Similarities Between Beast And Hades

The use of personae to display different characteristics of love is evident throughout both stories. Through the two male protagonists, there is a display of having an absence of love. Both the Beast and Hades are depicted as being figures of darkness living in absolute isolation from the rest of society. The Beast lives in his castle, which is isolated in the middle of a forest and was turned into a dark and mysterious fortress by the enchantress. While Hades is bound to serve the underworld, the unseen realm to which the souls of the dead go upon leaving the world as well as any and all things beneath the earth and he rarely visits the realm of the living (Waterfield, 2013). Likewise, both female characters represent philia, a type of love

The first items which represent a greater meaning are the rose and the pomegranate. These items are used to solidify the relationships of the characters and are ultimately symbols of their love for one another. The rose is what first bounds Beauty to Beast as he uses it as a motif to imprison her. However, it serves as the reason Belle returns to the Beast as she learns to truly love him and helps him lift his curse. In the myth of Persephone and Hades, the pomegranate acts in a similar role. When Persephone knowingly ate the six pomegranate seeds it bounded her to the underworld and to Hades for six months of the year (Foley, 1993). Another symbol of love present in both stories are the seasons that occur. Within the Beauty and the Beast, Beast’ castle is forever stuck in the season of winter. This is evident as it is only ever winter at the castle and not in the surrounding forest or village. The season of winter is used to display the lack of love present in Beast' life. When Beast and Belle fall in love and the curse breaks the season instantly changes to Spring and the castle is returned to its former of glory (Trousdale, G., & Wise, K., 1991). In the myth of Persephone and Hades, the seasons are also used to represent love. When Demeter lost Persephone, she cursed the earth with famine, commanding all plants of the earth to bear no fruit until her daughter's return. In Greek tradition is the explanation for Winter and the changing seasons (Downing, 1994). Persephone returns to Demeter for six months of the year and the seasons turn to Spring and Summer allowing for harvest. The seasons in the myth of Persephone and Hades represent the love that Demeter experiences when she has and does not have her daughter. In both works, the symbolism of love adds to the depth of the unique plot. This is not a typical love story and the elements used such as the seasons allows for the display of