At this point, most people know that Medusa is my homegirl. I have two different representations of her on my altar. I make stickers featuring her for my Etsy store. I’m what you might call, a fan. And all of this and more was why I was thrilled to be able to read an online galley of the new book, “Song for Medusa: A Graphic Novel” written and drawn by Grace Desmarais.
Desmarias presents Medusa as a sympathetic character. She is a victim of a traumatic event that is alluded to briefly, and not graphically, for which she is compensated/cursed that no man shall be able to look upon her again. Now she just wants to be left alone in her cave, but men just keep showing up and despite her best efforts to prevent it, they end up turned to stone. In comes stumbling, literally, the intelligent and gifted songstress Princess Cyrene, who also happens to be blind. She is trying to escape the gilded cage of royalty, and the misogyny of the era. I think you can see where this is going.
“Song for Medusa” draws upon the poetry of Sappho for the music featured throughout the book. Perhaps best know in the modern era as the root of the word sapphic, a term that broadly covers anyone in the queer community who experiences attraction to women, regardless of whether they identify as lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, or queer.
With “Song for Medusa” Grace Desmarias offers a delightful, alternate version of Greek mythology.
You can learn more here.
Get your own copy here. (This is an affiliate link to my Bookshop, which supports independent bookstores throughout the United States. If you use this link to purchase the book, I will make a small commission at no additional cost to you.)
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