Eating in the Underworld

by Rachel Zucker

Winner of the Strousse Award for Best Group of Poems (2002)

In Rachel Zucker's re-imagining of the Greek myth, Persephone is a daughter struggling to become a woman. Unlike the classical portrait of a maiden kidnapped by a tyrant, Zucker's Persephone chooses to travel to the Underworld and assume her role as Hades' queen. Caught between worlds--light and dark, innocence and power, a mother's protection and a lover's appeal--Persephone describes the strangeness of the Underworld and the problems of transformation and transgression. The arrangement of Zucker's poems reflects Persephone's travels between the Underworld and the Surface. Both spare and lyrical, they are written as entries in Persephone's diary and as letters between Persephone, Demeter, and Hades. The language--strange, urgent, direct--is pulled and changed as Persephone journeys from one world to another revealing the struggle of unmaking and remaking the self.

Genres: Poetry, Mythology, Romance, Retellings

80 pages, Paperback

First published February 26, 2003

About the author

Rachel Zucker is the author of Museum of Accidents (Wave Books, 2009), which was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award. She is also the author of The Bad Wife Handbook (Wesleyan University, 2007), The Last Clear Narrative (Wesleyan University, 2004), Eating in the Underworld (Wesleyan University, 2003), and Annunciation (The Center for Book Arts, 2002), as well as the co-editor (with Arielle Greenberg) of Starting Today: 100 Poems for Obama's First 100 Days and Women Poets on Mentorship: Efforts and Affections (both from the University of Iowa Press). A graduate of Yale and the Iowa Writer's Workshop, Zucker has taught at several institutions, including NYU and Yale. She currently lives in NYC with her husband and three sons, and is a certified labor doula.

For more information on this author, go to:
http://www.wavepoetry.com/authors/63-...

Reviews

[Laurel Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Contrary to traditional myth, Zucker claims Persephone as a writer who willingly enters the underworld. While Demeter is commonly known as the benevolent goddess of the natural world, Zucker characterizes her as a manipulative and controlling mother, refusing her daughter individual identity. Persephone is initially naïve, both excited and unsure of her choice of Hades as partner. Zucker thereby links Persephone's decision to enter the underworld to her desire to break from her mother's world, even if Persephone is not fully aware of it. When Demeter writes a letter to Persephone pleading with her to come home, Persephone is unmoved. She is, however, increasingly attracted to the lush beauty of the underworld, as revealed through Zucker's painterly and musical language. Living between two worlds, Persephone chooses to "turn some of these young girls/to birds" whose "singing will torture the gods." Using [203] her power as a goddess, Persephone will metaphorically free young girls, who constantly remind the gods of their manipulative errors. Because Persephone does not indicate which gods will be tortured, Zucker suggests all gods, including Persephone, Demeter, and Hades, will hear the unbearable wails of the young girls trapped in birds' bodies, ironically freed from their fate as women, daughters, mothers, and/or wives.

A sensual exploration of identity and transformation, Eating in the Underworld tells the story of a young woman both coming to and understanding the limits of her personal power. More complex than a coming of age tale, the book sheds new light on the stories we have come to know. While Zucker's work asks us to be skeptical of myths. This poetry collection is ambitious, complex, and yet approachable and lovely. It may be short, but it packs a serious punch.

[Desirae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Letter [December to Persephone]

Am I the only one to notice the soft layer of haze above snow?

You say you see butterflies in the skeleton pelvis, well,
what about the larger hand of the clock?
Or a cauldron for boiling water?

Did you, do you ever stop falling?"

I repeat your name
a word

it almost means
nothing

Do you remember encyclopedias?
I piled up the books so you could reach the table.

Now the only way to recall you is the shape
of your walking away.

[Burnside Soleil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Precise and chiseled lines. But warm, too, and alive.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

decent enough- honestly too sick of extension pip to fully enjoy this though

[Jess✧✵ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful and poignant take on Persephone's story.

[Ace · Rating 5 out of 5]

TL;DR: An interesting, complex set of poetry that highlights the complexities of the Demeter, Hades, and Persephone relationship.

I really enjoyed this set of poetry! It is rare, I've found, that shorter form stories really delve into all the complexities of this mother/daughter/husband triple worshiped goddess, and this one does a very good job trying to show that all three characters are complex beings. The Persephone in Eating in the Underworld is torn between two worlds: the promise of strange, new unknowns with a man who will take her from all she's ever known, or the comforting familiarity of her mother's home. Demeter is presented as beloved but, yet, overprotective; Hades, a man who is mad, bad, and dangerous to know  but none the less not without appeal.

I will say this is a book that is stronger as a whole rather than the sum of its parts. I don't think any of these poems are really strong stand-outs, but they slowly build to a story over time; a pair of love stories, one maternal and one romance, and it does a very good job with highlighting the complexities of those relationships as they grow through time. The world is complex and seeing how the character of Persephone grows through time is well done and makes this a fantastic read.

[Bernard Norcott-mahany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rachel Zucker's "Eating in the Underworld" is a series of poems doing a retelling of the story of the kidnapping of Persephone by Hades. In Zucker's version, Demeter is an overprotective mother, and as Demeter is an Earth goddess, there was never any place above ground where Persephone could be apart from her mother. In the "Homeric Hymn # 2 (to Demeter)," the story is told by Demeter's perspective, and Hades' taking of Persephone comes as a surprise to Demeter and Persephone. In that version, Demeter does all she can to get her daughter back. Zucker suggests that Persephone was not an unwilling participant, and that the Underworld gives her a space apart from her mom where she can be something else. Persephone's feelings get the main focus in the book, through diary entries (both in the Underworld and above ground) and in letters and notes to her mom and Hades. We also get letters from Demeter to Hades and from him to her. The story Zucker presents is complex -- though Persephone is happy to be free of her mother's total control, she still feels some yearning for the above ground world.

[michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

a poetic reimagining of persephone, hades, and demeter. this has got to be one of the most well-known stories of greek myths, one of the entry fees, if you will, into greek mythology. i've read a few others before, and to be quite honest, this isn't one of my favorites. there are 4 or 5 poems that i do really like for her liquid lyricism in portraying the struggle of persephone to straddle youth and innocence with maturity and womanhood. i will say that that is still a point of contention for me. persephone has always been such a favorite of mine and reimaginings have afforded her the dimensionality that lies obscured in the original story. though, the reimaginings can have the pitfall of trying to establish persephone's autonomy by undermining her relationship with demeter and vilifying her in the process, which is what zucker does here. homer's "hymn to demeter," surprisingly, embodies the fierce love of demeter for persephone while maintaining the original violence of the myth. what i one day hope for is a marriage of both: can't persephone's mother gracefully let her go for her to be loved just as fiercely by hades through her own choice?

[connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 stars

Ahhhh, I really wanted to love this, and I think if I could go back with a physical version and tear the poems apart I would and understand and enjoy them even more. Unfortunately I do not have MONEY, so sad times, but I enjoyed reading this as an Ebook.

I love the narrative- focusing on Persephone and her experience in the Underworld, as well as her relationships with Demeter and Hades. I love how much agency Persephone has and her openness concerning her feelings, I think this collection really solidified how much I adore her mythology. I'm going to ask for a copy of this, hopefully for Christmas, just so I can have a copy to add to my shelves.

[Arabella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Myths were our first stories. Our mothers our first love. We carry both as we become our own selves. In this version of Persephone and Demeter, Zucker mediates a common language between our myths and personal histories. In sparse lines Zucker allows us to carve our own meaning from the myths we were born into.

[Fred Kohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rachel Zucker uses evocative imagery in this very nice retelling of the Demeter/Persephone/Hades myth. I didn’t notice the page headings until a few pages in, so I had to go back and reread the first few pages. The page headings are important.

[E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always loved Persephone's story, and this collection takes it to another level, especially in light of 2018. Thank you, Rachel Zucker.

[foolscap · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick sigh of a read before the year ends, thanks to Kate Lebo's recommendation in her book!

[Charissa Z]

i love the poem where she namedropped joe wenderoth cuz i met him once and he was a scary writer and even tho its not in this collection i still think about that sometimes

[alexa king · Rating 2 out of 5]

interesting but i think a little too abstract for me

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I worship Rachel Zucker.

I wouldn't say I worship _Eating in the Underworld_, though.

This poetry collection was beautifully crafted, perfectly lyrical, and all-around well-written, but it wasn't exactly for me.

I like that Zucker puts a new spin on the Persephone/Hades myth, but sometimes it felt more like a project than a book that could change my life forever. However, without this book and the grappling between mother and daughter/child I'm not sure _The Last Clear Narrative_ would have been so life changing.

If anything _Underworld_ gives me hope that my younger poems are building towards something grand.

I'm happy I've read and I own _Underworld_. It is after all written by one of my fav poets...

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Retelling of the Persephone myth.

Didn't grab me at all at first, but really picked up steam and started drawing me in.

I left it at three stars because none of the individual poems truly struck me, but as a long poetic narrative I enjoyed it.

[victoria.p · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written retelling of the Persephone myth.

[Molly]

Rachel Zucker's Balancing the Tide interview.

[Abigail Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy Greek mythology, you will love this sultry collection of poems by Rachel Zucker.

[buhzkill · Rating 5 out of 5]

These poems are captivating and tell the story of Persephone in a new light… I’ve recommended it to so many people.

[stephanie]

rec: victoria.

[Mallory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book No.2 of a binge-reading session...