The Helpful Hag

Heroes need help.  It's one of the great truths found in stories across all genres and media types.  No one can go through life alone, whether it's ordinary mundane life...or the sort of life that involves an epic quest with armies opposing you.  That help can come in many forms: a sidekick, like Batman and Robin; a raid group taking on a difficult boss in a video game; a group of friends supporting one another, like in Friends; an adorable animal companion.

Fairy tales are full of helpers such as these.  Sometimes it's a talking animal.  In other stories, it's the fairy godmother.  But another archetype appears time and time again: The Helpful Hag.

Rarely named in any stories, the Helpful Hag is most often a little old lady by the side of the road.  I've also referred to her as the Kind Crone, or the Wizened Wise Woman.  She fits into the category of the Donor, an individual who provides the protagonist with aid.  Joseph Campbell recognized the Crone when encountering the first stages of a hero's journey, when they meet with someone who provides them with help of some sort.

There are several fairy tales in which three sons all set out on the same quest.  They each, along the way, encounter an old crone begging on the side of the road.  This woman is described as wizened, ugly, a poor beggar with nothing to offer.  The first two brothers refuse to share their bread with her.  The youngest, considerably kinder than his kin, splits his meal with the hag.

This is where the hag shows her true nature.  Her begging is a test; for those who show her kindness, she provides aid.  Sometimes this is a magical item.  More frequently, her aid comes in the form of advice.

But for those who spurn her request for help...well, let's take a look at one of the more famous fairy tales to see how that turns out.

The opening scene of Disney's Beauty and the Beast shows how the prince spurned the offer of a rose from a wizened old woman.  Irked by his lack of manners, she revealed that it had been a test.  In fact, the old hag was actually a beautiful, powerful enchantress.  For his rudeness, the prince was transformed into a Beast.

So the Helpful Hag is not only a benefactor towards do-gooders in fairy tales - she is also a test, to see if a character is worthy of her help.

There are a lot of myths that could serve as the origin of the Helpful Hag character.  Let us look first at Greek mythology.  Demeter spent some time wandering the earth disguised as a mortal, while she was searching for her missing daughter.  During that time she became a nursemaid for a young boy.  Seeing that the boy and his family were good, she attempted to make the boy immortal.  Unfortunately, this involved holding him in a fire - something his parents didn't take too kindly to when they burst into the room.  Demeter is one example of a Helpful Hag.

Another can be found in the Fates - or the Norns, the Moirai, or any other name you care to call them by.  Appearing in Celtic, Norse, Greek, Roman, and many other mythologies, the Fates are three women.  One is the Maiden; one is the Mother; one is the Crone.

But another example of a Helpful Hag is not actually a wizened old woman at all...but, instead, an old man.  He frequently traveled the earth under the name of High.  While there, he would offer his aid to great heroes on quests.  This man was the Norse god Odin.

Now, Norse mythology has been the basis of inspiration for a number of authors (myself included).  One such author created a character based heavily upon Odin in his mortal disguise - someone who could aid the protagonist, but never be the main character himself.

This is all a very roundabout way to confess that yes, I am comparing Gandalf to a Helpful Hag.

Can you guys think of any story examples of the Kind Crone?  Little old women offering aid abound in stories of all sorts.  One of my absolute favorite examples is from Diana Wynn Jones' Howl's Moving Castle.  Jones recognized the archetype of the Helpful Hag and turned it onto its head.  The main character spends most of the book convinced that she can't be the main character, because she's too old to go off and have adventures - so instead, she must be the helper to everyone else.  What a surprise for her when she discovers the truth!

I'll be back next week!

Demeter, Persephone, and Hades

Hey guys! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. I for one did! I got to go to Phoenix Comicon and meet two of my favorite actors - Jason Momoa and Karl Urban.  There were a ton of awesome costumes and vendors.  I'm definitely planning on returning next year!

(Me killing Sauron.  Definitely a highlight of the con!)

While I was gone, this blog got views from its 20th country! Thanks, Taiwan! That was wonderful to come home to.

I’m here today to talk a little bit more about Greek mythology. I was looking back through my Greek posts and I wound up re-reading the one I did for Hades. I was so busy defending his character that I actually didn’t fully go into the myth involving Persephone! Luckily, I was already planning on talking about Demeter today - it was easy to add Persephone’s story to hers, since the two are definitely intertwined. Of course, I can’t tell their story without also talking about Hades.

So, to begin with: This is Demeter.

Demeter is the Greek goddess of the harvest. A night spent with Zeus (who is king of the gods, and Demeter’s brother...creepy, I know) produced a daughter named Persephone.

This is Persephone.

Persephone followed in the footsteps of her mother. She’s the goddess of spring and vegetation, amongst other things.

Both of these goddesses are beautiful. They’re associated with flowers, plants, and any form of crop. (I actually just realized that Demeter is basically my arch nemesis - I’m gluten intolerant, and she’s the goddess of grain! WHY, Demeter? WHY?!) The goddesses are often depicted as holding these things, and are normally shown in daylight.

This is Hades.

Hades is the Greek god of the Underworld. He rules over the dead, and he seldom leaves his kingdom - which is dark, often considered depressing, and definitely not full of beautiful growing things.

Thanks to Zeus, these three characters end up wrapped up in a tale of drama. Ready for it? Let’s get started, then!

As usual, all of the problems began with Zeus. Being the father of Persephone, Zeus had the right to determine who she would marry. The king of the gods chose to betroth her to his brother, Hades. This was all very well and good - except that Zeus failed to mention Persephone’s betrothal to Persephone or Demeter!

Because of this, Persephone was taken unaware when Hades came to claim her. She was out picking flowers when he pulled up on his chariot, grabbed her, and dragged her down to the Underworld.

(As I mentioned in my Hades post - not an uncommon practice in those times, despite the bad rap it gets him nowadays.)

Demeter was frantic at her daughter’s disappearance. She searched the entire earth for Persephone, but ultimately found no sign of her. One place that she searched was the region of Eleusis. Demeter stayed in the home of the king for some time, disguised as an old servant. In gratitude for his hospitality, she sought to make the king’s son immortal. Unfortunately, this process required bathing him in ambrosia and then holding him over the fire. The queen walked in during this process and screamed, interrupting the ceremony. (Imagine seeing a crazy old lady smiling and cooing as she holds your baby over an open fire. I’d probably have screamed too!)

Despite being unable to carry out her original plan, Demeter still took care of Eleusis. She taught its people how to plant and harvest grain before she left.

Interestingly enough, the story of Demeter at Eleusis sparked a mystery religion. Mystery religions in ancient Greece differed from the normal belief in the gods. Typical prayers were accompanied by a sacrifice, and the supplicant expected to get immediate results from their prayer. Crops need water? Pray to Zeus and it will rain! Looking for love (in all the wrong places)? Call upon Aphrodite and you’ll find it! Prayers focused on immediate gain, and didn’t give a lot of thought to what would happen in the next life.

Mystery religions were quite different. Instead of promising a gain in the mortal life, they offered a better afterlife. Demeter’s mystery religion was called the Eleusinian Mysteries, and it wasn’t the only mystery religion in ancient Greece. Another revolved around Isis, an Egyptian goddess. Interestingly enough, both goddesses have myths in which they bring people back from the Underworld - this likely was the reason people thought they could better the afterlife.

Anyway, back to the main myth!

While Demeter was searching for her daughter, Persephone was languishing in the Underworld. She refused to eat or drink anything, and longed for living things. Poor Hades tried his best, but his wife just wasn’t interested in him.

Eventually the other gods began to take notice - largely because of humanity. With the goddess of spring trapped in the Underworld, and Demeter focused only on her search for Persephone, plants began to die.  Eventually all the crops failed, and the world was plunged into an endless winter. Unable to find Persephone, Demeter mourned for the loss of her daughter. It didn’t matter to her if the world died - hers already had.

Depending on which version of the story you read, a god or goddess associated with the sun or moon sometimes tells Demeter that Persephone was taken by Hades. This leads her to confront Zeus. In other versions, Zeus himself steps in and speaks to Demeter, pleading with her to stop the endless winter. Without crops, the mortals have no food; without food, they will die; without mortals, who will worship the gods? (Yeah, Zeus is pretty self-centered.)

Either way, Demeter is pissed off when she finds out that Zeus gave Persephone to Hades without telling her. She refuses to allow plants to grow so long as her daughter remains in the Underworld. Try as he might, Zeus can’t get her to change his mind. Eventually he caves in and sends Hermes to the Underworld to bargain with Hades.

Now, imagine you’re a lonely guy. You live alone, and no one (living) ever comes to see you. You’re an introvert, so you never leave your house. Then, one day, your brother comes to see you! He tells you that he’s found this really pretty girl, and that she’s going to be your wife. Imagine she comes and the two of you get married, and you’re living together, and she’s kind of sad but at least you’re not alone anymore.

Then imagine that your brother sends someone (he can’t even come to tell you himself, the jerk) to tell you that the girl’s mom is really mad and wants her back. And your brother - who technically is your boss as well - wants you to give up your wife.

I’ve mentioned in my post about Hades that I think he’s a pretty swell guy. He doesn’t argue, like I would. He doesn’t say no. Imagine if he did - Zeus probably couldn’t change his mind, and Hades is just as powerful as Zeus. What does he care if everyone on the earth is going to die? That just means Hades will get more subjects and become more powerful! But, no. He’s too good of a guy. He doesn’t want the power. Instead, Hades says that he’ll give up Persephone on one condition: she can’t have eaten anything in the Underworld.

(This is actually a pretty common condition in mythology. Eating or drinking food in the Underworld often ties you to that realm, so it’s something you don’t want to do. Japanese mythology warns of it, as does Mesopotamian. Similar instructions apply to the land of the fae in Celtic mythology.)

Unfortunately for Persephone, she had eventually caved in and eaten a few seeds from a pomegranate. Depending on the myth, she did this in secret hoping that Hades wouldn’t notice; or, Hades gave her the pomegranate and tricked her into eating the seeds.

I’m more inclined to believe the former, given that poor Persephone must have been starving from months without food, but hey.  That picture was just too adorable to not post it.

Despite Persephone not meeting Hades' condition for release, he still lets her go. It isn’t a permanent release, however. Persephone is required to return for a few months each year; these months match the number of pomegranate seeds she ate.

During the months when Persephone is on earth, the plants grow and the flowers bloom. Spring, summer, and fall happen as normal thanks to Persephone’s reunion with Demeter. However, each year when Persephone returns to the Underworld Demeter mourns her loss. The plants die, and winter overtakes the world.

I hope you enjoyed the story! I love the myth, and I loved the pictures I was able to find for it. I feel bad for everyone within the myth, though; Hades gets all the blame and only has a wife for a few months out of the year, Demeter is miserable and has to go through her child being kidnapped, and Persephone is kidnapped and held against her will! Seriously, people! All of that could have been avoided if Zeus had just told his daughter and Demeter about her engagement! Or, you know, if he had actually confessed once Persephone went missing! But no, the king of the gods had to let Demeter wander around in grief for months before saying anything - and then it was only for his own selfish reasons.

You might notice that I really dislike Zeus.

I’m planning on doing a post about Norse mythology next week, but after that I'm open to suggestions. Got a myth you’d like to see (or a fairy tale?)? Let me know in a comment below, or hit me up in an email! Same goes for any questions or comments on this post.

I’ll see you guys next week!