Topic Brainstorm
Option 1: There were six children born to Kronos and Rhea—Hades, Poseidon, Zeus, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia. Most everyone concentrates on Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Hera, Demeter, and especially Hestia are forgotten a lot of the time. I could tell the story of the first female goddesses; one who was married to a god who would never be faithful, one who lost her daughter to another god, and the firstborn who was overlooked by most everyone—and lost her seat on Mount Olympus to Dionysus.
Information about Zeus' Mortal Children
Option 2: In the popular movie Clash of the Titans, there are several scenes that fell flat for me. The first is where Zeus disguises himself as Danae’s husband and sleeps with her (which is rape). Danae’s real husband (who had offended Zeus,) catches them. He imprisons Danae and her child, Perseus in a coffin and throws them into the sea. Perseus knows this, but nothing about his interactions with Zeus convey any feelings about it whatsoever. The way Clash portrayed Medusa is also interesting to me. Io, a character who dies just to enrage Perseus, talks about why Medusa was turned into a Gorgon and about why no woman can enter her home--“She would never harm a woman.” However, nothing comes of that. Perseus just enters and kills her anyway. There is no thought given to how Medusa must have felt about men entering her home to harm her, going to defend herself, and being deemed a monster. (Although there are sources that say the head of Medusa represented safe places for women.) The third is the ending scene, when Zeus brings Io back for Perseus. It would have been more interesting if Zeus had brought back Perseus’ family, who were killed by Hades.
Option 3: I could also look at the women of King Arthur’s Court. Igraine, Morgana, and Guinevere. They are often overlooked when talking about the Once and Future King, despite having a lot of influence in the way King Arthur’s story played out. Igraine was the mother of Arthur, and some sources say Arthur was conceived by rape (Uther pretended to be her husband). Morgana was Arthur’s half sister, and she was said to be a very powerful witch who used her powers for healing. However, in recent adaptations, she has been turned into a villain. Guinevere was Arthur’s wife, but she did not love him. She loved Lancelot, one of Arthur’s knights. I could tell the women’s stories rather than Arthur’s story.
Option 4: I could tell the story of some of the women in the Iliad.
Helen, who is taken by Paris to Troy, which starts a war. Helen is deemed the “face
that launched a thousand ships”. Andromache, who was the wife of Hector and became
a concubine after he died, and her son was murdered. She bore another three
sons to the man who owned her. Briseis, a cousin of Hector’s, who was captured and given to Achilles. Agamemnon and Achilles fought over her. Everyone views the Iliad as the story of Troy. When asked about the Iliad, people will mention Achilles and Odysseus, maybe Agamemnon. Helen is usually an after thought and is usually deemed the reason the war started. However, the women were there too, and it is important that that is remembered.
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