A Touch of Ruin

In translating the ancient Greek gods to a modern setting, St. Clair preserves their specific powers—healing and music are Apollo’s provenance, for example; love and beauty are Aphrodite’s; Hermes is the God of Trickery; Hecate is the Goddess of Witchcraft; and Persephone is the Goddess of Spring. However, her modern Olympians are also celebrities in the world of New Athens and, as such, are metaphors for the nature of modern celebrity and its costs. This metaphor doesn’t extend to Pirithous, a demigod, and Leuce, a nymph, who live as mortals in the Upperworld; even Sybil’s oracular powers are described more as a talent or skill. The gods, however, have the name recognition and social capital of modern entertainers and athletes or, in the case of Hades, influential business leaders. Hermes, famous for being famous, is adored for his fashion sense and charisma; Apollo is beloved as an entertainment figure. Both have devoted fans who take a personal interest in the lives and reputations of their idols.

Apollo’s cult following illustrates the perils of such devotion. His fans will not admit that their star has flaws, and the adulation gives him immunity from being held accountable for his actions. When Persephone accuses him of treating his lovers badly, she finds herself under attack, much as one sees in the modern world when women accuse athletes, entertainers, or other powerful figures of abuse. Blaming the accuser is a deeply problematic response, and St. Clair shows how the victims suffer; Sybil is turned down for other jobs and is afraid to come forward to tell her story because she expects that she, too, will be attacked. That only Hades, an equally powerful figure, can bring Apollo to account for his actions suggests that the typical machinery of democratic justice isn’t effective against the very famous or the very rich.

Persephone’s new celebrity in being connected to a public figure shows the sacrifice of privacy and anonymity that results from being widely recognized. People approach her in public spaces to take her picture and show no regard for her wishes. She is mobbed whenever she is recognized, her attire evaluated, and her actions judged; everything about her becomes a narrative for someone else to discuss. Most offensive to her is how there is now a public demand to know the details of her private life, specifically her romance with Hades. As Stavros tells her, the story will sell, and he wants to make money off her new fame. Persephone meets this demand on her own terms later when she publishes her story through her own platform, The Advocate. She compromises with her celebrity and tries to shape the narrative as much as she can.

Hades proves the conundrum that, while famous, he isn’t well-known; the public largely isn’t aware of his many charities run through the Cypress Foundation, and they also aren’t aware of the extent of his power in the earthly underworld of Iniquity. While her public image as his lover changes Persephone’s ability to be a regular person, the last scene of the book suggests that Hades’ reputation has turned largely positive, and both have reconciled with their fame and public interest as a power couple. They will choose to negotiate their own celebrity as much as they can, balancing the costs with the rewards of influence and fame.