As a Greek woman. I would like to give my unfiltered criticism. Guys, poorly displayed man-hate is neither part of feminism nor of literature. In fact, it has no place anywhere and should not be the central theme in a novel that intends to right the wrongs of the past. 1. I cannot, for the life of me, comprehend why the character of Perseus is portrait in such an unflattering downright insulting way. For someone claiming to have studied the classics, it is striking that the fact of Perseus incorporating “flawless heroism” is completely overlooked in this book. Every hero ultimately succumbs to his or her mortal flaw (which is mostly hybris, anger or thirst for power) yet this one has non to begin with. He even gets a happy ending. His hero´s journey is triggered by an outside threat, which endangers the well-being of a beloved person. Yes! Endangers! Don’t get me started on that infuriating chapter where the Gorgoneion downplays the situation, stating that Danae will not come harm, even though she will be bound to the most powerful man imaginable at that time, who has every right, according to ancient societal norms, to force himself on her whenever he pleases. When I read this passage, I genuinely thought Haynes was joking. Imagine this was a girl you knew. Your daughter. Your sister. Would you still trust this man to keep to himself. 2. A morron would have died the moment his foot touched the island of the Gorgons no matter how much help he received from the Gods. By making him a total idiot, you are not just ridiculing the entire concept of heroism, it also raises the question of how intelligent ancient deities must have been when they favour such a failure to begin with. Why would people worship such beings. Apparently Athene, Goddess of wisdom, battle strategy and craftsmanship who doesn’t know what an hour is and behaves like a nap-time deprived toddler. Yes, Gods were faecal and petty but this was overdone. Perseus had no superhuman abilities what so ever, so it is quite sensible that he uses help and trickery to beat his opponent. 3. For some reasons he is the stories main villain even though Poseidon raped Medusa and Athene cursed her. He literary wouldn’t have bothered to do anything and just be a humble fisher the rest of life if he wasn’t forced to kill Medusa. Last but not least, I am sick of people portraying women as victims and men as aggressors. Ovid invented the rape narrative, you went with it, fine by me, (even though the Greeks told the story of a Medusa, a monster at birth) but don’t take away every agency the character has because it is a negative one. Medusa is villain and there is nothing wrong with that. The argument that “Oh well she is never shown to have actually killed someone on screen, so she must be trying to protect people form herself” is a very weak one and shows an actual lack of understanding Greek-mythology. Guess what, neither did the Nemean lion or the Hydra or any other monster. The creatures gain their deadly fame though the hero that killed them, without them they have no story of their own. Unfortunately, of course because sometimes these monsters are human and therefore much more complex. A better take on the story would be having two rounded complex characters, turned against each other by forces mightier than themselves, battling it out until the end and ultimately both of them losing something. Even though Perseus is the winner of the dual, I bet some serious PTSD will be his price when all is set and done. Hell, even give him a sad ending if you like. Medusas curse or something. I don’t know, just add something new. Don’t just retell something from the perspective of plants and rocks and call it a day. Jesus. I’m done for today.
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As a Greek woman. I would like to give my unfiltered criticism.
Guys, poorly displayed man-hate is neither part of feminism nor of literature. In fact, it has no place anywhere and should not be the central theme in a novel that intends to right the wrongs of the past.
1. I cannot, for the life of me, comprehend why the character of Perseus is portrait in such an unflattering downright insulting way. For someone claiming to have studied the classics, it is striking that the fact of Perseus incorporating “flawless heroism” is completely overlooked in this book. Every hero ultimately succumbs to his or her mortal flaw (which is mostly hybris, anger or thirst for power) yet this one has non to begin with. He even gets a happy ending. His hero´s journey is triggered by an outside threat, which endangers the well-being of a beloved person.
Yes! Endangers! Don’t get me started on that infuriating chapter where the Gorgoneion downplays the situation, stating that Danae will not come harm, even though she will be bound to the most powerful man imaginable at that time, who has every right, according to ancient societal norms, to force himself on her whenever he pleases.
When I read this passage, I genuinely thought Haynes was joking. Imagine this was a girl you knew. Your daughter. Your sister. Would you still trust this man to keep to himself.
2. A morron would have died the moment his foot touched the island of the Gorgons no matter how much help he received from the Gods. By making him a total idiot, you are not just ridiculing the entire concept of heroism, it also raises the question of how intelligent ancient deities must have been when they favour such a failure to begin with. Why would people worship such beings. Apparently Athene, Goddess of wisdom, battle strategy and craftsmanship who doesn’t know what an hour is and behaves like a nap-time deprived toddler. Yes, Gods were faecal and petty but this was overdone. Perseus had no superhuman abilities what so ever, so it is quite sensible that he uses help and trickery to beat his opponent.
3. For some reasons he is the stories main villain even though Poseidon raped Medusa and Athene cursed her. He literary wouldn’t have bothered to do anything and just be a humble fisher the rest of life if he wasn’t forced to kill Medusa.
Last but not least, I am sick of people portraying women as victims and men as aggressors. Ovid invented the rape narrative, you went with it, fine by me, (even though the Greeks told the story of a Medusa, a monster at birth) but don’t take away every agency the character has because it is a negative one. Medusa is villain and there is nothing wrong with that.
The argument that “Oh well she is never shown to have actually killed someone on screen, so she must be trying to protect people form herself” is a very weak one and shows an actual lack of understanding Greek-mythology.
Guess what, neither did the Nemean lion or the Hydra or any other monster. The creatures gain their deadly fame though the hero that killed them, without them they have no story of their own. Unfortunately, of course because sometimes these monsters are human and therefore much more complex.
A better take on the story would be having two rounded complex characters, turned against each other by forces mightier than themselves, battling it out until the end and ultimately both of them losing something. Even though Perseus is the winner of the dual, I bet some serious PTSD will be his price when all is set and done. Hell, even give him a sad ending if you like. Medusas curse or something. I don’t know, just add something new. Don’t just retell something from the perspective of plants and rocks and call it a day.
Jesus. I’m done for today.
Please deal with your internalize misogyny, then, write your own books before criticizing these amazing women contributing to the literary world.
@KatyaAndersonPhotography
Go ahead then, be my guest.
Point out to me where I was wrong based on the points I've made