Titanic Transformations in Lore Olympus: Trauma and Violence on the Female Body

Abstract

This article analyzes the narrative of the webcomic Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe, focusing on the corporal transformations in the character of Persephone, goddess of spring and queen of the Underworld. Throughout the story, the protagonist, who conceptually possesses many stereotypically feminine characteristics, goes through various types of metamorphosis, from uncontrolled hair growth and red eyes to titanic sizes and bodily and mental hibernation. All these transformations have a background of trauma and violence such as rape, maternal overprotection, extortion, invalidation and encapsulation of feelings, the unexpected loss of loved ones, and the desire for revenge. I sustain that these transfigurations are activated as a protection mechanism of the body when feeling endangered or overwhelmed by emotions such as anger, helplessness, fear, and pain. A characteristic of the moments in which these transformations occur is that the goddess narrates the story in the first person, which is indicated with the typography in a different color from the rest of the chapter in which the metamorphosis takes place: pink, the color palette of the character. From the metamorphoses of the character, her story can be traced—from Kore, goddess of Spring, to Persephone, queen of the Underworld.