#tharook
Has there ever been a rebelling where Perseus brings back Medusa’s head with Medusa still attached? And also Perseus is a lesbian? And she and Medusa are lesbians together and trounce King Polydectes? There should be.
So the retelling you are looking for seems to be….
A gender-bent Perseus coming back to the court of a homophobic King Polydectes, introducing her date for the dance :Medusa. Petrified* at the though of his adopted daughter coming out by being a lesbian, he then promptly turns to stone. Perseus’s Mother, Danae, is very supporting of the new couple (because, Zeus is into weird shit, and nothing surprises Danae).
*see what i did there ;p
Does that sound like something you would want to read, @tharook?Something like that. Some other plot points have been mentioned in other reblogs (e.g. poly Andromeda, lesbian snakes) and there’s also some cute things I’d like to write in but I’m not sure I should “spoil” them.
That seems rather interesting, although maybe this could help with the snake thing- Perseus starting as a male, and pulling a Tiresias- striking two mating snakes apart and transforming into a woman. Hence the gender bent plot twist, and learning what it is to be a woman, while on his way to kill medusa. However though his/her travel he/she find the treatment males subject woman to, and makes parallels to the treatment medusa endured from Athena and Poseidon. This would soften his “ i need to kill the monster” to “maybe she isn’t that bad, people are crap for assuming i’m weak just cause i’m a woman- and my values are in my looks”. That way Perseus myth can incorporate more Greek mythology and give a deeper character evolution/conflict, while providing social commentary.
At the end you can choose whether Perseus chooses to remain a woman or reverts into a male. Additionally you can choose if Medusa is lifted of the curse placed on her my Athena/ Poseidon, or accepts who she is (finding that w/e idiot that chooses to judge her based on appearance becomes a garden ornament).
i would think introducing Andromeda during his transformation would make for a good questing companion- lets not forget Perseus has to gather godly items: the cap of invisibility from Hades, winged sandals from Hermes, an adamantine sickle from Zeus, and a polished Shield from Athena. I can see some funny conversation with the gods, namely Zeus….”dude, i’m your son- stop trying to bang me”; with Hades “ Thank the gods, something that will make those lecherous old men stop looking at me like a piece of meat”. Hermes might understand Perseus’s situation since his son/daughter Hermaphroditus is kinda in the same situation. As for Athena, well….it is kind of her fault for punishing an innocent since she could not punish her uncle Poseidon.
(sorry for the long post- i hope it helps)Well, while that may be what happened to the Tiresias of legend, that isn’t really how gender and trans-ness work—certainly not in the modern conception. Have a magic sex-change isn’t being “gender bent”*; a (cis) male Perseus would still be male (gender). With a “female” body and with others treating him as female, he’d have more in common with trans men than with trans women.
In a modern retelling of Perseus, I’d favour a positive and “faithful” portrayal of a trans woman, with character evolution and conflict coming from that (and elsewhere, such as with her attitude towards Medusa). That’s not to say there couldn’t be some allusion to Tiresias, perhaps with Hera supporting Perseus’ transitioning and maybe some snakes copulating in the background. Also, I hope I haven’t been unfairly critical here, but what you’re suggesting just isn’t a trans female Perseus. (Also also I’m going with the Poseidon-is-a-colossal-jerk-who-can’t-handle-rejection origin for Medusa.)
*Though who knows, maybe in Tiresias’ case it was.
Rest assured you haven’t been unfairly critical. In fact i am happy that you are critical.
I agree, I stuck more on the classical perception of gender, as a fluid state that can be altered….it’s really complicated-c.f. Anthony Corbeil’s Sexing the Ancient World: Grammatical Gender and Biological Sex in ancient Rome (2015). Usually involving spacial landscape-such as fountains, or gardens to blur the line between the sexes; i did a paper on that,and it was mostly a gigantic botanical euphemism for dick jokes and the hermaphroditic nature of the garden space where everything’s sex is mutable and/or blurred. In other cases snakes and/or gods play a significant role- generally in myth, and grammatical alteration of gender.
I simply thought the fastest way to have Perseus(male gender) become a woman physically, would be to pull a Tiresias-although i concede it would not be the most detailed, nor faithful interpretation of a trans-woman,but would stick to the classical definition of gender and allusions. I do wholeheartedly agree that the classical re-interpretation might fly over the reader’s head- and a modern approach would be sorely needed.
I like your touch of involving a deity to support the transition, and the Poseidon-is-a-colossal-jerk-who-can’t-handle-rejection origin for Medusa, it is my take of the reading of the myth’s several version as well.
What might help in the conception of classical view of transition between the sexes,should you wish it, would be Katrina Cawthorn’s ” Becoming Female: The Male body in Greek tragedy(2013)” pp.121-124.
The male to female transition is seemingly extremely dangerous for heroes, ,and denotes mastery of both sexes if done correctly (Tiresias, Zeus, and Dionysus seems to be the only ones that succeed)- it actually “kills” Heracles (burned on a pyre in female’s clothes dowsed in the poisonous Lernian hydra’s blood), and Pentheus (torn to shreds-while wearing a dress).
In the case of female to male it seems deceptively easy as Tiresias just got lucky(after seven years, and having given birth to kids and a family) and reverse engineers his sex change by finding another set of mating snakes.As for the other example they are nymphs -therefore somewhat above the realm of mortal such as the nymph kaenis-becoming kaenus to avoid the sexual advances of …big surprise …Poseidon!
From what you have said ,and i understood,it seems you wish your version of Perseus would be a transitioning-into-a-female lesbian. Is that a correct assumption?
While it is entirely in your power to do as you wish in the retelling, i would personally think some classical elements would help enrich the story,but i think ultimately the psychology of Perseus before,during and after the transition, as well as the social interaction would remain universal to this tale-with or without the classical elements.
Should you not like the magical-tiresias-snake-transition motif, perhaps a more realistic surgical transition at the hands of Asklepios (god of medicine) might be more in your preferences?
In one case (magical) you would have misfortune, adaptability, self-discovery, and acceptance. In the other (surgical) you would have psychological and physical dissonance, and a subsequent resolution by transition. I find that the magical transformation would be easier to write about as it inscribes itself well as a sub-story to the main medusa quest., and could drive the plot along.
Compared to the surgical transformation that would be raising more issues in narrative: such as faithfully describing the psychological processes,physical transformation, and the reason why Perseus would undergo transition in the middle of a quest; while still keeping focus on the main narrative of the medusa quest might be a rather daunting task to accomplish as a writer.
Hence my stance on the classical gender where it’s more: “gender-is-fluid and-easily-blurred-beware-of-magical-snakes-in gardens”. While, i concede, not as faithfully nor as modernly perceived would help ease the writing process and keep focus on the main narrative. Perhaps a “something is off/wrong with Perseus himself but he cant quite figure it out” initially and he discovers with the blessing in disguise that he is more comfortable being a she in the end. Even though it is a rather simplistic view of transitioning gender, the story could be the psychological transitioning,after the physical transition-flipping the modern perspective out of order while still addressing it in a heroic self-discovery.
I hope I was helpful, and i welcome any criticism of the suggestion offered. I would very much like to read the final product,or draft when you have completed it.
p.s. sorry, my post are getting even longer…
Has there ever been a rebelling where Perseus brings back Medusa’s head with Medusa still attached? And also Perseus is a lesbian? And she and Medusa are lesbians together and trounce King Polydectes? There should be.
So the retelling you are looking for seems to be….
A gender-bent Perseus coming back to the court of a homophobic King Polydectes, introducing her date for the dance :Medusa. Petrified* at the though of his adopted daughter coming out by being a lesbian, he then promptly turns to stone. Perseus’s Mother, Danae, is very supporting of the new couple (because, Zeus is into weird shit, and nothing surprises Danae).
*see what i did there ;p
Does that sound like something you would want to read, @tharook?Something like that. Some other plot points have been mentioned in other reblogs (e.g. poly Andromeda, lesbian snakes) and there’s also some cute things I’d like to write in but I’m not sure I should “spoil” them.
That seems rather interesting, although maybe this could help with the snake thing- Perseus starting as a male, and pulling a Tiresias- striking two mating snakes apart and transforming into a woman. Hence the gender bent plot twist, and learning what it is to be a woman, while on his way to kill medusa. However though his/her travel he/she find the treatment males subject woman to, and makes parallels to the treatment medusa endured from Athena and Poseidon. This would soften his “ i need to kill the monster” to “maybe she isn’t that bad, people are crap for assuming i’m weak just cause i’m a woman- and my values are in my looks”. That way Perseus myth can incorporate more Greek mythology and give a deeper character evolution/conflict, while providing social commentary.
At the end you can choose whether Perseus chooses to remain a woman or reverts into a male. Additionally you can choose if Medusa is lifted of the curse placed on her my Athena/ Poseidon, or accepts who she is (finding that w/e idiot that chooses to judge her based on appearance becomes a garden ornament).
i would think introducing Andromeda during his transformation would make for a good questing companion- lets not forget Perseus has to gather godly items: the cap of invisibility from Hades, winged sandals from Hermes, an adamantine sickle from Zeus, and a polished Shield from Athena. I can see some funny conversation with the gods, namely Zeus….”dude, i’m your son- stop trying to bang me”; with Hades “ Thank the gods, something that will make those lecherous old men stop looking at me like a piece of meat”. Hermes might understand Perseus’s situation since his son/daughter Hermaphroditus is kinda in the same situation. As for Athena, well….it is kind of her fault for punishing an innocent since she could not punish her uncle Poseidon.
(sorry for the long post- i hope it helps)
