The
elevation of Persephone to Queen of the Underworld ends up leveling the playing
field of the Greek hierarchy. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades each stand as rulers of
a separate domain (sky, earth, and underworld, respectively). Now, though, each
of these men has a female counterpart with as much or more power than the man.
After witnessing Demeter’s mastery over crops and agriculture, her power over
the earth cannot be denied. While Poseidon is the Earthshaker himself, Demeter’s
power has a far more personal and lasting effect on humanity. People can
survive the occasional earthquake, but not so much a crop failure.
Likewise,
Hades has Persephone as his counterpart. While he tends toward dignified
repose, she can dish out the punishment, and is more to be feared than Hades
is. Certainly she feels a large degree of independence, as well, for her to go
ahead and have an affair with Adonis, particularly when Zeus gets involved to
decree Adonis’s disposition.
Zeus has
his own female counterpart, but I’m not quite prepared to tell you who it is.
We’ve just had 13 straight weeks of Persephone, so I think we need a bit of a
hiatus from the Greeks. I’m thinking something Biblical for a bit.
You want a
hint about Zeus’s counterpart? Why? I’m not . . . fine. Okay, here’s a hint. He’s
related to her. Yeah, I know, that’s not shocking since he’s related to most of
the gods and goddesses. Well, too bad. Just deal with it for now. I’ll also say
that she’s probably the most powerful of the Greek goddesses, putting all the
others to shame with sheer scale of her power.
Yep, that
was another tease. Deal with it.