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Author
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Comment
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aka Greensleeves
Registered User
(12/28/05 12:17 pm)
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Need help brainstorming: Greek mythology
Hello, all. I've been working with this for several months now, and I'm coming up at loose ends.
I am working on an young adult anthology based on Greek myths, tentatively
titled Ill-Fated. I've got about half the stories written
or at least settled in my mind, but I'm still looking for a few
more to work with. My agent has sent a proposal out already, hence
the urgency.
I'm looking for human girls (or young women) from Greek mythology or legend, in whose lives the gods meddle. The effects of this interference will be the thrust of each story. So, someone like Cassandra, who was cursed by Apollo with the gift of prophecy that no one would believe. Or Psyche, who had the ultimate interfering mother-in-law.
My agent describes the project as "women at the periphery of myth, or whose points of view are not often heard."
Suggestions?
Thanks ever so!
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Valusa
Zagnol
Registered User
(12/28/05 12:32 pm)
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Re: Need help brainstorming: Greek mythology
Greensleeves,
On the theme of "women at the periphery of myth, or whose points of view are not often heard", I was attracted to doing a study of Circe--why does she turn men into pigs, what's her story? Actually, my point of departure was Yukionna (see the thread on "Japanese tale: wife's secret"), but I used that as a frame upon which to stretch a telling of Circe from her point of view.
This may be completely disconnected from your interest, however, as it doesn't have much grounding in the Greek story: By Homer, she's a witch/goddess, daughter of Apollo and Perse (daughter of Poseidon?). She's not a mortal messed up by the gods, but closer akin to the latter herself. But she strikes me as a metaphor for a type of woman, one that wants a story of her own.
Steve/Stacey
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Veronica Schanoes
Registered User
(12/28/05 3:08 pm)
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women in myth
Oh, nice and lovely! I'd go for Iphigenia, whose father, Agammemnon actually sacrificed her in order to appease the gods before setting sail for Troy, and her mother, Clytemnestra, partially in revenge, and partially because she had taken a lover, killed him when he returned.
Medusa is always nice--poor girl never caught a break.
There's also poor Leda as well, raped by a swan of all things, and Danae, mother of Perseus, who was walled up a la Rapunzel by her father because of the prophecy that her son would be stronger than he, but who was visited by Zeus in a shower of gold--and I think then she and the baby were locked in a chest and tossed into the ocean.
I've always felt terrible for Niobe (not to mention her daughters and sons), who saw all her children killed as punishment for hubris in comparing herself to Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis. To say nothing Leto herself, who was driven, pregnant with twins, by Hera to wander until finally finding shelter on a wandering island.
And who was Dionysus's mother, who was killed when she demanded to see her lover, Zeus, in his full Olympian glory? I forget her name.
I've also always felt bad for Arachne, who challenged Athena to a weaving competition, and was turned into a spider not because her weaving wasn't good enough to be compared with Athena's, but because Athena was such a bad sport that she couldn't take a joke about herself.
And King Midas's daughter, who was turned into gold just to teach her father a lesson.
And what about Metaneira, the queen who took in Demeter in her guise as an old nurse when she was wandering the earth in mourning for Persephone, but chastised by Dem. when she pulled her son out of the fire into which Dem. had placed him to born away his mortality?
Lots of people have done Penelope; I'm kind of bored with her at this point, but what about Briseis, the slave-girl whose appropriation by Agammemnon caused the spat between Achilles and Ag. that is the plot of the Iliad? Or Hecuba, who saw all her sons killed during the Trojan war, or Andromache, Hector's wife? There're always the Amazon queens too, Hippolyta and Penthesilea.
And also, Ariadne, abandoned by Jason after she helped him defeat the minotaur and I think taken up by Dionysus. Speaking again of Dionysus, there's the queen and her daughters who ended up tearing her own son to pieces when he dared to interrupt the women-only festivities of Dionysus--how did she feel about that later, I wonder?
And of course, Jocasta and Antigone, poor things, to say nothing of Electra.
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cammykitty
Registered User
(12/28/05 3:46 pm)
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Re: women in myth
Oh my. Veronica beat me to the ones I was thinking of. I second Medusa - most don't know that she was being punished for her beauty. A lot of the girls/women were raped by Zeus, so I guess it depends on how old your YA audience is if you want to touch those stories or not. And there's Io who was turned into a cow (right?) and watched by Argus because Hera got jealous. And I know she's a goddess so outside your scope, but what's up with Hera? If she were a modern woman, Zeus would have behaved a bit differently perhaps? Instead she always punished women for what was his fault. Daphne? Echo? It wasn't really a great time to be a mythical human female. Did the Sirens have a human origin?
Edited by: cammykitty at: 12/28/05 3:48 pm
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princessterribel
Registered User
(12/28/05 3:51 pm)
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Re: women in myth
Pygmalion?
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Chris Peltier
Registered User
(12/28/05 4:07 pm)
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Re: women in myth
I always felt bad for Dido - she was doing well, ruling her city, until Aeneas came along and broke her heart.
What about Medea? She betrays her father in order to help Jason win the golden fleece, kills and cuts up her brother in order to help them escape, and after she bears him two sons, he leaves her for the daughter of Creon, king of Corinth. Jason always struck me as opportunistic, willing to let Medea destroy her life and her family's, to suit his own plans.
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Rosemary Lake
Registered User
(12/28/05 4:21 pm)
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Philomela, poems
For some really obscure ones (and suggested takes :) , if you had time, you could look through some 19th Cen poets for poems with obscure female names as titles. Browning and people like that often wrote little sidelight poems about characters that were not central to a myth.
Here's one, Philomela.
www.bartleby.com/65/ph/Philomel.html
(flm´l, prk´n) (KEY) , in Greek mythology, daughters of King Pandion of Attica. Procne married Tereus, king of Thrace, and bore him a son, Itys (or Itylus). Tereus later seduced Philomela and cut out her tongue to silence her. Philomela embroidered the story into some cloth, which she sent to her sister. In revenge, Procne murdered Itys and served up his flesh to her husband. Tereus pursued and tried to kill the sisters, but the gods changed them all into birds. Philomela became a swallow, Procne a nightingale, and Tereus a hoopoe. Itys was revived and became a goldfinch.
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Veronica Schanoes
Registered User
(12/28/05 5:15 pm)
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Philomela!
Ah, I knew I forgot Philomela--she was on the tip of my tongue (eugggh, no pun intended). Although according to my Ovid, Tereus did not "seduce" her--he raped her. Also Medusa was being punished not just for her beauty, but because Poseidon raped her in Athena's temple.
Those ancient Greeks. A laugh a minute when it comes to women's rights. Really, what a lousy time to be female. Even the goddesses got raped.
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Rosemary Lake
Registered User
(12/29/05 9:19 am)
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yes
Yes, an awful time. The Bartleby version sounds like a soap opera. I kind of liked the gods getting tired of it and turning them all into birds. (g,d,r) :-)
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cammykitty
Registered User
(12/29/05 9:22 am)
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Re: Rape
Yeah, that rape also bothers me. It shows up in a lot of the Scottish/Celtic Ballads too. Tam Lin raped his "true love" who saves him from faerie. In the Celtic ballads, I think it's a two fold thing going on. 1. Women clearly didn't have rights - Mill of Tifty/Andrew Lammie is based on a true story. The brother did really kill his sister for preferring the Lord of Fyvie's trumpeter to the Lord of Fyvie. 2. The songs explore romance/humor/drama/whatever of premarital sex, but heavens, a nice girl wouldn't do that. So... let's preserve her moral fiber and have her raped instead.
In the Greek myths, I couldn't tell you. I know in Hmong culture, most of the tribes if not all have a supernatural origin story, and a lot of Zeus's rapes seem to bring forth heroes, so I'm wondering if it isn't part of an origin tale. I don't know enough about Greek myth and culture to pose this as any more than a thought though.
Way disturbing, and it's going to make your book a little difficult. Good luck!
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aka Greensleeves
Registered User
(12/29/05 3:54 pm)
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Re: Rape
Thank you all so much! And, hearteningly, only one mention of a story I've already written. Interesting....
Rosemary--splendid idea! I must admit I've been poring over Bullfinch and I'm ready to claw my eyes out with boredom. Give me Aeschylus and Euripides any day!
Cammy--yes, ahem. Very difficult. Go ahead and twist that knife
a little deeper, why don't you?
I have to admit, the sexual hijinks of the gods are of less interest to me than the ways in which the gods use mortals as pawns in their own ambition and/or vengeance. That may be a clearer statement of my theme (it certainly typifies the pieces I've written thus far).
***
This might also be a good place to list Greek retellings. While I haven't yet read any novel based in Greek mythology that I've just loved (and how sad is that?), I was impressed with Clemence McClaren's first two books: WAITING FOR ODYSSEUS and BEHIND THE WALLS OF TROY. I think she has a more recent volume out, but I haven't picked it up yet.
Stephanie Spinner has a book about Atalanta called QUIVER (haven't read it)
Doris Orgel has a version of Psyche called THE PRINCESS AND THE GOD (? Somehow that sounds wrong).
Donna Jo Napoli's THE GREAT GOD PAN tells the story of Iphigenia from the POV of Pan.
Others to add?
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Rosemary Lake
Registered User
(12/29/05 5:25 pm)
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Lewis
Speaking of books from an odd pv, there's Lewis's TILL WE HAVE FACES from the pv of the 'jealous' sister of Psyche.
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Heidi Anne Heiner
ezOP
(12/29/05 11:18 pm)
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Re: Lewis
Here's a few to add to the list:
Ithaka
by Adele Geras
Book Description
Many years have passed since the end of the Trojan War, and Penelope is still waiting for her husband, Odysseus, to return home. The city of Ithaka is overrun with uncouth suitors from the surrounding islands who are vying to win Penelope's hand in marriage, thereby gaining control of the land. When a naked, half-drowned man washes up on the beach, everything changes. . . .
Told through the eyes of Klymene, a young girl who is like a daughter to Penelope--and who longs for more than friendship from the young prince Telemachus--Ithaka captures the quiet strength and patience of a woman's enduring love for her husband and the ensuing chaos that threatens all as Penelope is pressured to remarry.
Troy
by Adèle Geras
Achilles: A Novel by Elizabeth Cook
Waiting for Odysseus
by Clemence McLaren
The Firebrand
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
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Heather
KT
Registered User
(12/29/05 11:58 pm)
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Re: retellings
I really liked Stephanie Spinner's _Quiver_ (about Atalanta), and her book _Quicksilver_ (about Hermes) was published last spring.
Also, these may be for younger readers, but I'd recommend Caroline Cooney's _Goddess of Time_ , Patrice Kindl's _Lost in the Labyrinth_, and Rick Riordan's _The Lightning Thief_.
I haven't read the Mary Renault books about Theseus recently (_The King Must Die_ & _Bull from the Sea_ ), but remember that they sent me in search of more mythology!
Heather
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Veronica Schanoes
Registered User
(12/30/05 11:40 am)
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Re: retellings
I adore Rita Dove's Mother Love,her sonnets about Persephone and Demeter, and Lee's White as Snow, which combines Snow White with Persephone and Demeter. There's been a whole lot of stuff on Penelope, recently, like Jane Rawling's Penelopeia and Atwood's Penelopeiad (I haven't read the latter), which was published along with Jeannette Winterson's book on Hercules and Atlas, whose title I can't recall. Angela Carter works with Leda and the Swan in The Magic Toyshop. I've got a bunch more on my dissertation reading list, I think. I'll check and then report back. Oh, Kelly Link's short story "Flying Lessons" in Stranger Things Happen.
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evil little pixie
Registered User
(12/30/05 11:38 pm)
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Re: retellings
Donna Jo Napoli's _Sirena_ draws on some of the lesser-known characters and elements from the Odyssey. Bruce Covil uses several Greek myths in _Juliet Dove, Queen of Love_. Lynne Reid Banks wrote _Adventures of King Midas_ and I thought she did a retelling of the Odyssey as well, but I can't find it on Amazon so maybe I'm wrong. Good luck!
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janeyolen
Registered User
(1/1/06 5:38 am)
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Me, too
With Bob Harris, I have published (all HarperCollins and HarperCollins UK) four Young Heroes novels, about the adolescence of Greek heroes: ODYSSEUS IN THE SERPENT MAZE, ATALANTA AND THE ARCADIAN BEAST, HIPPOLYTA AND THE CURSE OF THE AMAZONS,
JASON AND THE GORGON’S BLOOD.
Jane
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Clouded
memory
Registered User
(1/3/06 1:30 am)
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Re: Me, too
P.C Cast also does a lot of stories based on greek mythology. I've only read [i]Goddess by Mistake[/i] and [i]Goddess of the Sea[/i] but I hear [i]Goddess of Spring[/i] might be her best one.
Edited by: Clouded memory at: 1/3/06 1:31 am
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AliceCEB
Registered User
(1/3/06 7:25 am)
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Re: Me, too
Another woman from myth: Alcyone of Ceyx and Alcyone who, because of her undying love for her husband, was transformed into a bird and gave us the Halcyon days (I briefly recount the myth on the post about Morpheus). For a YA retelling, she has the added benefit of not having been raped :D . Alcyone, however is the Latin name--I don't know the Greek version (or whether there is one).
Best,
Alice
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Rosemary Lake
Registered User
(1/4/06 4:46 pm)
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anthology
[[ For a YA retelling, she has the added benefit of not having been raped. ]]
Now, THERE's a theme for an anthology....
g,d,r
R.
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aka Greensleeves
Registered User
(1/4/06 11:35 pm)
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Re: anthology
Thanks, Rosemary. That made my night. I'll be sending that suggestion off to my agent immediately....
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