A to Z Challenge: M is for Medusa

I know what you're thinking--you know who Medusa is. How could you not know? She's the lady with the snake hair who slew people with her gaze. As a child, Medusa fascinated me. I don't even remember the name of the show, but I remember the scene where Perseus walks into the cave where Medusa lurks and uses his mirror shield to defeat her. That scene has stuck with me for my entire life. I used its inspiration in my book, DemonSpark, and came up with my own idea of who Medusa was. (DemonSpark is still trying to find a home, so as of yet, it's still unpublished.)

In my book, the heroes, Lily and Ian, have entered an ancient pyramid in a world called the Everlands, a place where all myths co-exist. They have to find the ancient prophet Tiresias' eye, which in actuality is a seer stone, to defeat an evil demon-witch. They've fought the bad guys and have found a chamber with Medusa's corpse...

A wooden door with the eye’s image sat under an alcove. When they reached it, they stopped.
“The seer stone is in here?” Lily asked.
“Better be.” Ian grabbed the handle. Hinges squealed as he opened it. They entered a room only a little larger than her bedroom back home. Actual sunlight shone from a hole in the ceiling. It illuminated a stone coffin. A gentle calmness clung to the bare sandstone walls and dirt floor, as if they’d entered a sacred chapel.
With quiet footsteps, they crossed the room. She peered at the coffin, surprised to see it uncovered and open to the air. A woman slept inside.
She had flawless fair skin, pink cheeks, and a shapely body covered by sparkling gossamer fabric. A strip of cloth had been wrapped around the woman’s eyes, creating a blindfold.
Lily took another step, only then noticing that her shimmering white hair was actually made up of snakes fanning from the woman’s head.
“She’s . . . not hideous. Are you sure this is Medusa?” she asked Ian.
“Who else could it be?”
“I thought she was supposed to be repulsive. And her head is attached.”
“There are a lot of stories out there, not all of them true. Ovid called her ravishing, fair. I’ve heard Perseus fell in love with her and couldn’t kill her. He killed one of her Gorgon sisters instead. Stheno, I think was her name. I don’t know. I guess the myths aren’t always true.”

In researching for my book, I learned that Medusa was the only mortal Gorgon. She had two sisters, Stheno and Eurayle. Wikipedia has this to say about the three sisters...

Stheno (Greek: Σθεννώ, English translation: "forceful"), in Greek mythology, was the eldest of the Gorgons, vicious female monsters with brass hands, sharp fangs and "hair" made of living venomous snakes. The daughter of Phorcys and Ceto, she was born in the caverns beneath Mount Olympus. She and her sister Euryale were both immortal, and the third sister, Medusa, was mortal.

Of the three Gorgons, she was known to be the most independent and ferocious, having killed more men than both of her sisters combined. In Greek mythology, she was transformed into a Gorgon because of standing with her sister Medusa, who was either raped or seduced by the sea god Poseidon in the Temple of Athena. Athena was furious with Medusa. As a punishment, Medusa was changed into a terrible monster, along with her sisters Stheno and Euryale. Stheno tends to be depicted as a thin gorgon monster with red snakes curling around her head instead of hair.

I've always thought it was a neat concept to reintroduce characters who we have preconceived notions of, and then to undo those ideas we thought were true. It worked in the Twilight Series. Even if you're not a fan, there are plenty of people out there who feel differently.

As always, please follow me! Also, I have a brand new website that I'm really thrilled about. www.TamaraGrantham.com. And if you haven't read my novella yet--don't miss out. Raze is only $2.99 on Amazon. You would be doing me an amazing favor if you read and download--I'm a brand new author and need all the support I can get.