Prologue
788 Words
First and foremost, I want to get my origins out of the way. Now, from what I hear, there are several versions of how I came to be the Gorgon of Greek Mythology. I just want to say, most of them are wrong. The only things they did get right were my previous life as a Priestess and Poseidon. Allow me to clarify exactly what happened to me ages ago in Ancient Greece.
As the Priestess of Athena, I was proud and just. I grew up with her teachings and I did everything right. But even among gods, the mortal lust of man grew all too quickly… Poseidon laid his eyes on me during one of his many meetings with Athena and even tried to seduce me in her temple. I took my morals and devotion as a Priestess very seriously. Even when a God wanted to have his way with me, I refused. Even when he promised me the impossible, I still refused. But it never occurred to me that he had a lust like his brother, Zeus… One night, as I was finishing up on my nightly prayers to Athena, I was attacked from behind… It had begun to rain inside the temple and I knew who was the cause for it. Even as Poseidon violated me against the altar, I continued my struggle to refuse him. Even when Poseidon left me beaten and bruised upon the altar, I still kept my resolve. Athena, however, was enraged. While she could not punish Poseidon for his crime against one of her best Priestesses, she could do what she believed was best for me.
And so… that very same night, she came to me. I hoped for comfort from the Goddess of Wisdom and War, but instead, I had been transformed into a scaly beast with snakes for hair and a gaze that could turn all humans to stone. I thought for so long that this was her punishment toward me for allowing a man to overpower me in her own temple… I thought that to her, I was not devoted enough… I thought for so long about all the ways I could have changed the outcome. I could have defended myself… I could have called out for her… I could have killed myself before ever allowing him to touch me… But even then, it wasn’t enough to contain the misplaced hatred I had for her and all men… When rumors of my existence spread… when soldiers and warriors began to storm my temple in an attempt to assassinate me and take my head… Even when Perseus himself attempted to take my head and avoid my gaze with that reflective shield, I made my escape… I fled my temple and made my climb on the mountainside of Mount Olympus. I knew I would not be permitted passage at the peak… But I could hide within the massive cliffs of the mountain.
So I dug and carved my way into the mountain, hoping to escape the clutches of mortal men. And it worked… From the mountain, I had a vast view of all of Greece and for many ages, I watched as it transformed and evolved into the modern-day. Even when echoes of the Gods rang through the land, it seemed that the people were no longer as devoted as they were long ago. Everything about the Gods and the many legends devoted to them had been passed on through history. But the lust and wrath of men had worsened… I knew if I were to show my face, they would not react so kindly to my appearance… I did have some surprise visitors. Climbers who had a goal to reach the peak of Mount Olympus, but instead, stumbled into my humble cave to become just another lifeless statue. I knew that I would be alone for eternity… Not until Hades himself or the Titans would return to ruin the earth and I would finally have the courage to set myself free from my torment… No one but the snakes on my head has been my companions… And I had all but given up on my devotion to the Goddess who had cursed me to this scaly form… She made no attempt to explain herself to me… and so I have grown to hate her for cursing me into this… This thing… If I could have just one kind soul tell me what I could have done differently… Or at the very least offer me comfort instead of shrieking in horror upon gazing at my form… Perhaps I could have been brave enough to try and walk among man again…But…. Wait…. I hear someone coming… They are close…
- Writer
