Yeah, there are plenty of different versions, and I think no one is perfect. My point wasn't to bash the myth, but to question Tumblr as a whole. I've seen a lot of people up in arms about the very real problem of rape culture, and if we can't recognize an
I agree that rape culture is a problem and one that pervades our modern day society with aggressive force.
I agree that there are a lot of stories out there from cultures past that have rape as an element of the story, but since they were written down years ago in the context of societies that viewed women as chattel, I don’t know if I’d point to them as the real problem.
The fact that ancient myths and legends are being reframed and retold tells a lot more about the progress of our society. We’ve recontextualized a lot of modern myths and legends to fit closer to how we see society, and the majority of Hades and Persephone literature I’ve come across either grants Persephone full agency, has her mature into her agency, and/or has her changing Hades’ notion of women from Bronze Age to more feminist ideals.
When I write Hades, it is as a god who naturally views men and women as completely equal, lives in a realm where ancient goddesses hold a great deal of power, and has watched imbalances between the sexes in the mortal world adversely affect the souls of the dead. Was this the way the Greeks saw it? Of course not. The Greeks, specifically Attic culture, treated their women abominably.
But if our society didn’t reinvent myths and legends we’d all still be reading the Epic of Gilgamesh or Beowulf for the ten thousandth time instead of also adding similar heroes journeys like Star Wars to our cultural canon.
My concerns echo yours when it comes to rape culture being present in books conceived of and written in the modern day like Fifty Shades of Grey, a waste of tree pulp and electrons that’s an insult to women, to BDSM culture, and to the English language. As well as that book series about the sparkly vampires, and unfortunately most graphic novels by Alan Moore. Not to mention that most movies, even movies aimed at a female audience, cannot even pass the Bechdel Test.
