What if the heroines from fairy tales past had more agency? Angela Carter’s collection of short stories answers that conundrum. The retellings of classic tales, including Puss in Boots and Beauty and the Beast, recenters women, giving a feminist slant to the stories we know and love.
Each darkly romantic, sensual story includes elements of female desire and impending peril. The collection shows its characters through their moral choices which exist in the space between absolute good and absolute evil.
The collection needs to be on your shelf because it contains short stories which deliver powerful effects.
Hebe – Goddess of Youth and Divine Service
Hebe served as the representative of Olympian youth because she embodied their vital energy. Her character is described as the daughter of Zeus and Hera who later served as the cupbearer of gods until Ganymede took over that duty.
Her later marriage to the deified Heracles signals his final acceptance among the gods.
Asteria – Titaness of Stars and Night Divination
Asteria appears in Titan genealogies as a goddess linked to stars and nighttime divination. Hesiod names her as the daughter of Coeus and Phoebe, and the mother of the triple-moon goddess Hecate.
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In one tradition, she plunges into the sea to become Delos which serves as an origin tale for the sacred island.
Astraeus – Titan God of Twilight and Stars
Astraeus personifies twilight because he is a Titan who governs both dusk and nighttime. In Hesiod, he is the son of Crius and Eurybia and the partner of Eos, who is the Titan of dawn.
The poet describes their offspring as winds and stars, which creates a poetic connection between nighttime and both weather patterns and constellations.
Hemera – Personification of Daylight
Poets used the personification of daylight throughHemera to create a concrete form of their abstract concept of day.
The Theogony describes her birth from Nyx and Erebus which establishes brightness as something that emerges from darkness. The ancient imagery shows Hemera and Nyx passing through a doorway which demonstrates how the daily cycle operates.
Phanes – Primordial God of Creation and First Light
The Orphic creation stories start with Phanes who exists as the first being that emerges from a cosmic egg. The typical depiction of him shows a beautiful creature with golden wings who has both male and female features and was created by the titans Chronos and Ananke.
Moros – Personification of Doom and Fate
The prophecy becomes a trap because Moros exists as the force which brings about its doom. Hesiod lists him among the children of Nyx, alongside other grim personifications that shadow human life.
He shows people their destined end through death which he brings, yet his power exceeds that of Thanatos, the gentler god who ends life.
Eunomia – Goddess of Law and Civic Order
The nation required stability for its civic operations which Eunomia delivered through her stable management of legal matters. People frequently referred to her as Zeus and Themis' daughter who had two sisters named Dike and Eirene.
She demonstrated both effective leadership and strong support for agricultural and domestic organizational systems.
Pheme – Goddess of Rumor and Public Voice
The Greek poets considered rumor to be a divine force which they named Pheme. The writers of the text depict her as a winged voice which enables readers to comprehend her ability to spread news with rapid speed.
Pheme spreads all types of news because she allows any news item to be shared by her.
Deimos – God of Terror and Battlefield Dread
Deimos captures dread, the fear that sinks in before danger is even visible. He is known as the son of Ares and Aphrodite and the brother of Phobos, who is the Greek god of fear.
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The epics tell us he often rode into battle with Ares, inciting panic for the opposing side.
Phobos – God of Panic and Fear
Phobos controls sudden panic because his name created the term "phobia." Deimos appears as a son of Ares and Aphrodite who travels with the warriors of battle.
He represents immediate panic which people experience during fight or flight situations.
Harmonia – Goddess of Harmony and Marital Balance
The character of Harmonia represents harmony through her association with social equilibrium and peaceful agreements. Many myths name her as the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, and later as the wife of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes.
The wedding necklace she received as a gift from her husband creates future danger because it transforms into an artifact that shows how delicate their marital harmony is.
Priapus – Fertility God and Garden Protector
People in gardens and orchards used Priapus as their protective fertility deity. Ancient authors disagree on his parentage, but he’s often linked to Aphrodite and strongly associated with Lampsacus near the Hellespont.
His statues functioned as protective markers for agricultural fields, which demonstrated how farming practices influenced daily religious rituals. Modern-day scarecrows serve as an homage to this god.
