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What to Check Out if You Can’t Get Enough of Greek Mythology

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCSC chapter.

Webcomic: Lore Olympus 

This whimsical modern retelling of Hades and Persephone’s story takes the prize for the most popular webcomic on Line Webtoon, with over 3.9 million subscribers and 299 million views. Lore Olympus is drawn in a gorgeous, watercolor-like art style and features a flawless cast of characters and a heartwarming yet visceral story. What’s more, an animated series based on the comic is also in the works!

 

Book: Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller

Madeline Miller’s debut novel explores the lifelong friendship and love between Achilles and Patroclus presented in the Iliad. If you enjoy this, she has authored another book inspired by Circe, the witch of Aiaia who turns men into pigs (check out Ashti’s article about it here!). Moreover, it is rumored she has a third novel in the works about the enemies-to-lovers story of Hades and Persephone.

 

Movie: Wonder Woman

Though Wonder Woman may not be a direct retelling of Greek mythology, much of the storyline is inspired by it. Diana, or Wonder Woman, is the demigoddess daughter of Queen Hippolyta of the Amazon tribe of warrior women, and works to prevent Ares’ destruction of humanity. Available on Hulu and HBO Max.

 

Musical: Hadestown

In Hadestown, the tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice takes on a dystopian, industrial twist. Rather than dying as she does in the myth, Eurydice sells her soul to Hades, trading her poverty-stricken life with Orpheus for a stable but brainwashed existence of mindless work in Hadestown, Hades’ harsh underground factory.

 

Podcast: Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby!

Podcast junkies, this one’s for you! This podcast is full of content about what seems like every Greek myth—from retellings of well-known tales like Tantalus, Cupid and Psyche, and Jason and the Argonauts, to contemporary discussions of the Iliad, homosexuality in ancient Greece, and even Madeline Miller’s novel Circe.

 

TV Show: Blood of Zeus

Blood of Zeus, an anime-like adult animation series, is based on a “lost chapter” of Greek mythology about Heron, a demigod son of Zeus who is tasked with saving Earth and Mount Olympus from Hera’s demonic army. Available on Netflix.

 

Video Game: Hades

In Hades, you play as Zagreus, son of Hades and disillusioned prince of the Underworld, as he embarks on a quest to hack and slash his way out of the kingdom of the dead and reach Mount Olympus. Available for PC and Nintendo Switch.

Alison Sun (she/her/hers) is a second-year Computer Science major (for now) at UCSC who tries her best to be a bright and sunny presence to those around her every day. When she's not toiling over Python, you can find her bullet journaling, rereading her favorite romance novels, or dancing to Twice's "Fancy" at her desk. If you're reading this, she would like to remind you to go drink some water.