Watching Athena tremble at the realization that her entire sense of purpose had been a clever ruse that even she could not comprehend... Pity had never been in my vocabulary but I felt it then. And suddenly, the weight I had been carrying since that terrible night lifted off my shoulders. And with it, a sense of satisfaction warmed itself within me.
...
On the train-ride back home, I thought of Arachne. Poor, poor Arachne. Arrogant as she may have been, she did not deserve her fate, did not deserve my cruel thoughts of her. She had the nerve to spit in the eye of a goddess. She had the audacity to reveal the true, loathsome nature of those that reigned above us. She had the courage to do what I couldn't bring myself to. I had groveled at my goddess' feet, was told to be ashamed of myself. I endured my punishment because I was made to believe it was all that defined me. Arachne was the survivor I had longed to be of trauma that taught me to be a victim.
...
The gods think they are perfect but they are wrong. They think they tower over the mortals but all they do is stumble and falter, amuse themselves in pettiness to distract themselves from the truth. They are weak.
In their desire to make themselves feel superior, they made us monsters hide in the shadows, find refuge in the darkness. They told us to hate ourselves, to be ashamed of what we are. But in our loneliness, we grew strong. While the gods try to hide their faults, we embrace ours. We revel in our monstrosity, in our ugliness, in our brutishness, in how imperfect we are.
The gods fear us because they know we do not need them to survive.
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The Woman With Snakes in Her Hair
FantasyHighest Rating #14 in MEDUSA A modern Medusa revisits her tragic origin story. Disguised as a blind woman, Medusa navigates her way through modern society where the gods and other mythological figures roam about amongst their mortal playthings. Sti...
