Neon Gods

When the work opens, Persephone is forced into something of an identity crisis due to her mother’s scheme to marry her to Zeus. Her former survival strategy of acting carefree and docile will no longer serve her larger goal of survival and independence. Hades, for his part, knows his role in the world, but finds himself conflicted about his dark public persona as he falls in love with Persephone. Ultimately, the two resolve their political dilemmas and also integrate their disparate selves, underlining that their relationship has brought them to a deeper self-understanding.

Persephone often contemplates the nature of myth and reality, both in her views of the upper city and the ways meeting Hades shifts her thinking. As she contemplates the statue of Hades, Persephone recalls that her life is also a cultivated performance akin to myth, “I force myself to act the part of the bright and sparkly daughter who is always obedient” (3). Persephone later reflects that her mother has turned her own strategy against her, saying, “I had no idea she’d use that same reputation to sell me to Zeus” (73). Her public persona has no agency, no will of her own. She is therefore easily transformed into a kind of property for Demeter to trade in exchange for status. Persephone decides to turn this same image into an advantage. She tells Hades, “[Y]ou want to punish Zeus for the harm he’s caused you. I want to ensure his plans to marry me die a quick and efficient death” (76). During their first public sex scene, Persephone quickly realizes Hades has mastered similar tactics, as his throne room for his public sex parties is intentionally modeled after Zeus’s public throne room. She realizes Hades has truly committed to her when their public kink scene involves his declaration that they are equals. He accepts her authentic self and publicly offers her the same.

Hades, for his part, is both strategic about his own fearsome reputation and uncomfortable with some of its ramifications, demonstrating that he, too, is in search of authenticity. He becomes angry when he realizes Persephone has slept in the bathtub for fear he might hurt her, recoiling at the idea he would ever harm a guest. He relies on this same reputation in his public image, which shows him as the “biggest, baddest motherfucker this side of the River Styx” (113). He is fearful that the growing bond he feels for Persephone might jeopardize this, especially if he ever conveys the impression that he is not the dominant sexual partner in full control of their scenes. At the same time, he resents that their kink scenes might be read as proof he is an unfeeling monster unconcerned with Persephone’s well-being. Hades does not relish violence or intimidation, but is resigned to its utility in a world where his rivalry with Zeus is a defining feature. He gradually shows Persephone his more authentic self, taking her to the greenhouse that is his private refuge. Persephone later tells him, “I think you care more than any of the other Thirteen, which is ironic considering the role you’ve been shoehorned into” (193). Hades ultimately demonstrates her point publicly, in their kink scene on the throne, telling her afterward, “no one fucking sees me but you” (280). By the end of the novel, Hades tells Persephone that he can accept his new public notoriety easily “as long as you’re by my side” (360). Their secure relationship results in a more assured sense of self for both of them.