Persephone – a journey through translations

My book Persephone – A Journey from winter to spring , illustrated by Virginia Lee (published by Frances Lincoln) has been included in The Guardian’s list of children’s books for Christmas. This is thanks to Agiati Benardou, a Greek journalist.  She reviewed the Greek version of the book, along with a performance I gave in Athens over the summer. She has championed the book in Greece in her wonderful literature blog.

My partner is Greek and I’ve been learning to speak and write Greek for a few years. We go on adventures to wild locations, and I’m beginning to know the diversity of Greece. In the UK we tend to have a romantic view of Greece and Greek mythology that stretches back to Byron and earlier travelers and translators. The English adopted Greek myths, and they have become part of our own tradition, but our understanding is not always the same!

I grew up with the story of Persephone and have told it for years. When I was writing the picture book version, I went back to the ancient writers Hesiod, Apollodoros, and Ovid, who all have different versions of the myth. And I did what I always do, created my own version, freely cutting and embroidering. I worked on one page at a time, by going for a walk, and singing the story in my head. When I had found the rhythm of a few lines, I repeated them, rushing to a cafe to write them down!

I was thrilled when the book was bought by Greek publisher Metaixmio. But surprised to see that the Greek translation had changed the name Hades to Plutonas. In the UK, Pluto is a Roman God, from a different world and culture. I felt Pluto did not fit with the other Greek Gods in the book. I was sure I was correct! But what do I know, I am not Greek! For many Greeks, Hades and Plutonas are interchangeable. Or,  Hades is not a person but a place – the underworld. And,  Plutonas is the King of Hades. Perhaps this is a remnant left over from the Roman Empire, when Romans spoke Greek, and Greek language was even called Roman?

What do you think dear reader? Is Pluto Greek or Roman, or both? Is Hades a person, or a place? Is there a correct version? And does it matter? My book is a Greek translation, of an English version, of an Ancient Greek myth, that was read in translation! This is, what they call in India,  ‘The ocean of stories’. The place where all the story-rivers gather, and all the versions mix, mingle, and flow out. This continuous re-telling is what keeps the myths alive.