Lore Olympus: Volume One

One of the most powerful symbols in Lore Olympus Volume One, Demeter’s greenhouse represents Persephone’s stifled upbringing. However, it also represents Demeter’s motherly love and a place of comfort for Persephone during times of distress. Demeter raised Persephone away from the other gods because she does not approve of the immoral way that Zeus runs Olympus. Because of this, Persephone grew up dependent on her mother; even as a young adult, she has no real concept of self, and one of her main struggles is establishing her own identity outside of her mother’s control. Moving in with Artemis as she attends college is her first genuine experience of freedom, and the events at the Panathenaea party cause her to doubt her capacity for making her own decisions. After Aphrodite’s trick, Persephone dreams of Demeter locking her in a greenhouse with no doors for her own protection. Persephone’s panic in the dream shows how desperately she wants to be her own person.

Waking up in bed at Hades’s house causes Persephone to reflect, “On my own for 2 seconds…I’ve managed to wake up in a stranger’s bed with no memory of getting there. Fantastic. Maybe mom was right? Am I too naïve to be on my own?” (Episode 6, Page 2).