persephone as the underworld queen even without Hades (because he apperantly was not even worshiped at that time, way back in the day), so you can say about that.
You could imagine my excitement when I saw that TED-Ed finally did an animation of Hades and Persephone, my favorite Greek mythology story, only to get them so wildly wrong 😂 in most cases Persephone actually did eventually fall in love with Hades, and willingly ate the Pomegranate. Still, the animation is amazing. Props to the animators.
this is the real ancient greek version actually. all the other versions came later or are vastly inaccurate
@@Cherry-qx6rk literally. most of these commenters are acting like they are experts just from reading Lore Olympus. gets me so annoyed 💀💀.
@@genevieveramoss not really. The Hymn of Demeter mostly blamed the fault on Zeus for orchestrating the kidnapping of Persephone. Hades really didn't do anything except offering her the pomegranate seeds. Persephone and Hades share equal power over the underworld and Persephone is actually recognized as dread queen of the underworld since Mycanean Greece. Demeter and Persephone were given the title Wanaso while Poseidon had the title Wanax. Poseidon was also a Cthonic God in Mycanean Greece and was linked to them with Persephone being his daughter with demeter.
Yall in the comments keep pulling this “eventually falling in love with him” talking point as if thats not just Stockholm syndrome 💀 she shouldn’t have to “eventually fall in love” with someone shes married to…
@@arunsooknarine4738 well one, she actually wanted to leave because she misses her mom. Hades let her go see her mom once Hermes told them that Demeter was depressed
I never knew that their story was this beautiful and meaningful. Thank you TedEd.
“Cyane wept so hard she dissolved, becoming one with the river.” Lol, what?
She was a water nymph. Don’t tell me you find Greek mythology hard to believe.
@@caseygreyson4178 I just thought it was funny because of how random it was.
You know Hades is one of the nicest God in Greek mythology. And yes I am including Persephony in this. She is much cruel than Hades. And their relationship is also least problematic amongst the Gods.
I’m pretty sure in like most if not all of Greek mythology Hades is literally the nicest god out of the majority of them. And I’m pretty sure other than that one time with minthe (which is only in like certain stories) Hades was loyal to persephone.
Hestia is the nicest, I'm pretty sure. But Hades is unbelievably misunderstood.
People... why...
He literally has a dog. Who has three heads. Named 'SPOTTED'.
I would said that maybe Hestia is the nicest. Hades as the rest is not bad or good but he was villanized because of Christianity but in standards of the gods he is not that bad.
@@ssahnkim1703 yeah your right but she is kind of overlooked by everyone
@Bharath G
Hestia, in Hellenic religion, was the goddess of the hearth, one of three maiden deities, the others being her nieces Artemis and Athena. She was the eldest of the Olympian deities, the firstborn child of Kronos and Rhea, and though she rarely appears in myth, she was highly revered in everday religion.
I think a better description would be "most reasonable". Hades isn't really malicious, but he's hardly the most open-hearted. He's fair, disciplined, stoic, and somewhat gloomy; overall, you could say he's Gothic.
Not all the gods refused to help. Hecate told her to ask Helios cause he knew what happened.
this voice actor is everything. this and the one that tells all the teded riddles. Such amazing voices i am so engaged!!
I always feel a bit sorry for Hades; he’s like that confused guy who everyone thinks is shady but just has social anxiety and severe guilt.
Lovely animation style, in Hades defence he and Persephone have the most stable relationship.
I love how Zeus is able to completely dominate titans and beasts, but the one time he pissed off demeter, she threatened the apocalypse.
Hades, while feared, was still a respected and decent god among his corrupt family in the pantheon. While in the mythology, Hades and Persephone's marriage was planned, it grew to become a strong partnership that outlasted and outclassed almost every other relationship in Greek mythology as a whole. They had power and were respectful towards one another. On very few occasions did anyone ever interrupt their relationship, nor did either of them fight or commit adultery. This bond was so prevalent that it is one of the main focuses in many books and other forms of media today. More recent stories even include them getting married on their own terms, and getting to know each other like decent people.
Never heard this version before. Hades is actually moral compared to his younger brother Zeus (that guy who will "make love" with everything that has a hole and lives - no joke). I read it that Persephone and Hades really behaved like a real couple, except that Persephone was sad because she misses her mother. Hades let's her go in order not only so the mortal realm can florish, but because he's a reasonable guy - except that out of fear of her never returning to the Underworld, he gives her a couple of pomegranate seeds to swallow so she can bind her to his realm and always return.
So you never read the original actual version of the myth?
This is one of my favorite stories from Greek mythology!🥰🥰❤🙂🙂
So if we want to look at this historically... Demeter and Persephone's cult was actually a EXTREMLY old cult that worshiped them as underworld goddess. When the Greeks came and discovered the cult they took on the deities as earth goddesses. Persephone has another name "Kore" witch just means madden or girl. BASICLY she was a super scary underworld goddess that cult members were too afraid to say her name.
ua-cam.com/video/Ac5ksZTvZN8/v-deo.html
OSP doesn't research their topics very well so please do not take their videos as fact. The cult worshipped in Arcadia they refer to is the cult of Despoina, who according to Pausanias and other ancient Greek historians, is NOT Persephone. This video does an AMAZING job at being true to the original myth. If you want to read more about it, please read the Homeric Hymn to Demeter and stop changing the mythology to fit a narrative that did not (and does not) exist.
@@daughterofthalassa5339 amen! It's nice seeing you know legit mythology sources! it's almost impossible these days to discuss greek mythology online because of Percy Jackson!
I can’t help but think that I preferred overly sarcastic productions take on this myth and hades in general
Inaccurate portrayal of hades. He isn't the villain that other media portray him to be. He's honestly the most moral Greek god who actually cares about his job over messing with mortals. The worst thing he did was torture 2 mortals who came down to the underworld to steal and marry persephone after he was married to her. And yes he kidnapped persephone, but that just how it was back then and Zeus told him to do it to avoid the disapproval of Demeter after giving hades persephones hand
I mean that’s still bad that he kidnapped Persephone.
I love how all the comments are just shaming the interpretation of Hades in this video
Amazing. Thanks TED-Ed.
in a different version of the story I heard,Persephone was a beautiful goddess loved by many and even other gods, Demeter told aphrodite to avoid Persephone and one day when Persephone with the nymph, Aphrpdite and her son made Hades fall in love with Persephone by shooting him with an arrow. so in this version Hades wasn't involved at all and he was merely a victim of aphrodite
Buenos, la versión que es amada por muchos dioses es la Dionisiaca y la que Afrodita induce amor a Hades es en Metamorfosis de Ovidio.
Hades always gets a bad rap these days (especially after Disney's hercules) even though hades is by far the most likeable of the Greek gods as he does his job very well and doesn't do ruin the lives of mortals for no reason unlike 90% of the other gods . Him kidnapping persephone is the only bad thing he ever did and even so hades and persephone have the best relationship out of all the gods.
Well the kidnapping is also on Zues, who instructed that Hades do do.
hestia is the most likable
@@eternal_m1dnight140 fair
Helios you dropped this 👑 ✨King✨
I LOVE A POPULAR CHANNEL TALKING ABOUT THIS MYTH WITHOUT ROMANTICIZING IT (like abduction it's cute or something 🙄)
You left out some crucial aspects of this myth, but other than that nice job.
Hades did some messed up stuff in this story but it mainly wasn’t all his fault and he actually promised Persephone all that he could give as the god of the dead and let her leave willingly to go see her mother to comfort her.
But he believed she wouldn’t come back if she went to Demeter so he gave her a pomegranate that would bind her to the underworld. This was more out of fear then malicious intent to keep the separated.
It’s so aggravating that a story focuses on the struggles of Demeter and Persephone in myth of Hades and Persephone and everyone ignores how much both Persephone and Demeter suffered during the myth and everyone in the comments is going to WAR defending Hades
Hades: man I wanted to make a move to Persephone, but I don’t know how maybe I should ask my younger brother Zeus, he know how to get women
Zeus: eh just aggressive kindnap her, it always work for me. Also since I’m her father you have my bless to that,
Hades: cool, this will no way cause trouble
Was that a Percy Jackson reference
No, I didn’t really read Percy Jackson
I remember reading a webtoon called Hades and Persephone Ficlets! Ah, the memories
Just by the method of narration, the same story can bring a completely different conclusion. The power of storytelling I guess.
I'd like to believe that Hades and Persephony really did love one another.
The conjoining of life and death.
Persephone means "bringer of destruction" and really has nothing about life associated with her. Spring is her mom's job and Persephone's title is Dread Persephone
Fun facts, In the surface world Persephone is known as Kore and she actually liked living with Hades and did not want to leave. In some stories she actually went willingly and when she was told to leave she purposely ate the pomegranate . Also Hades is only the god of the Underworld, the god of death is Thanatos and the goddess of souls is Psyche
He's also the God of Wealth. So not only is he the God of the Underworld which has several layers to it not just some bleak dark chasm, he's also obscenely wealthy.
this adaptation of hades is actually not like him at all, hades is actually a pretty nice god, and the only reason he kifnapped her was because he asked zeus what to do to win over her heart (not literally) and he just said kidnapp her
No he asked Zeus because at the time men just had to ask the father for the daughter’s hand in marriage as the mother and daughters had no say in who the father married the daughters off to. At this time period motherhood was seen as meaningless and only fathers had the claim to parenthood. It’s literally spelt out in Orestes’s tale.
Going to join the general Chorus here and say that I prefer versions of this story that acknowledge that - while their relationship doesn't meet modern standards of consent - Hades and Persephone are by far the happiest and healthiest couple of the Olympians. Persephone was a co-regent with Hades, respected and recognized as the Queen of the Underworld, a position she preferred to being the idealized perfect child of an overbearing mother.
She is Fairest Persephone come Beltane, Dread Persephone come Samhain, and of these two roles she greatly prefers the latter.
Overly Sarcastic Productions does this story and their relationship much better.
Their LOVEstory has many versions. This visualisation of the myth is not accurate and can be misleading. Plus Hades was more faithful to Persephone than his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon, and genuinely loved her. I suggest that everyone should reseach more about the story of the King and Queen of the underworld!
This isn’t a love story it's a mother-daughter story + this version of the myth is the most ancient one i suggest you go read Homeric Hymn to Demeter
Persephone And Hades, Ironically, Have The Best Couple Relationship
Okay, I haven’t even been 15 seconds in and I already love the animation and effects 💖
same 🤘
I'm super biased too lol I like the idea that they were both truly in love 🥺💖 but Demeter just missed her daughter and went on strike until she got visitation. 💕
Bruh you pictured it as if Hades was a bad boyfriend. He is actually a great husband compared to others in Greek mythology. The only other one I can point out is Eros and Psyche
Yes. Hades even ended all his previous romances with the godesses and nymphs in order to please Persephone. This is probably also one of the few examples of true love. And Demeter wasn't so great eighter. She was really possesive of the Persephone, and did nothing when she was graped by Zeus (her father).
Also as TED didn't mentioned - she was taken after she picked up Hyacinth - flower connected to the Underworld.
I’ve been fascinated by this myth so I’m happy to see it being resold beautifully.