Week 3 Story: Heroic Perseus Faces Medusa
Oddly, Perseus remembered the story of Medusa's origins as he traveled to the place of the Gorgons on winged feet.
Medusa was considered extremely beautiful and was visited by many suitors. Her hair was praised by those who saw it. Then one day, Neptune violated Medusa in Minerva's temple and caused the destruction of her beauty. Minerva, seeing this violation as a slight to her values, punished Medusa by turning her shiny, thick locks into writhing snakes. Instead of inspiring admiration, she now terrified others, paralyzing her foes as stone when they looked into her eyes.
Perseus did not wish this for his fate. He wanted to gain honor through his fight with Medusa, not a place in the afterlife.
Don't look.... Don't look... Don't look...
Perseus repeated this mantra as he walked into the place of the Gorgons, preparing himself for the upcoming fight.
Perseus used his shield to look around corners and pillars to avoid accidentally catching the stone-cold gaze of Medusa.
When he saw Medusa and her snakes in a deep sleep, he knew that his fate was sealed with luck and fortune. He crept to her resting place and with all of his might, struck her neck with his sword, severing her head. From her spurting blood, two of her children were born - the winged horse Pegasus and the warrior Chrysaor. Taking her head as a prize and a weapon, he fled the place before Medusa's sisters awoke to find their sister dead at his sword.
As he traveled from the place of the Gorgons, he came upon Ethiopia. He noticed a fair maiden chained to a black rock before the raging sea. A fire started within him, and he was unable to turn away from her plight. He directed his beating wings towards the maiden, so he could inquire about her situation. Perseus was prepared to risk his life to save her and if fate would have it, marry her.
Author's Note:
I decided not to stray too far from the original story told in Ovid's Metamorphoses. However, in the original, the order of events is reversed. Perseus first saves Andromeda, the fair maiden chained to a rock. Then, he tells the tale of how he severed the head of Medusa and of her origins as a Gorgon at a feast after he defeats the sea monster for Andromeda.
Bibliography: Ovid's Metamorphoses: Perseus and Medusa, translated by Tony Kline (2000).
Image information: Medusa by Carvaggio from 1595-1596. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Medusa was considered extremely beautiful and was visited by many suitors. Her hair was praised by those who saw it. Then one day, Neptune violated Medusa in Minerva's temple and caused the destruction of her beauty. Minerva, seeing this violation as a slight to her values, punished Medusa by turning her shiny, thick locks into writhing snakes. Instead of inspiring admiration, she now terrified others, paralyzing her foes as stone when they looked into her eyes.
Perseus did not wish this for his fate. He wanted to gain honor through his fight with Medusa, not a place in the afterlife.
Don't look.... Don't look... Don't look...
Perseus repeated this mantra as he walked into the place of the Gorgons, preparing himself for the upcoming fight.
Perseus used his shield to look around corners and pillars to avoid accidentally catching the stone-cold gaze of Medusa.
When he saw Medusa and her snakes in a deep sleep, he knew that his fate was sealed with luck and fortune. He crept to her resting place and with all of his might, struck her neck with his sword, severing her head. From her spurting blood, two of her children were born - the winged horse Pegasus and the warrior Chrysaor. Taking her head as a prize and a weapon, he fled the place before Medusa's sisters awoke to find their sister dead at his sword.
As he traveled from the place of the Gorgons, he came upon Ethiopia. He noticed a fair maiden chained to a black rock before the raging sea. A fire started within him, and he was unable to turn away from her plight. He directed his beating wings towards the maiden, so he could inquire about her situation. Perseus was prepared to risk his life to save her and if fate would have it, marry her.
Author's Note:
I decided not to stray too far from the original story told in Ovid's Metamorphoses. However, in the original, the order of events is reversed. Perseus first saves Andromeda, the fair maiden chained to a rock. Then, he tells the tale of how he severed the head of Medusa and of her origins as a Gorgon at a feast after he defeats the sea monster for Andromeda.
Bibliography: Ovid's Metamorphoses: Perseus and Medusa, translated by Tony Kline (2000).
Image information: Medusa by Carvaggio from 1595-1596. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Hi Karissa,
ReplyDeleteI liked how you reversed the layout of the story. It not only changes the timeline, but also the character's reactions to the timeline. However, the reactions were similar even though the order of events were reversed. Your retelling of the story had great amounts of details! It was exciting to read, and I could perfectly visualize the setting. Great story!
Hey Karissa!
ReplyDeleteI was very impressed in the tone that you told this story – to me, it seemed to be very “matter-of-fact” with few deviations from the purpose of the story. Things that I would recommend doing next time would maybe include a tad bit more detail, maybe into why Perseus was coming to the temple, why he wanted to go in and kill Medusa – just minor backstory to make the setting seem more real to the reader. This story was short and to the point, which is honestly hard for me to do, so people who can be succinct and still get the point across are true writers. However, there is some room for growth within the story telling – moving from a one-dimensional process to maybe switching back and forth with viewpoint. All of these are great ways for a story to be told. Keep it up!
Hey Karissa!
ReplyDeleteIn some ways, this seems to be mostly a summary, but the reversal of the events in the timeline does change things up a bit! I liked the way you gave Medusa's backstory; the straightforwardness of the writing incites the reader to feel pity for Medusa's fate, as it wasn't her own sins that brought this fate on her. Not all stories have happy endings, but I think the reversal of events, ending it with Perseus's hopefulness about Andromeda rather than Medusa's death, helps this one feel a little more happy at the end!
Hi Karissa! I love the personality you gave Perseus in this story. He seems very focused and attentive. It makes the story easy to follow because I knew exactly what was happening and I could picture all of the visuals easily. You put a lot of emphasis on his emotions and feelings, which really shows an empathetic side of his character. This was fun to read! Great job!
ReplyDelete