Lore Olympus is a romance webcomic created by New Zealand artist Rachel Smythe. The comic is a modern retelling of the relationship between the Greek goddess and god Persephone and Hades. Originally published to Smythe's Tumblr in 2017, she began publishing it weekly on the platform Webtoon Discover in April 2017, relaunching it on Webtoon Canvas in March 2018, where the series concluded in June 2024 after three seasons, and 280 episodes. The comic has won two Eisner Awards, two Harvey Awards, and two Ringo Awards. It was announced in 2019 that a television adaptation was under development and will be released on Amazon Prime Video.
Plot and themes Lore Olympus is an adaptation of the classic Greek myth The Abduction of Persephone in a mostly modern setting. The comic deals with themes of rape, harassment, abuse, and trauma.
Characters The following characters are central to plot lines in the comic and make regular appearances:
Persephone is the goddess of Spring, Queen of the Underworld, and wife of Hades; she is depicted as a young pink woman, and, briefly in later chapters, has green hands. She is a naive, warmhearted newcomer to the Olympian life, and is searching for her independence. Persephone is 19–20 years old (she turned 20 in episode 107, and, later, 30 in episode 192). She has prehensile hair which responds to her emotions at varying levels, sometimes by growing or sprouting flowers. She strives to become self-sufficient and to maintain a positive, hard-working attitude. While a kind, caring, and somewhat naive individual, Persephone also unintentionally massacred a mortal village for unknowingly uprooting her handmaidens, the sacred flower nymphs. Hades is the King of the Underworld, god of the dead and wealth, and husband of Persephone. He is the older brother of Zeus and Poseidon, depicted as a tall, muscular blue businessman with a lot of scars around his body and white hair. Hades is the CEO of Underworld Corp, a large corporation that manages the souls of the dead. The reviewer for Love in Panels! described Hades as "the ultimate sensitive emo guy." Unlike in traditional mythology, Hades is not related to Persephone; Smythe changed this to avoid a story about incest. Hera is the goddess of marriage and family, Queen of the gods, and Zeus' wife, depicted as a golden woman with long hair and a long scar across her stomach. She is constantly seen drinking or smoking and is unhappy in her marriage to Zeus. She and Hades originally had a close relationship with each other, before Zeus sent Hades to the Underworld to be the King and proposed to Hera to be both his wife and the Queen of the gods. Due to Zeus' numerous affairs, which motivated Hera to get back at him, she and Hades had an ongoing, passionate sexual affair that lasted centuries, until they ended it in the 80s. Despite this, Hades and Hera continued to be close friends who only have a platonic love for one another. Hera in Lore Olympus is a feminist. Eros is the god of love, son of Aphrodite and Ares, and grandson of Zeus and Hera. He is a friend of Persephone and is one of the few gods who is aware of Persephone's rape. He is depicted as a tall, muscular magenta man who enthusiastically creates and supports relationships. Eros has seven younger siblings from his mother and is in a relationship with Psyche. Hecate is the goddess of witchcraft. She is presented as a blue woman with yellow eyes and short black hair. She is Hades' right-hand woman. She is smart, sassy, materialistic, and loves chaos. Zeus is the King of the gods and Hades' and Poseidon's youngest brother, depicted as a muscular purple businessman with long straight hair. Zeus is an adulterer who shows constant promiscuous behavior. He is stubborn, selfish, narcissistic, egotistical, paranoid, a compulsive liar, and a bully. He is shown to overreact when things do not go his way; for example, he burns down Demeter's crops after she refuses to continue hiding his lovers from Hera. However, despite his negative qualities, he still deeply cares for and loves his wife and both of his brothers. Zeus is a member of the Six Traitors Dynasty and the only one without a scar on his body. Apollo is the god of the sun, music, and prophecy, depicted as a dark purple, burly playboy who is interested in Persephone. He is shown to be very arrogant. He rapes her and believes that they are in a relationship and then tries to force her to become his wife, but she refuses. He is Artemis' twin brother. It is later revealed that he is one of Zeus' sons. It is implied that he wants to be with Persephone, not because he genuinely likes her, but because she is a fertility goddess that he can use to overthrow Zeus. Artemis is the goddess of the hunt and a member of The Goddesses of Eternal Maidenhood. She is Persephone's best friend, roommate, and the twin sister of Apollo. Artemis is depicted as a feisty, dark purple tomboy who looks out for Persephone and is generally ignorant of her brother's bad personality traits. However, she begins to question her brother after Persephone tells her that she hates Apollo and he makes her miserable. Demeter is the goddess of the harvest and agriculture in the Mortal Realm. She is depicted as a tall, green woman with long purple hair and scars across her back. Demeter is shown to be an overbearing, overprotective, controlling, and emotionally abusive mother towards Persephone. She is shown in flashbacks to give her daughter very little freedom in the mortal realm, and as a result of her parenting, Persephone has occasional nightmares. Ares is the god of war, depicted as a muscular orange man with red eyes. He is a son of Zeus and Hera and the older brother of Hebe, and brother to Hephaestus. He dated Aphrodite for centuries, but she eventually broke up with him and married Hephaestus. The two are the parents of both Eros and Storge. He also had a brief history with Persephone when they first met in the mortal realm, after being impaled on a tree trunk and Persephone both freed and unknowingly, healed him. Thus, making him suspect she was potentially a fertility goddess. Poseidon is the King and god of the sea as well as the younger brother of Hades and the older brother of Zeus. He is the brother-in-law of Persephone, Hera, and Thetis. He is shown to be a carefree, free-spirited, impulsive, muscular green man with long curly hair and a long scar across his left eye. He was also eaten by his father, Cronos and was saved by his brother Zeus. Despite his dimwitted demeanor, he has his moments of wisdom. Poseidon also has a deep love and respect for both of his brothers. He is a member of the Six Traitors Dynasty. He and his wife, Amphitrite, are happily in a polyamorous relationship. Amphitrite is both the goddess and Queen of the sea; she is also the wife of Poseidon. She is a green sea nymph, with patterns around her face and has a long fishtail. She appears to have an active social life, going to nightclubs and engaging in queen-related activities with her close friend Hera. She and Poseidon are happily in a polyamorous relationship. Amphitrite is one of Thetis' sisters and the cousin of Leuce. Hermes is the god of speed and travel, depicted as a muscular red athlete. He was friends with Persephone before she came to Olympus and frequently hangs out at Artemis and Persephone's house. He is one of Hades' soul collectors at Underworld Corp. He loves three things, money, his Mother, Maia, and annoying Apollo. Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty and mother of Eros. She is depicted as a lavender woman. At one point, Zeus blamed his affairs on her, resulting in Hera forbidding both Aphrodite and Eros from using their powers on any of the other gods. Originally Ares and Aphrodite were in an open relationship for centuries; though she eventually breaks up with him, and marries Hephaestus. She loves her children and is protective of them. An example is when Aphrodite seduced Zeus and slept with him in order for Eros to avoid getting a cruel punishment after he committed an act of wrath. Psyche is a beautiful human from the Mortal Realm. She was originally a princess from an abusive household and was to be wed to an elderly, wealthy merchant before Eros abducted her. She currently lives in Olympus, originally disguised as a purple nymph who served Aphrodite. Hestia is the goddess of hearth and home. She is depicted as a curvy orange woman with long hair and a long scar on her left thigh. She is a member of the six traitors dynasty and is the founder of TGOEM, The Goddesses of Eternal Maidenhood which is a group designed for Goddesses to be virgins for all eternity. Athena is the goddess of wisdom and warfare. She is depicted as a silver woman with short silver hair. Minthe is a scarlet red river nymph who previously lived in the Underworld, and is Hades' ex-girlfriend. She is snarky, has a very self-destructive personality and has low self-confidence in herself; part of this was a result of being raised by her neglectful mother growing up. She is depicted as being emotionally and sometimes physically abusive towards Hades. Thanatos is the god of death, depicted as a young grey man with light blue eyes; he is also the son of the titan Nyx, brother of Hypnos, and uncle to Morpheus. Thanatos is insecure in his position as one of Hades' soul collectors due to his low productivity. Eris is the goddess of discord. She is presented as a bald woman with yellow skin, black wings and a big scar in the centre of her chest. She was the first child of Hera and Zeus but they disowned her. She gifted Persephone wrath when she was an infant. Hephaestus is the god of fire and metalworking. He is a son of Zeus and Hera, and brother of Ares and Hebe. He is depicted as a dark orange man with yellow eyes, a buzzcut, glasses, prosthetic legs and a robotic left arm. He is shown to be a computer hacker and inventor. He has an intelligent AI named Aetna. He is aware of what Apollo did to Persephone, as his mother, Hera, requested that he hack into Apollo's smartphone and delete photos that were taken during the rape. Thetis is a grey and turquoise sea nymph. She is a manipulative woman and is Minthe's former toxic best friend. She originally was Zeus' personal secretary and one of his mistresses. She wanted him to leave Hera for her. Daphne is a pink and blue flower nymph. Daphne is a friend of Persephone's from the mortal realm. She previously dated Apollo, but after an uncomfortable date together, she ditches him and eventually enters a relationship with Thanatos. She is Echo's roommate and friend. Leto is a titan and the goddess of motherhood. She is depicted as a yellow figure with black sclera who wears long veil that hides her mouth. She is the mother of the twins—Artemis and Apollo. She was once best friends with Hera, but after her affair with Zeus was revealed, their friendship was destroyed, and she was socially exiled from Olympus. Kronos is the titan of time. He is depicted as a colossal man with skin that looks like the night sky. He was a tyrannical leader and when Hades was six years old he swallowed his son and kept him imprisoned for thirteen years. Metis is the titan of wisdom. She is depicted as a giant orange woman with wings. She was a fertility goddess and because of her incredible abilities, she was consumed by Zeus so he could overthrow Kronos. She is the mother of Hera, Hestia and Demeter. She reveals to both Persephone and Hades that she turned herself into a star, as she was about to be consumed by Zeus. She also had an intimate relationship with him. Nyx is the primordial goddess of the night. She is depicted as a giant dark blue woman with multiple hot pink eyes. She is the mother of both Thanatos and Hypnos and grandmother of Morpheus.