The snake and the dove

"Love takes courage."
After the incident in Athena's temple, several people told her as much, failing to understand that a man forcing himself on a woman was not love, and it most likely didn't take courage. She heard it enough to hate it, and decades of effort banished the words to the back of her mind.
Now, though, they come back with a different meaning, ten times stronger.
"Love takes courage."
Maybe it does, after all.

(In which Medusa gets and unwanted guest.)