On the way to Zeus and Hera’s home for the annual Panathenaea party, Hades, God of the Underworld, texts Minthe, a nymph he has been dating, to see if she is coming. When she does not reply, he calls her. Getting into the bath, Minthe asks if Hades bought her the purse she wanted; he did. She still refuses to go. She does not feel like being seen with him. After they hang up, Hades’s anger fades to gloom; he reflects, “Hades, all the fine suits in the world…won’t change the fact that you stink of death” (5).

Hades arrives at the party and runs into Hera, his brother Zeus’s wife. Hera teases him about Minthe, but she is glad not to “‘spend the evening with that nymph trash’” (7). Hades’s other brother, Poseidon, brought his wife, making Hades the only one attending alone. This makes him self-conscious. Zeus’s arrival and flirtatious greeting with Hera only make it worse for Hades.

Meanwhile, Artemis helps Persephone get ready for the Panathenaea. Artemis offers to lend her friend a more modern dress.