Andromeda
The princess of Ethiopia was beginning to think that her mother had offended Helios, rather than Poseidon. She drooped as she stood with her arms wide, squinting into the glare. She tried to straighten her back as the pull on her bound wrists was making the ropes bite. But the heat emanating from the red boulder behind her was almost as intense as the dazzling rays hitting her from above. Her lips were cracking and she felt as though every part of her exposed skin was ablaze. She looked from left to right, hoping someone might bring her water or shade or something to ease her discomfort. But the priests had ordered everyone to stay back.
Andromeda knew the gracious thing to do was to be silent. She knew it would make things less agonizing for her parents if someone could tell them that their daughter had slid away into unconsciousness before her death. Or perhaps they were still there, watching from whatever distance the priests would allow. She could stay mute until her throat swelled and her voice was lost for good. Would that be the dignified thing to do? She felt it was. But that was before she saw the dark shape rippling in the water beneath her feet.
At first she thought her eyes were tricking her because nothing that size could be so close to the land. It could not have swum this far from the old shoreline in so short a time. Sweat dripped into her eyes and the stinging left her blinded for a moment. She waited for her vision to clear and looked again at the water. How deep was it? she wondered. Had this been a valley until Poseidon’s greed took it away? She had lost all sense of place because nothing looked familiar at all. Robbed of the landmarks she knew, she recognized nothing. So perhaps she was imagining things. But again she thought she saw a huge flickering mass and she stifled a scream.
She began praying to a god she hated.
Gorgoneion
Perseus has discovered that his sandals grant him the ability to travel across the sea as well as the land, so he is flying – as much as a human in winged shoes can – back towards Seriphos. One dead shepherd, one dead Titan, time to go home. He doesn’t know the way, of course. He isn’t sure where Seriphos is because he arrived there as a baby and he left there with the help of the gods. I asked from inside the kibisis if he even knows where he is now. He gave no answer so I concluded he does not.
He soars above the water complaining now that the shoes might help him fly but they don’t choose a direction. I already despised him so nothing changes. He scours the skies and the seas one way, and then another. He also – I find out – doesn’t know what he’s looking for because he has never seen Seriphos from above. He claims to be in a great hurry to get back to his homeland and rescue his mother from an unwanted marital entanglement. But she could have married and had three children in the time he wanders fruitlessly.
He is covering an area I am convinced he’s travelled before when I hear a sound. I think it is the voice of a woman but I can’t be sure at first because I only hear a few words and then it is silenced. Even Perseus seems to hear something. He pauses, turning slowly in the air. I hear it again, and this time the noise is louder. This time it is a scream.
Andromeda
Andromeda was not sure if it was her voice she could hear, or that of her mother. And then suddenly it was every voice, male and female, screaming as one. The monster rose from the deep. It was dark and glistening in the devastating light and everyone who saw it was afraid. This beast would surely not be satisfied with a single offering but would consume them all. The panic spread and Andromeda heard the priests trying to convince their reluctant worshippers that the monster was sent by Poseidon and demanded one life and one alone. But behind her she heard a stampede of unbelievers. Were her parents still there? she wondered. Would they stay to watch her taken by the beast?
*
Uncertain in its new environment, the monster swam one way and then another, trying to identify its whereabouts. It raised its huge head briefly and was surprised by what it saw. It had never swum to this part of the sea before, but Poseidon had ordered it to come here and it had obeyed. He had given further instructions but the creature was distracted and disoriented and could not remember exactly what the god had said. If it turned to its right it could swim back out to the ocean depths it recognized. But then, would it be disobeying the king of all the seas?
It raised its head again and saw an unexpected sight. A mortal woman, bound between a pair of tree stumps in front of a large boulder. The monster dropped back beneath the waves. Was this what Poseidon had meant when he described an offering? Was the mortal woman the prize for the lengthy journey the monster had made? It was a paltry reward. Was it an intended insult? Or had the mortals promised Poseidon a better offering and then reneged?
It circled the deeper water, considering.
*
Not every Ethiopian fled upon seeing the mighty beast. Many were determined to appease the gods after the devastating flood, but some felt nothing but defiance. Why should they see their princess eaten when they had already lost so much? It was humiliating. So when they saw the sunlight glittering off the muscular body, they picked up their spears, and moved to defend Andromeda.
Gorgoneion
I take in the whole scene so quickly; it feels like I see every part of it at once. But time is different for me than for you, so let me try to describe it in a way you can understand. Perseus has approached another shore, and I know this because I hear the water lapping against rocks, I hear the weeds moving. There is peace here, as there always is by the sea. Even for those who have come, as Medusa did, to hate it.
But I also sense something else: fear and readiness. It was a woman’s voice I first heard but now it is many voices. Some are expressing fear, some are shouting threats. Some are praying. Others say nothing but I hear them just the same, the way they prepare themselves to act: leather on skin, wood on stone, metal on metal.
There is another sound, and it is one I recognize but do not know. It’s impossible to explain this contradiction, so much so that I can hold onto it only for an instant and then it is gone. I feel something grab at me and I cannot place that either. Is it a memory or a thought, a connection or a burst of pain? Is it warm or cold? I cannot say. I’m not even sure it was there at all, because it disappears completely.
Then there is the familiar sensation of Perseus opening the kibisis and grabbing at my snakes. One of them bites him but it doesn’t stop him from balling his fist around three of them and pulling me out of the bag. The glare is dizzying after the darkness and I blink twice. I am faced by a crowd of mortals but they are not looking up at Perseus, or at me. This is how so many of them are still alive. They are instead looking at the water beneath me. It is a large crowd spread across a wide area: men armed with spears, women holding rocks that they are ready to throw. Two of the mortals are dressed in great finery. At first I mistake them for the leaders of these people, but then I see their headdresses and I realize they are priests. I cannot identify a king or queen; perhaps they are absent.
Perseus is to the side of the shore. Beneath him, in front of the rest of her people is, what? A queen? A sacrifice? She is wearing a diadem, a bracelet: both are gold. But she is tied in front of a large rock and she is screaming. Luckily she is not looking to her right so she doesn’t see me. Then Perseus whirls in the air and now we are facing what the sacrificial offering is facing. Which is a calm sea, marred by only a few ripples.