Female Fantasies and Romantic Retellings of the Myth of Persephone : A Case Study in Greek Mythology‑Based Fanfiction

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Modern retellings of the Persephone myth often depict her as a willing partner to Hades rather than an abducted victim. This portrayal has gained popularity on platforms like TikTok and Archive of Our Own (AO3), where fan interactions consolidate Persephone as a central figure in contemporary fandom culture. However, these interpretations have also sparked debate, with critics arguing that erasing the elements of abduction and lack of consent risks romanticizing harmful power dynamics and misrepresenting the original myth’s themes. Using the frameworks of Classical Reception and Gender Studies, this paper addresses these debates by demonstrating how romantic fan reinterpretations of the Persephone myth can achieve feminist aims. With AO3 as a case study, I combine quantitative analysis with qualitative readings of fanfiction to explore how fans reimagine Persephone’s story. The findings reveal that fan works often create a female-centred, feminist fantasy where romance with Hades exists only in the absence of violence against women. Ultimately, I argue that these stories allow young women, as both consumers and producers (‘prosumers’) of fanfiction, to envision lives on their own terms and celebrate their desires, even in contexts where societal norms have yet to fully accommodate them.