Episode 3 - Boyfriend/Girlfriend Tag

When i was first developing this project one of the first ideas i had was to do the Boyfriend/Girlfriend Tag with Zeus and Hera (James Hill and Chess Hutin) This idea amused me as Zeus and Hera don't have seem to have an amazing relationship what with Zeus unable to stay monogamous but somehow "happily" married to Hera.

This episode was interesting for me to write as it made me question things i didn't expect to think of such as what TV show Zeus and Hera would like if they lived in the modern world. I included some background references to Mythology and so in this blog post i will explain what they mean etc.

So starting with Question 1 "How did you meet?" Zeus responds with "It's strange really because we've known each other for a really long time it kinda feels like we're brother and sister" Of course in Mythology Zeus and Hera ARE siblings so to me that joke was too good not to include.

Question 2 "What was your first impression of each other?" According to Mythology Zeus fell in love with Hera almost on first glance, however he was married another woman (Metis, Mother of Athena) He also already had a reputation for sleeping around something that nearly everyone in the world knows about Greek Mythology! "he also was very fond of the ladies I'll put it that way"

When Athena asks "Who wears the pants in this relationship?" This question can be debated either way but in my mind Hera tends to have the upper hand most of the time. When Zeus was still married to his first wife he tried to seduce Hera but she wasn't having any of it and only relented to his wishes once she got him to agree to marry her and get rid of his first wife.

Next Question, "If the other person is watching TV what are they watching?". This was a lot of fun debating several answers to this question but in the end i came up with Ninja Warrior for Zeus as he tends to favour those Heroes who show strength (as does Hera, fun fact: Hercules means glory of Hera)

I chose Jeremy Kyle show for Hera because as the Goddess of Marriage she respects the sanctity of the family unit but in my opinion she would enjoy watching and shouting at the screen.

When i was writing the episode i had immediate answer for "If you could live anywhere where would it be?" because what with them being Greek Gods they'd have to choose Greece! however i specified it a bit more by having them choose patron cities of themselves (Argos - Hera, Dodona - Zeus)

"What is something the other person did that you wish they didn't?" was a question that seemed to be easy to answer as Zeus likes to sleep with lots of beautiful women and Hera picks fights with the people he sleeps with and the children of those encounters. I can't believe that both of them could possibly be 100% happy with that situation!

I had Hades walk in at the end of the video because it occurred to me that Zeus/Hera weren't the only couple in the Greek Pantheon. I wrestled with the idea of having some questions answered by Zeus and Hera and some by Hades/Persephone however i felt if i included Persephone as an on screen character i may need a Demeter (her mother) etc so the easiest solution was to have this take place in the period when Persephone isn't with Hades hence "She's living with her mother for 6 months!"

Brief Background of Hades/Persephone's love story

In case you don't know Hades is the God of the underworld. Persephone is the daughter of Demeter (Goddess of the Harvest) Persephone got kidnapped and taken to the underworld and Demeter got really angry/upset/desperate as she tried to find her daughter. Because of this (very understandable) upset the crops couldn't grow, weather went crazy etc. Humanity got really annoyed and blamed the gods. Persephone was chilling with Hades in the underworld, and ate some pomegranate seeds (Willing or unwilling we don't really know) But because she ate food from the underworld she couldn't really return to the surface however she only ate 6 seeds so they struck a deal and Persephone was allowed to return to her mother for 6 months then the other 6 she spends with her Husband, Hades, in the underworld! When she's on the surface Demeter is overjoyed and the weather is great and things can grow, When Persephone is in the underworld her mother misses her so much that the world grows cold and the crops don't grow. Hence Seasons! Cool eh?

At the end of the video Apollo get's jealous because Hades has a girlfriend and he doesn't so he tries to boost his ego "I'm Apollo the awesome! When I sing Karaoke on Wednesday all who hear me fall in love with me" This was inspired by Ovid's Metamorphosis and those who know about it should have an inkling about something that will happen in a later episode that i will revisit. (For those that don't i will explain when we get there)

Next Episode: Find out what happens when Athena meets with Arachne

#Episode3 #Athena #Apollo #Zeus #Hera #BoyfriendGirlfriendTag