They Are Risen

Question: Do Tammuz and Persephone ever get together, considering their pantheons' close relations and that they are both pretty much the same (fertility dieties who spend half their time in the Underworld to represent winter)? If they do get together, are they just friends or do they have secret sexy time?

Heh, the idea of a secret dying fertility god club is pretty awesome; they could have meetings during the fertile season and a secret handshake! Tammuz and Persephone aren't the only ones; Adonis, Baal, Osiris, Jarilo, and even Baldur are all similar figures, dying or journeying to the Underworld in the infertile season only to rise again and represent new growth later. I'd love to see them hanging out and swapping tales of their incarceration or sharing tips on how to stay fresh while stuck in the realm of the dead.

As far as hanging out while in the Underworld, though, no, I don't imagine they do; Persephone's in Hades with a husband who, according to all reports, is very smitten with her and historically bad-tempered about anyone trying to make a play for her, and Tammuz is in Irkallu, where the mistress of the house is most famous for not letting anybody leave ever. Tammuz is outright a prisoner, and I doubt very much that Persephone has any prayer of sneaking off without Hades noticing. Most dying gods are pretty much stuck in the specific Underworld they go to until they get rescued or the time of their sentence is up; I doubt there's a visiting program going on between the deathrealms just so they can get together while imprisoned.

I could see them getting together outside of gloomy Underworld vacations, but whether or not that includes romance is something each game would have to determine. Would Tammuz really want to stray from magnificent Ishtar (and even if he did, would he dare)? Does Persephone really want to jeopardize a pretty sweet political setup by canoodling with somebody else? They're both super attractive and they have some common ground, but is that enough, especially since they probably have to go out of their way just to meet since both of their Overworlds are under seige and life's pretty darn busy? In our games, I would say no, there's probably not any inappropriateness going on between those two, but I could certainly see someone pursuing it as a plot in a different game (and god help everyone when/if Ishtar and Hades find out - that's some truly cosmic fallout right there).

Personally, if you like the idea of a secret dying-fertility-god love plot, I'd be more inclined to run with Persephone and Adonis - not only do they share the same Underworld during their times below ground, but Adonis is only there because Persephone wanted him to be, and it's difficult to tell from the myth whether she feels maternal affection or romantic love for him. Of course, them trying to have a relationship would have all sorts of terrifying problems - Aphrodite's not as scary as Ishtar but she's still awfully volatile, and trying to have an affair in your husband's kingdom when you know he is a master of invisibility has to be a harrowing ordeal - but that might be just the ticket if it's a story you'd like to play with.

I totally want the Dying Fertility God Club to be a real thing, though. They could have rotating farewell parties for those of them going down to the Underworld at various times! Act as a support group for their fellow death-oppressed deities! Plan Underworld revolutions! The possibilities are endless, especially if a PC decides to take on a similar role.