Myth-O-Mania

Lots of people (or at least those who are especially interested in that sort of thing) have some knowledge of ancient Greek mythology. Many of the myths feature brave heroes and the mighty Zeus, who rules on Mount Olympus. But in this children's series by Kate McMullan, Lord Hades, Ruler of the Underworld, tells you the real story of what actually happened because the myths we've all heard are a pack of lies told by Zeus, the biggest myth-o-maniac (old Greek-speak for "liar") ever, to make himself look good. And he only got to be ruler of Mount Olympus by cheating at cards!

Tropes used in Myth-O-Mania include:

• Adaptational Villainy: Inverted with many of the monsters, such as the Minotaur, the Hydra, Medusa, Echidna, and Orthus. In contrast with the myths, the Greek heroes' encounters with these famous monsters tend to be resolved peacefully (often with the help of Hades). Hydra in particular becomes a faithful ally of Hades and Hercules, Medusa is returned to her original form instead of being killed, and the Minotaur is a peaceful vegetarian whose "sacrifices" are his wrestling buddies instead of food.
• Big Eater: Atalanta. Hades even refers to her as this, word for word!
• Bowdlerise: Most notably, the story of Hercules. Instead of having Zeus impersonate Alcmene's husband Amphytrion and impregnate her with Hercules under these circumstances, Alcmene is a princess who got pregnant with Hercules when she was married to Zeus and marries Amphytrion later on.
• Child Marriage Veto: Atalanta does not want to be married off to anyone, so she manages to get out of it by way of an impossible Engagement Challenge.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: The ghosts of those who were not-so-good but not-so-bad have to memorize an endless list of difficult spelling words. In Stop that Bul, Theseus!, Hades decides to build up an Underworld Wrestling league by way of persuading some big bad bullies who are otherwise headed for Tartarus to sign wrestling contracts to get out of this.
• Determinator: Psyche, big time. She spends years completing endless lists of near-impossible tasks just for the chance to see Cupid again. And unlike other heroes, she done most of them without Hades' help.
• Dumb Is Good: Hercules
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Psyche earns immortality and a chance to marry Cupid after years of completing a series of endless tasks.
• Engagement Challenge: In Nice Shot, Cupid!, Aphrodite gives Psyche a list of tasks that she has to complete before she'll allow Psyche to see Cupid again. Go for the Gold, Atalanta! has a more straight-up variety. When Atalanta is imprisoned by her father after years of abandonment, he wants to marry her off. However, she does not want to, so she says that she'll marry anyone who can beat her in a race, which no one ever does.
• Everybody Hates Hades: Averted.
• Fractured Fairy Tale: Even though these are retellings of Greek myths rather than fairy tales, each book otherwise fits this trope.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar
• I Want Grandkids: In Keep a Lid on It, Pandora!, Rhea nags Hades to settle down and give her some grandchildren (of course, chronologically, this takes place before Phone Home, Persephone!).
• Incest Is Relative: Unusually for a modern-day work based on Greek mythology, especially because it's aimed at children, the series is very forthright about the fact that the gods, goddesses, and Titans are all related to each other... even when they're all marrying each other. However, Hades hand waves this by saying that "we gods live by different rules than you mortals."
  • Hades, the narrator of every book, is married to Persephone, his niece. The story of how they got hitched is further elaborated in Phone Home, Persephone!
  • Zeus had a daughter with the Titaness Metis.
  • Brother-Sister Incest
    • Cronus and Rhea are full siblings as well as husband and wife
    • Zeus had a daughter with his sister Demeter
    • Zeus marries his sister Hera
    • Zeus suggests that his daughter Persephone marry his son Hermes
  • Kissing Cousins
    • In Get to Work, Hercules!, Hera tells Hercules that she will give him her daughter, Hebe, in marriage. Zeus is Hercules's father, making Hera his aunt, therefore making Hebe his cousin.
• Meaningful Name
  • Persephone means "Picky Eater", according to Zeus.
  • Zeus tells everyone who is present at Pandora's creation that Pandora means "everyone gave me presents" as a lead-in to his telling them to each give her a gift.
• My Beloved Smother: Demeter to her daughter Persephone in Phone Home, Persephone! and Aphrodite to her son Cupid in Nice Shot, Cupid!.
• Picky Eater: Persephone. Zeus even states that this is the meaning of her name! Indeed, Persephone is less than willing to eat Underworld food.
• Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace: Happens on Hades and Persephone's first attempt to marry.
• Title Drop
• Traumatic Haircut: Even though the their hair was never cut, Enos and Riley are especially upset about Athena turning their hair into snakes and, when Athena turns them back into their old moon goddess forms, are especially eager to wash their hair after years of not having any.