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Cathryn Conroy
Fabulous Soap Opera of a Book: Feminist Retelling of the Greek Myth of Medusa, Perseus, and Andromeda
This is a fabulous soap opera of a book starring gods, goddesses, and a few hapless mortals thrown in the mix. There is love, sex, violence, intrigue, gossip (oh, those gods love to gossip!), and petty infighting—and that is just in the first few chapters.
Written by Natalie Haynes, this is a highly imaginative retelling of several Greek myths told from a decidedly feminist point of view that turns the classic stories upside down, making the women the heroes and the men the villainous monsters.
There are three main stories that eventually intersect with several minor ones just for our entertainment:
Story No. 1: Medusa, a mortal Gorgon (yeah, it's complicated), is raped by the sea god Poseidon in Athene's temple. Athene is furious—at Medusa and seeks to severely punish the girl/Gorgon. Athene turns Medusa's hair into snakes and transforms her eyes so that when Medusa looks at any living creature, it turns to stone. Medusa lives in a cave along a cove by the sea with her two immortal sister Gorgons, Euryale and Sthenno, who love her and care for her and are appalled by what has happened. And then it gets worse. Much, much worse.
Story No. 2: Perseus is a 16-year-old boy whose mother, Danaë, is a mortal and whose father is Zeus. (Another rape.) Danaë's father, Acrisius of Argos, was told long ago that his daughter would have a child who would grow up to kill him, so he sequestered his daughter in a homemade prison to prevent her from ever getting pregnant. Zeus, as a god, was not stopped by a homemade prison. Danaë escapes the wrath of her father by seeking shelter on the isolated island of Seriphos, living with a kind fisherman named Dictys. One day, the king of Seriphos, who is the fisherman's brother, comes to Dictys's home and announces that Danaë must marry the king against her wishes. The king agrees to let Danaë go free if Perseus brings him the head of a Gorgon. So sweet, sheltered Perseus sets off on this nearly impossible quest with Medusa in his sights. Problem No. 1: Perseus has no idea what Gorgon looks like. Problem No. 2: He has no idea where the Gorgons live.
Story No. 3: Andromeda is the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiope, the king and queen of Ethiopia. All are mortals. Cassiope is stunningly beautiful, and in the early days of their marriage Cepheus would spend hours just staring at her. Andromeda is just as beautiful as her mother. Her parents arrange for her to be married to her old uncle, Cepheus's brother, which fills her with anguish and disgust. Meanwhile, Cassiope brags that she is more beautiful than the Nereids, 50 sea nymphs of changeable temper. This enrages them, and they convince Poseidon to punish the royal family, but it is Andromeda who ends up potentially paying with her life. Then—just in time—Perseus stumbles onto the coast of Ethiopia as he is returning home with the head of Medusa.
Humorous in parts, appalling in others, this is a refreshing, albeit somewhat quirky, feminist take on a classical story, told with empathy and understanding for the female characters—perhaps a first in mythology. The women are the ones who are strong, smart, and cunning. The result is that we readers have to rethink who is the hero and who is the monster…and the answer isn't that obvious.