How I used Greek mythology to tell a modern story in the Sweet Venom series. If you haven’t read that series yet (or at least the first book) there will be spoilers below. But if you have read the book and wondered how I came up with my myth-twisting ideas, read on…
Most of the world believes the Gorgon Medusa to be a hideous, snake-haired monster who turned men to stone with a single gaze. She is universally feared and despised. How, then, could I turn her and her descendants into heroines destined to protect humanity?
The key to twisting mythology to my authorly purposes is using what details are available and looking at them from another perspective.
Another Perspective
There is actually very little specific information about Medusa in the written records of Greek mythology. Conflicting reports claim she was either born a hideous monster or a beautiful maiden turned monstrous by a jealous Athena. She either shared a cave with two sisters or none. She either came from the Western Ocean or from Lybia.
Each of these ambiguities gave me the opportunity to twist her myth into my fictional reality.
Twisting the Myth
I chose to believe that Medusa had been a beautiful maiden and that, rather than be physically transformed into a monster, her transformation was more of reputation. Like a nasty school bully who spreads untrue rumors, Athena used words to make people believe the Gorgons were evil monsters, when they weren’t.
Rather than believe Medusa an only child, I chose to believe she had two sisters who were left to carry on their legacy after her death.
This worked for many reasons. It meant there would be two Gorgons left to tell the true story. It meant that the legacy started with three sisters, just as it continues in this generation with three sisters. And it meant there would be two members of the mythological world who would always be on the triplets’ side no matter what.
Setting the Story
As for setting the story in San Francisco, I chose to believe the myth that said the Gorgons lived in the Western Ocean and, from Ancient Greece, I could logically interpret that to mean the Pacific. I wanted the story to take place somewhere on the same latitude as Greece, for reasons of geological logic. And the biggest city on the west coast that fits the bill is San Francisco.
Plus, San Francisco has a kind of mystical reputation, so all those elements came together to make the perfect setting.
Making Hissstory
Medusa is also reputed to have snakes for hair. Since stakes were tied to her mythology, I didn’t want to dismiss them completely. Instead, I decided that her association with serpents stemmed from venom-filled fangs that, rather than kill with poison could transport monsters back to their home realm.
But none of this explains how I turned an evil monster into a defender of the door between the world of monsters and the world of man. That took a little more creative brainstorming. That’s a process that involves a lot of maybes.
Follow the Maybes
Once I decided that Medusa had been maligned by Athena’s manipulative words, I had to wonder why Athena would have done this in the first place. Myth says she was jealous of Poseidon’s love, but maybe that’s only half the story.
- Maybe the whole situation with Poseidon was set up make Athena jealous, to make her vengeful. That means somebody else wanted Medusa dead, somebody else wanted her out of the way. Why?
- Maybe because the cave she and her sisters guarded wasn’t just a cave.
- Maybe it was a doorway, a portal into another realm.
- Maybe to the place where all the monsters that once used to walk the earth now must live.
- Maybe to and her sisters guarded the door to keep the monsters from running rampant in our world.
From monster to heroine in a snap.
The key to twisting mythology to fit a modern story, is to interpret the details in a new way. Don’t take for granted the interpretations that scholars have decided to endorse. Use it your own way, extrapolate with a series of maybes and what ifs, and make the mythology serve your story.
This article originally appeared in the paperback edition of Sweet Venom.
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