A Psychoanalytic Approach to Louise Glück’s Blended Receptions of the Myths of Narcissus and Persephone in Averno

Abstract

In recent years, mythological retellings have garnered increasing acclaim. One such example is Louise Glück’s book of poetry Averno (2006), in which she blends the myths of Narcissus and Persephone. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, a narcissus serves as bait when Hades abducts Persephone. However, in Glück’s contemporary rewriting, Persephone seeks to escape her authoritarian mother by embracing Hades, whose perspective is given in “A Myth of Devotion,” but the ultimate outcome is that Persephone is controlled by both her mother and her husband. In the present paper, I shall first address the reception of the myths of Persephone and Narcissus in Glück’s “A Myth of Innocence.” Then, I shall analyse sexuality, trauma and marriage in “A Myth of Innocence” and “A Myth of Devotion” from a psychoanalytic perspective, while also exploring the motifs that occur in Glück’s appropriation of the two myths in question.