Lore
Wren
Author
Worklark Publishing
“We cannot shelter each other from our souls. What touches me, touches you. Even if we hide from each other, we will be together. It will be the same after I’m gone. Not storm, or gods, or blade can separate us. Only through this darkness can we live in light, Perseus. Your eyes see darkness but my heart sees light.”
Medusa - Chapter 39 MEDROMEDA
The Myths that inspired
Medromeda
There are many versions of the myth of Medusa, but there are a few consistencies in all renditions, Medusa was turned into a monster by Athena and Perseus was the one to slay her. Medromeda intertwines the mythical tales of Medusa, Perseus, and Andromeda. I took my inspiration from the versions below and created a new myth that explores nature vs nurture and gives insight into who Medusa was before she was turned into a monster.
The Myth of Medusa
Medusa was one of three Gorgons, daughters of the sea gods Phorcys and Ceto. Both of Medusa’s sisters were monsters and immortal. Medusa was born mortal and with unsurpassed beauty. The sea god, Poseidon, could not resist the temptation and impregnated Medusa in the temple of Athena. Enraged, Athena transformed Medusa’s hair into a sea of serpents, gave her fangs and talons and turned her into the legendary monster. Her face was so hideous and her gaze so piercing that the mere sight of her could turn men to stone.
The Myth of Perseus
Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danaë. As an infant he and his mother were placed into a crate and cast into the sea by his grandfather who feared that one day the boy would kill him. Perseus grew up on the island of Seriphos. King Polydectes ruled Seriphos and wanted Perseus’s mother, Danae, to be his wife. Perseus was against this marriage. Polydectes tricked Perseus into promising to obtain the head of Medusa. He thought Perseus would die trying, leaving him free to marry Danae.
Perseus received help on his quest to slay Medusa by the god Hermes and the goddess Athena. He was given winged sandals and a sickle by Hermes, a sack known as a kibisis to store the head of Medusa, and the invisibility cap of Hades. Perseus arrived at the home of the Gorgons while they slept. Athena guided Perseus to look at Medusa’s reflection in a shield so as not to be turned to stone by her gaze. He cut off the head of Medusa. From her severed head sprang Pegasus, the winged horse, and Chrysaor, a boar.
When Perseus was on his way home with Medusa’s head, he rescued princess Andromeda. Andromeda’s mother, Cassiopeia, had claimed to be more beautiful than the sea nymphs, so Poseidon had punished her land by flooding it and plaguing it with a sea monster. Andromeda’s father, King Cepheus, was told that the floods would cease if he sacrificed Andromeda to the monster, which he did. Perseus, passing by, saw the princess tied to a rock in the sea and fell in love with her. He turned the sea monster to stone by showing it Medusa’s head and afterward married Andromeda.
When Perseus returned to the Island of Seriphos, he turned Polydectes and his people to stone with Medusa’s head and rescued his mother, Danae. Then he gave the head of Medusa to Athena, who placed it in the center of her shield, to terrify her enemies.
Sculpture - Perseus with the Head of Medusa, by Benvenuto Cellini
located in the Loggia dei Lanzi - Florence, Italy
About Me
Lore Wren, grew up in contrasting worlds. Her childhood was spent following her maverick father on adventures around the world. Her mother kept her and her siblings grounded by spending long summer nights chasing fireflies at her family’s farm in Nebraska. It was here she learned that the simple things in life mattered most.
Growing up observing life on private planes and corn fields gave her a sea of characters and stories. With her father’s risk-taking spirit and her mother’s unyielding love, she explored life searching for what connects us. Her professional career has been spent behind the scenes at an opera company, doing celebrity interviews for a magazine, creating a public sculpture and raising money for the arts and education.
A visit to Pompeii with her daughter on the summer solstice inspired her debut novel. The story of two lovers sealed together in an ashen embrace made her think about something she learned as a Fulbright scholar…the importance of seeing things through another’s eyes.
Current Projects
