Saturday, September 12, 2015

The King and Queen of the Underworld Storybook Styles

Topic: My storybook will feature the different visitors Hades and Persephone see in the Underworld and all of the different interactions they have.  This includes Orpheus, Psyche and Pirithous.  I think my introduction section will be about the King and Queen themselves and each story following that will feature a visitor coming to the Land of the Dead.  This would also include the servants in the Underworld because what is the Underworld without them.  This will give me plenty of material for a storybook!! 

Bibliography:
 Cupid and Psyche unit from Apuleius's Golden Ass, as translated into English by Tony Kline (2013).  
 Ovid's Metamorphoses, translated by Tony Kline (2000).
Pirithous "The Chair of Forgetfulness". 
"A Complete List Of Greek Underworld Gods & Goddesses" from Theoi Greek Mythology.

Possible Styles: 

Persephone in the Underworld.  This is most appealing.  She is an outsider in the Underworld so she could accurately relay her experience as a reliable narrator.  She has a unique perspective and is present during all of the interactions with the visitors.  It would be interesting to write her thoughts during Orpheus and Psyche's appearances.  This would just be a storybook about being Queen of the Underworld and what kind of people find their way into her kingdom.  

Events in the Underworld.  This would be very similar to the style above except it would be told in third person.  If told in third person this could give not just Persephone's perspective but everyone's perspective.  It would be interesting to see not only Persephone's opinion on Orpheus but also Orpheus's opinion on her as well.  It would also show Pirithous's true intentions very clearly.  

Visitors as the storytellers.  Since each visitor varies so drastically from one another this could show all of the different impressions.  Especially since the Underworld itself is such a widely interpreted myth this could really show all of the character's perspective of not just the Underworld but also Persephone and Hades.   

Servants of the Underworld.  This would include all of the Underworld's workers like Kharon, the ferryman of the dead.  This could be like the Downton Abbey of the Underworld where you have the perspectives and story lines of the rich and the poor.   Kharon is obviously a central character for all of the visitors because he is the one who brings all of them in and only some of them out.  

(Deep in the Underworld from Deviant Art.)

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