Lore Olympus

Lore Olympus is an adaptation of the classic Greek myth, ‘The Abduction of Persephone' in a mostly modern setting.[2][10] The webcomic includes modern technology such as smartphones, sports cars, and tabloids.[11][12] However, scenes in the realm of the mortals take place in the time of the original myths.[12] The comic deals with strong themes of rape, harassment, abuse, and trauma.[13]

The story begins with Hades attending a party of Zeus's after his partner Minthe breaks up with him.[14] Persephone has been allowed to leave the mortal realm and visit Olympus by her mother, Demeter.[15] Hades takes notice of Persephone and comments to his brothers, Zeus and Poseidon that Persephone's beauty rivals that of Aphrodite. Out of jealousy, Aphrodite calls on her son, Eros, to get Persephone extremely intoxicated and dump her in the back seat of Hades' car in an attempt to have her embarrass herself in front of Hades. After their initial encounter from this incident, Hades and Persephone both express an interest in each other and become a couple.[14]

Plots in season one of the webcomic include Persephone seeking Hades' help to bring back friends who died when mortals uprooted sacred plants, a scheme by Minthe, Thanatos and Thetis to ruin Persephone's reputation, the rape of Persephone by Apollo, and Persephone's conflicted thoughts over a college scholarship that requires her to refrain from sex.[16]

The following characters are central to plot lines in the comic and make regular appearances:

• Persephone is the goddess of spring, depicted as a young pink woman. She is a naive, warmhearted newcomer to Olympian life, and is searching for her independence.[2] Persephone is 19 years old. She has prehensile hair which responds to her emotions in 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 harbours a dark secret. She allegedly massacred a mortal village for unknowingly uprooting her handmaidens, the sacred flower nymphs. Persephone is a candidate for The Goddesses of Eternal Maidenhood, a group who have all sworn an oath of virginity for all eternity. However, she is working on leaving the group, because she is no longer a virgin due to being raped by Apollo. She is also an intern at Underworld Corp working as a Shade Coordinator. As the series progresses, we begin to find out that Persephone is a fertility goddess, a rare goddess that has incredible abilities.
• Hades is the king of the Underworld and god of the dead. He is the older brother of Zeus and Poseidon, depicted as a blue businessman. Hades is the CEO of Underworld Corp, a large corporation that manages the souls of the dead.[2] The reviewer for Love in Panels! described Hades as "the ultimate sensitive emo guy."[14] Unlike in traditional mythology, Hades is not related to Persephone; Smythe changed this to avoid a story about incest.[17] Hades is a member of the Six Traitors Dynasty.
• Hera is the goddess of marriage and family, Queen of the gods, and Zeus' wife, depicted as a petite golden woman with long, perfectly coiffed hair. She is constantly seen drinking or smoking and is unhappy in her marriage to Zeus. Hera is a member of the Six Traitors Dynasty. Hera in Lore Olympus is a feminist.[14]
• Eros is the god of love and son of Aphrodite and Ares. He is depicted as a tall, muscular magenta man who enthusiastically creates and supports relationships. Eros has seven younger siblings from his mother, and has a relationship with Psyche.
• Zeus is the King of the gods and Hades' and Poseidon's brother, depicted as a purple businessman with long straight hair. Zeus is an adulterer[2] who shows constant promiscuous behavior. He is also extremely egotistical. Zeus is a member of the Six Traitors Dynasty.
• Poseidon is the king and god of the sea, the younger brother of Hades and older brother of Zeus. He is depicted as an immature and free-spirited green man with long, wavy hair.
• Apollo is the god of the sun, music and prophecy, depicted as a dark purple, burly playboy who is interested in Persephone. He is deeply arrogant and believes everyone likes him. He rapes Persephone, and believes that they are in a relationship and then tries to force her to become his Olympian, but she refuses. He is Artemis' twin brother.
• Artemis is the goddess of the hunt and a member of The Goddesses of Eternal Maidenhood. She is Persephone's best friend and roommate and is Apollo's twin sister. 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.
• Hecate is the goddess of magic. She is depicted as a blue woman with black hair and neon-yellow cat eyes. She is Hades' assistant and friend, and often serves as a protector to Persephone in the Underworld.
• Demeter is the goddess of the harvest and agriculture in the Mortal Realm, depicted as a tall, green woman with long purple hair. She is shown to be an overprotective helicopter parent towards Persephone, who is shown in flashbacks to give her daughter very little freedom in the mortal realm. Demeter is a member of the Six Traitors Dynasty.
• Ares is the god of war, depicted as a muscular orange man with red eyes. He is one of the sons of Zeus and Hera, and the older brother of Hebe. He is dating Aphrodite, and the two are the parents of Eros. He also appears to have a history with Persephone. He has the ability to make people become enraged against their will.
• Hestia is the goddess of the hearth and home, depicted as a curvy, orange woman. Hestia is the founder and leader of The Goddesses of Eternal Maidenhood and is a member of the Six Traitors Dynasty. It is implied that she is in a relationship with Athena and is also implied that she knows that Persephone is a fertility Goddess.
• Hermes is the god of wealth, speed and travel, depicted as a fit red athlete. He was friends with Persephone before she came to Olympus and frequently hangs out at Artemis and Persephone's home. He is one of Hades' soul collectors at Underworld Corp.
• Aphrodite is the goddess of love and mother of Eros. She is depicted as a lavender woman with a keen fashion sense. Ares and Aphrodite have an open relationship.
• Psyche is a human from the Mortal Realm. She was originally a princess who was to be wed to an elderly, wealthy merchant before Eros abducted her. She currently lives in Olympus, disguised as a purple nymph serving Aphrodite.
• Minthe is a scarlet red river nymph that lives in the Underworld. She has a very self-destructive personality and has low self confidence in herself. She is Hades' personal assistant and physically, verbally, and emotionally abusive ex-girlfriend. She wants to get back together with Hades and will do anything to get them back together. Even if that means finding some dirt on Persephone's past in the hopes that she will get punished or fired.
• Thetis, a grey and turquoise sea nymph and Minthe's toxic best friend. She is Zeus's personal secretary that he sleeps with occasionally when he is stressed out at home. She wants him to leave Hera for her.
• Thanatos is the god of death, depicted as a young grey man with light blue eyes. Thanatos is insecure in his position as one of Hades' soul collectors due to his low productivity, and frequently hangs out with Minthe and Thetis.
• Athena The Godess of wisdom. She is depicted as a silver woman with short silver hair. It is implied that she and Hestia are in a relationship
• Cronus The Titan of Time. Hades Father who when Hades was six-years-old he swallowed him and kept him imprisoned for 13 years. Hades and Poseidon were eventually saved by Zeus. This is something that is still deeply traumatizing towards Hades.
• Rhea The Titan of Motherhood. She is depicted as a tall woman with dark magenta skin. She is Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus's mother. She is shown to be a kind and nurturing mother to Hades.
• Daphne A pink with blue patches flower nymph. Daphne is a friend of Persephone's from the mortal realm.
• Echo A dark blue nymph with short blue hair. Echo was hired by Zeus to be Heras's new personal assistant. She is Daphne's roommate and friend.

The characters in Lore Olympus are each defined by a particular color. According to columnist Nahlia Bonfiglo, "Hades is depicted in dark colors—blues, purples, and blacks—that match his setting. The underworld is likewise illustrated in dark hues, making Persephone and all of her bold, bright colors pop even more."[2]

The webcomic updates weekly on Webtoon,[3] and readers with the "Webtoon Fast Pass" can access pages earlier. By August 2020, 120 episodes had been published, and Smythe said that she had an ending in mind for the series.[18]

Smythe creates Lore Olympus using Photoshop and a Wacom Cintiq Pro drawing tablet.[1]

On her website for Lore Olympus, Smythe lists some of the sources that she uses for the comic:[19]

• Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin;
• Classical Mythology: The Greeks: The Modern Scholar by Professor Peter Meineck;
• Classical Mythology by Professor Elizabeth Vandiver;
• The Metamorphoses by Ovid;
• The Greek Myths by Robert Graves;
• The Works and Days by Hesiod;
• The Illiad by Homer;
• The Odyssey by Homer;
• The Homeric Hymns, specifically the Hymn to Demeter.

In 2019, WEBTOON announced that Lore Olympus had been viewed over 299 million times, making it the most viewed webcomic on the platform.[3][20][21] As of May 2020, Lore Olympus is the most popular webtoon on the platform, with over 3.9 million subscribers.[4]

In an article for The Daily Dot, columnist Nahila Bonfiglio recommended the webcomic, saying: "There are many reasons to read Lore Olympus, but the simplest is to see Smythe’s brilliant take on the myth. Her story is flawlessly enthralling, heartwarming, and painful. The characters confront timeless issues through a modern lens, breaking down the romanticization of rape and abduction with grace and intrigue. Smythe updates the series every Sunday, and new readers will find themselves awaiting that notification with bated breath." Bonfiglio also praised the art, saying: "[Smythe's] captivating way of telling her tale often involves carefully considered colors, panels completely without words and even—sometimes—music."[2]

The Beat declared Lore Olympus to be one of the 100 best comics of the 2010s, describing Smythe's art as "breathtaking" and making good use of the webtoon format, and saying that the modern setting made the story "feel as fresh and urgent as eavesdropping on your (very wealthy, very messy) neighbors."[10]

Critical Darlings reviewer Kaitlin Konecke said that "the drawings allow us to see how Persephone feels. It’s a visceral way to tell a story, with graphics allowing us to see inside the mind of Persephone and convey the complicated array of emotions that follow a trauma such as sexual assault and rape." Konecke also praised the depiction of assault from a female writer, saying that Smythe and others "are not just telling us, but showing us. And in doing so, they make women and survivors feel seen."[15]

A reviewer for Love in Panels! praised the decision to give Persephone more agency than in the original story, saying that "it's that agency, her claiming of her own body and sexuality, that pulls me like a magnet to these tales."[14] Nicole Mejias of Crunchyroll said that while the story is a "bit mature and dramatic," the suspense and romance between Hades and Persephone is gripping, while the "art is colorful and gorgeous."[22]

In October 2019, Deadline reported that the Jim Henson Company had entered into a partnership with WEBTOON to create an animated series based on Lore Olympus. This partnership is WEBTOON's first adaptation deal.[9][18][24][11] It is unclear whether Smythe would be involved in the adaptation.[18]