Medusa

(Contains sexual and physical violence)

There they go again, squirming and hissing on my pillow. I feel their hot breath on my neck and their tongues flicking against my skin. I don’t dare turn over on my back for fear of crushing them. Every time I try to fall asleep, they crawl across my skin and my stomach churns.

Do you know what it’s like to live with snakes on your head instead of hair? No, I don’t suppose you would. I don’t think anyone would. I’m the only one cursed by that jealous goddess who thinks I asked to be violated by a lecherous god who chases everything on two legs, male or female. Everyone calls her the goddess of wisdom and bows down before her in awed whispers. I used to be one of her priestesses, small and innocent with golden hair cascading down my back.

They told me, “You’re such a beauty, child. When you come of age, you’ll have men beating down your door.”I didn’t want men beating down my door. I wanted to live a life of serene purity, serving in the temple amidst clouds of incense and the rough sensation of parchment scrolls in my hand as I prayed to all the gods. My own name, even before I became a monster, meant “protectress.”

My sisters are hideous and hide away in shame. People call them Gorgons, though it’s no fault of their own. They were jealous of me too. Now they gloat over the misery I feel and my own shame at the loss of my virginity.“You thought you were better than us,” they hiss like the snakes. “What did you do to seduce the great Poseidon and provoke the wrath of Athena?”

“Nothing!” I was minding my own business one sunny day by the sea, seeking salt for Athen’s spells. The sand felt warm beneath my bare feet and a fresh sea breeze filled the air. Gulls wheeled overhead, screeching and diving for fish. I scooped sea water into my sieve and shook it out again, leaving salt crystals behind.

Then the sky grew dark and ominous clouds rolled over the sun. The waves began to roil and crash closer to the shore. I should have fled, but I needed more salt. Suddenly he was there with his trident, long hair dripping and mighty chest heaving with laughter.

“So! Look what I have found. A tender young virgin, ripe for the plucking.” He strode towards me and I backed away, my stomach cold with dread, but found myself trapped between two boulders. He smelled my fear and seized my long hair. I sank to the sand, screaming, and in that instant he was on me, tearing at my robe, roaring with triumph. His weight nearly crushed me as he invaded my tender flesh. I screamed and writhed in pain, but he covered my mouth.

“Silence! Don’t fight me or you’ll make it worse.”

It must have been less than a moment but I lived a lifetime of terror. When he was done, he threw me onto the sand and sank beneath the waves. Soon the clouds parted and the sun shone again, but everything had changed forever. I lay weeping and throbbing with raw pain. Time passed and at last I struggled to my feet. I knew I would have to face the wrath of Athena.

I found her in the temple, chanting and stirring the cauldron of knowledge. The steamy aroma of spices and magic potions made me feel faint. She turned and saw me hesitating in the doorway.

“Where have you been? I needed that salt ages ago!”

“He took me. I swear it was not my fault!”

She crossed to me in one step and slapped my face. “Who? Who took you?”

“Poseidon.”

Her brows furrowed and her grey eyes shot sparks at me. “What did you do to draw his attention, you little whore?”

“Nothing! I swear, I was minding my own business gathering this salt.”

“Impossible. You must have revealed too much flesh or led him on with your smooth voice.”

Tears fell down my cheeks and I shook my head.

Athena drew herself up to her full height and taunted me. “They say you’re the most beautiful woman in all of Greece.” She snorted with laughter. “Not anymore.”

I felt a blow across my shoulders and fell to the stone floor. Everything went black, and when I awoke, I felt something cold crawling on my skin.

Snakes. I screamed and tore at them but they stayed firmly attached to my head. The goddess stood over me and kicked me back to the floor.

“From now on, you shall be called Medusa and all men shall dread you. Your gaze will turn them to stone. You will never know the heat of passion or love’s tender kiss.”

Athena taunts me every day now. “You brought this upon yourself. You must have drawn the god’s desire.”

“No! I swear I am innocent.”

Why must I be blamed for this hideous crime? The gods are quick to inflict punishment on us mortals whether we deserve it or not. What lesson is to be learned? They fight their own battles on Olympus yet hold us to standards of perfection.

When he is full of lust, Zeus becomes a bull and descends to violate women as Poseidon did to me. Like Athena, Hera, his wife, rages with jealousy, but he laughs in her face. From time to time he gazes down upon us mere mortals and grants our wishes.

Hercules, his mighty son by Alcemene, a mortal woman, seeks to keeps the world safe from evil. Among many deeds he has been set to perform is to slay the Nemean Lion and the nine-headed Hydra. He killed the seven-headed Hydra and captured the Golden Hind of Artemis. Other deeds were killing the Cretan bull and liberating poor Prometheus from an eagle pecking at his liver. The most risky task was killing Ceberus, the three-headed dog of the Underworld. Hercules has killed many mortals and monsters, yet he is lauded as a hero.

I will never be anyone’s beloved hero. I am cursed and hated. I never asked to become a monster. Turn your head and do not gaze upon my face. If the gods are merciful, I shall sleep in death’s embrace, the only peace I shall ever know.