I am essentially an 80s baby, so it was probably the movie Clash of the Titans that first captured my imagination as a child when it comes to Greek mythology, and especially the creatures of mythology. After all, what could be more engrossing than a love story between a demigod and a princess, where that princess has been doomed to death at the hands of a sea monster (the kraken), sending the demigod on a quest facing more monsters (Medusa among others) in order to save her? Such a great story!
So, of course, when I wrote The Games Gods Play, I knew I was going to have a lot of fun with the various mythological monsters. As a writer, I love incorporating creatures. They aren’t always just the element of danger for the sake of adventure. Monsters are often about courage — facing down danger and your own fear. But they can also be about sacrifice — putting yourself between others and harm; or victory — I mean turning a kraken to stone to save a princess feels like a big win; or about expanding the story — I still think Medusa is a tragic figure who needs her own happily ever after. Or, and for me this is a big one, monsters can be about empathy and looking deeper. What if a creature isn’t the most dangerous thing? What if it isn’t the real monster at all?
See! So much fun to think of all the ways! So with that in mind, what are a few of the mythological monsters you can expect to see in The Games Gods Play?
Let’s start with the obvious… a tale about Hades wouldn’t work without including Cerberus. The legendary three-headed hellhound, who is the guardian of the gates to the Underworld, is also Hades’ own personal pet. Having once owned a hundred-pound German Shepherd who basically only liked me and my husband, Cerberus is a dog I related to being an owner of. Every time I go to pet rescue centers, all the adorable pit bulls who are waiting for forever homes break my heart. Maybe that’s why I love writing creatures who are deadly, scary and untrusting, but also violently loyal and squishably affectionate to the people they choose to love.
Cerberus won’t be the only creature you’re familiar with. Keep an eye out for hydra, a pegasus (see, not all are dangerous) and several others. Also, be ready for the creatures I made up! One of my favorite parts of world-building is to do exactly that — build a unique world with creatures we haven’t seen before. In this case, I also wanted them to fit within the original mythology. Did you know that creatures in most ancient mythologies are often based off animals found in our real world? Usually, these monsters and creatures combine bits and pieces of multiple real-life creatures or human parts. In Greek mythology, the minotaur is a good example of this — part man part bull. Or think of chimeras, which are part a lot of things. Go look them up! They’re pretty cool.
I digress. The point is, I used real creatures to come up with some of my own monsters. For example, during one of the labors, the champions must face down a creature that I based off real-life sea dragons. If you’ve never seen a sea dragon in the wild or at an aquarium, I highly recommend you do. They are fascinating. They remind me of sea horses, only instead of the kind of curly-tailed, horsey little body, a sea dragon looks more like kelp. My monster is basically a giant one of these. But it’s one that is carnivorous and determined to eat humans (I mean, duh!). And there’s something else about them that one would want to generally avoid, but I don’t want to spoil too much.
So… What about you? What are some of your favorite creatures of Greek mythology that you love to see pop up in new ways? Which do you think would be the most difficult to face? Which ones might not be monsters after all?
