Your friend is reading Lore Olympus. You should too.
By Sarah
Are you here because your friend is acting strangely on Saturday night or Sunday brunch? Are they focused on their phone, obsessing about a comic? Are you here because they’ve recommended you start reading a new webtoon and you have no idea what it’s about? Something about a blue man and a pink girl that fall in love but not yet?
The comic is Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe: a lovely story about a blue man and pink girl who meet and start to fall in love with some major complications. To better prepare you for life with Lore Olympus, we made a broad overview so you’ll have a better idea about what your dear friend or partner is trying to get you into before you get in too deep.
Photo from Webtoons
Lore Olympus is a romantic modern deconstruction of the myth of how the King of the Underworld met and fell in love with the Goddess of Spring. They have some struggles and reasons to stay apart but on the occasions where they are alone together, fireworks and flowers fly.
Unfortunately, it’s not all romance and butterflies. Fair warning, there’s angst, explorations of insecurities, and male and female trauma. How can all this be in the same world as rainbow colored people?
SO LET’S START WITH THE BLUE KING
Hades is the God of the Dead and King of the Underworld. No, he's not the God of Death. He is a god of the mortals who die and is the King of the afterlife realm they go to. He struggles with the stigma that comes with his job but he is a good man who has been having a really hard time for a very long time and has finally met someone who brightens his day.
THE PRECIOUS BEAN WE ALL LOVE
Enter Persephone. She’s the Goddess of Spring — optimistic and friendly but with a secret layer of melancholy and stifled ambition. She’s young, only 19 at the start of the comic, and has led a sheltered life in the Mortal Realm while living under the watchful eye of her loving mother.
BUT !!!!!
NOW WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH THESE TWO?
We’re glad you asked!
They have an instant connection. As in SPARKS. EVERYWHERE.
However, their romance would be so much simpler if there weren’t all these other people in the way. Lore Olympus has a big cast of characters. You can go to our character pages for details but here’s the ones that get the most attention.
Let’s Meet The Characters
Eros is the emotionally intelligent God of Love and best friend to Persephone.
The Messenger God
Hermes is a good boy. He has not disappointed us and we hope he never does. He is also keeping a major secret for Persephone and it’s a doozy.
The Protector of Virgins
Artemis is Persephone’s fiercely independent and unladylike roommate and wants her to take the virginity forever oath seriously. She has a twin brother that we hate.
The Characters That Bring Trouble
Apollo, that dude we hate. This isn’t the nice Apollo you think you know, this one is bad news. He uses his immense popularity to his advantage.
Minthe is an Underworld river nymph. She is another antagonist and she is a big topic of conversation. She is Hades’ abusive romantic partner and feels threatened by the appearance of Persephone.
The King and Queen of Olympus
Hera is the Queen of the Gods, married to a cheating husband and exhibits subtle moments of alcoholism and selfishness. But, we love this queen as she is concerned about what is troubling Persephone and would likely want to protect and support our girl.
Zeus is the King of the Gods and has no issues flaunting his authority to his personal benefit. He’s a philanderer, cheats on his wife, and has some rather sexist and problematic views. He’s not great.
Now on with the story!
Lore Olympus deals with some deep and triggering topics and sometimes the episodes are highly emotional.
If you find discussions of assault and abuse triggering: then this comic will be very difficult for you.
The major emotional themes in Lore Olympus are sexual assault, domestic violence with a male victim, emotional trauma and abuse, subtle alcoholism, and the abuse of power by patriarchal figures. These emotional themes make the ancient Greek gods seem human and deeply relatable.
[minor spoilers below]
Hades starts the comic in an abusive relationship and feels like it’s what he deserves due to his crippling insecurities. Persephone struggles to find her place in the world and wants to grow. Hera and Zeus have a horribly unhealthy marriage.
But for every dark episode, there are brighter, funnier, and romantic story moments to soften the tension. The two main characters are so drawn to each other they get to have some of the sweetest scenes packed with sexual tension and almost kisses.
Hades is not entirely familiar with romantic love and he’s not so ready to trust the warm fuzzy feelings he experiences around Persephone. She, on the other hand, is fully ready to get her hands around her crush and explore those feelings. So while Hades is running scared from inconvenient butterflies, Persephone is literally turning into them. Their situation is complicated by duty and insecurities, so they actually begin to get to know one another as friends first.
As friends, Persephone has a positive influence on Hades’ emotional state, making him feel like he could be worthy of love. Hades is also excellent for Persephone’s confidence and his attention and respect helps her to find her inner strength and embrace her powers. He is also immensely respectful of Persephone and she has ample opportunity to get lost if she so chose.
Because the comic is ongoing and is released one episode per week, the fandom gets plenty of time to dwell on plot, character issues and theories.
The comic deals with polarizing issues and gray areas around the choices characters make.
No one is 100% correct at any point in the comic and it makes for some fun speculation.
Leave your pearls at home, things get wild.
Is Hades an emotional cheater? Does Minthe deserve some redemption? Why does no one want to see Storge’s hamster?
And that is Lore Olympus. A beautifully drawn but complicated comic about a blue man and a pink girl falling in love under very stressful circumstances.
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Our go-to retellings and recommended sources for all things Greek mythology - from books to websites to podcasts.