Lore Olympus: Volume One

Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Adult | Published in 2021

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Episodes 1-5

Episodes 6-11

Episodes 12-17

Episodes 18-20

Episode 21-Bonus Episode

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Episodes 18-20Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Episode 18 Summary: “Forest for the Trees”

Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon arrive at a strip club and are promptly told by the hostess that they are banned: Zeus, for pinching women’s rear ends; Poseidon, for breaking the mermaid tank; and Hades, for offering a job to a nymph who worked there. Hades smooths the situation over by writing a check for the mermaid tank, even though his brothers make fun of him for still using a checkbook like an old man.

Zeus asks about Persephone; his grandson, Eros, told him about the situation. Zeus and Poseidon ask if they had sex; Hades, embarrassed, says they just talked. Zeus and Poseidon exchange smirks. Poseidon says that if that’s how he feels, he might see if Persephone is available to be his second wife. Hades flips out, grabbing Poseidon by the head and shouting at him, betraying his true feelings. Zeus asks if he is going to stop holding out on them.

Episode 19 Summary: “A Fifth of Gin”

Hades pats Poseidon on the head, apologizing, and embarrassed for making a scene. Hades fesses up to liking Persephone. However, he thinks the idea that she would reciprocate his feelings is ridiculous. He emphasizes that they just talked; they might have done more, but Zeus dragged him to “family brunch” at the strip club. Zeus admits that he can be bossy.

Hades thinks the Underworld is no place for Persephone. When he mentions that he still has Minthe, Zeus and Poseidon react with a long, disgusted groan. Hades shows them a ring: He planned to propose to Minthe at the Panathenaea, but she did not show up. Zeus and Poseidon are dismayed. Hades’s brothers both have queens; he figured Minthe would make an okay Queen of the Underworld. Zeus tells him he should have an excellent queen, not just an okay queen. Hades crushes the ring to dust.

Hades tells his brothers that he likes Persephone’s melancholic quality. Zeus jokes that Hades just wants to sleep with her and crudely asks how they would make that work because Persephone is so petite. As the brothers laugh, one of the nymphs working at the strip club reveals herself to be Hera.

In a flashback, Hera finds a young Persephone hiding out in the kitchen at a party. Hera’s beauty makes Persephone nervous. Hera transforms Persephone’s flower crown into a crown of light like her own, offering to let Persephone stay by her side during the party.

Episode 20 Summary: “Treat”

Hera is wryly disgusted with Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. She berates Hades for talking about Persephone in a sexual way. Persephone is young and naive; Hera does not want her to be taken advantage of. She accuses them of just seeing Persephone as an object. Hades tries to explain himself, but Hera shows him a photo of Persephone and Apollo together. Humiliated, Hades tells them all to enjoy Olympus, and he leaves.

Apollo and Hermes discuss Persephone while driving. Despite her being a new goddess, Hermes knows her by the number of letters from Demeter that he delivers to her. Apollo sees Persephone and Artemis approaching. He finds Persephone attractive and poses outside the car to look cool, but Hermes rushes over, embracing Persephone, who is delighted to see him. She gives Hermes her phone number. Apollo introduces himself.

Episodes 18-20 Analysis

Episodes 18-20 give Hades’s perspective on the previous night and what happened after the morning he spent with Persephone. This section also further develops the relationship between Hades and his brothers. The fact that Zeus lies to Hera and that he, Poseidon, and Hades are banned from the strip club for unruly behavior gives some credence to the rumors that Hades is the odd one out among his brothers. Poseidon remains largely a static, comic relief character; he banters with Zeus and teases Hades, but he does little to drive the conversation or plot. However, his joke about Persephone causes Hades to lash out at him, which prompts Hades to be more forthright about his feelings for Persephone. Despite their teasing, Zeus and Poseidon do care about Hades; their reaction when he brings up Minthe makes it evident that they do not approve of his toxic relationship with the nymph.

Hera’s appearance at the strip club adds nuance to her relationships with Zeus, Hades, and Persephone. Hera had disguised herself as a pink nymph; this indicates that she was already suspicious of Zeus’s behavior and planned to keep an eye on his behavior at the club. Her ire, however, is directed at Hades. As the Goddess of Matrimony and Women, Hera is particularly attuned to the problems faced by other goddesses—especially Persephone, the daughter of her good friend, Demeter. A flashback reveals that Hera has known Persephone since Persephone was young, and the later bonus episode strengthens their affiliation by showing Hera’s vision of Persephone’s wedding day, though she does not know the identity of the bride. Hera’s reveals herself just as Hades—goaded by his brothers—makes a sexual comment about Persephone. Hera’s furious reaction reveals that she actually expected more of Hades than her husband or Poseidon, meaning she knew him better than the rumors about his reputation. Hera shows Hades the photo of Apollo and Persephone that Apollo posted to social media in order to hurt him. This damages Hades’s self-esteem even further, indicated by the cracking glass around him in the panel where he looks at the photo. However, this is another example of irony: The context behind the photograph is not revealed until a subsequent episode. Cliffhangers such as this are common in weekly serialized webtoons.