The White Lotus tends to hide clues in unexpected places, and season 2 sees Bert Di Grasso telling the tale of Hades and Persephone — an odd inclusion if it doesn’t have any deeper meaning.

Their stories are unpicked and reinvented for a 2024 audience, and one story in particular that gets a whole new retelling is the myth of Hades (David Thewlis) and Persephone (Rakie Ayola).

Mann’s sinister Hades and West’s debauched Persephone are the loud and lusty ... Michael Krass’s costumes, Bradley King’s lighting — reinforce the structure. The town of Hades is ...

Hades is entranced and takes Persephone down to his underground kingdom to become his bride. When Demeter finds out what has happened she is inconsolable; she curses the Earth and the plants begin ...