Thank you for inviting me to the
True Book Addict. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share more about my writing and myself!
Let’s talk Greek myths!
I’ve had a bit of a crush on myths for quite some time. Okay, “a bit” is understating my infatuation with them. But hey, what’s not to like? Myths tell us the truths we know, but don’t always talk about. And they’re told in ways that take us on fascinating journeys of discovery and revelation that are simultaneously foreign and familiar. Though the world in which the myth is told may not be our own, the message, or take away from the story, is one that resonates with us.
In
The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell talks about the importance of remembering that myths have a pedagogical function, showing us how to live as humans under all sorts of circumstances. Greek myths, in particular, provide a plentitude of different conditions and circumstances from which to show our human condition. In addition, many Greek myths teach us something through a cautionary tale.
Think of King Midas and how his desire to make everything he touched turn to gold ruined his life. Or Narcissus, who loved his reflection so much that he couldn’t stop looking at it and wasted away. Or Echo, who was deprived of speech (except for the ability to repeat the last words of another) by Hera for distracting the Queen of the Gods from spying on one of her husband Zeus’s many love interests. Then there’s Icarus, who ignored his father’s warnings and flew too close to the sun while wearing wax wings that melted, sending him plummeting to his death.
By revealing our human foibles to us through the adventures of mythical people, creatures, and circumstances, as well as the resulting consequences that come of them, we’re provided with a warning to heed and a lesson learned.
Pandora’s story is yet another example of just such a warning. Zeus commissioned Hephaestus, God of forge, to create a beautiful, irresistible woman as a curse on mankind in retribution for Prometheus stealing fire and gifting it to men. To create the perfect weapon that would both do his bidding and ensnare humans, Zeus instructed the gods to each give Pandora a gift. Athena dressed her in beautiful clothing and taught her how to weave. Hermes gave her cunning. Aphrodite gave her grace, but also desire, to weaken her resolve. Apollo taught her how to sing and play the lyre. She received a pearl necklace from Poseidon that would keep her from drowning. Hera provided Pandora with curiosity. Even Zeus gave her the “gift” of foolishness. Her name, in fact, means both “she who gives all gifts” and “she who was given all gifts.”
My interest in Greek mythology grew after buying my children the book,
Usborne Illustrated Guide to Greek Myths and Legends. At that time, they were pretty young, so I thought having a colorfully illustrated book may catch their attention and spark their interest in Greek myths. Well, it caught my attention also, and as I revisited these tales of woe, war, battles, and love lost and gained that I had first learned about when I was a child, the idea to write my own stories about these rich characters and the complex lives they lived sparked in me. Although I didn’t follow through on that desire until later in life, the idea for my current release,
Gold: Heart of a Warrior, was first kindled by reading that illustrated book with my kids.
Retelling the myth of Pandora in
Gold: Heart of a Warrior arose from a process I call “relatable remembering” because this young woman’s story is truly a universal tale. Who doesn’t make mistakes? Who doesn’t live according to the consequences of those mistakes, including sometimes being defined by them in a way that’s neither fair nor accurate?
Pandora was destined to open the Jug of Woes. Zeus wanted to punish mankind and used a woman without power as his pawn to do just that. And yet, when he got what he wanted, the King of Gods still penalized the one who helped him get it.
How is that fair?
I began thinking about the way this myth related to life, and how its truths spilled into not only the stories of people I know, but also my own. How many of us have made mistakes in our lives and had to endure living bound by the constraints of that mistake because society stuck us in a box of their making, and we allowed it to become our reality?
Pandora’s story made me angry. I felt compelled to rip open the box she’d been forced into and give her a second chance. That led to me writing
Gold: Heart of a Warrior. Instead of forever being known as the evil, disgraced woman who ruined the world, I decided to write a story of second chances. A tale in which the truth of Pandora being used and abused was shown, while also offering her the chance for redemption, and the choice to create a new life for herself, on her own terms.
Wouldn’t most of us want the same?
Eden Robins believes in second chances. She’s been lucky enough to have a few in her life and knows there’s a magic in seizing the moment to try again. As a mentor and founder of A Wholehearted ME, her heart’s purpose is to guide people into living as their full, innate, creative potential. As a writer, Eden’s heart leads her to inspire joy, love, and hope in her readers through her tales. Creating stories about people courageously living, loving, and experiencing life true to themselves, no matter how messy it gets, are the ones she wants to write and will keep writing for you…and for her. Connect with Eden at
https://linktr.ee/edenrobins and check out her blog, Living the Path at
https://awholeheartedme.com/blog
About Gold: Heart of a Warrior
It’s just gonna be one of those days…Empathic healer and business owner, Dora Alexander decided to celebrate her 25th birthday by exploring the stalagmites and stalactites in Kartchner Caverns. Kinda nerdy? Maybe, but you do you, right? Things take a nasty turn when an earthquake rocks the cave, leaving her alone in complete darkness. Searching for a way out, she accidently awakens an immortal warrior who’s kind of cranky after his 100-year nap. Wouldn’t you be?Philoctetes, one of Demeter’s immortal Gold warriors wakes up to the disturbing sound of a female sobbing. Thinking she’s one of the Silver demons he’s sworn to hunt down and destroy, he almost kills her before realizing she’s human. Correction. Turns out she’s not just human. She’s also the woman responsible for sending his kind to hell and causing woe and misery for the entire human race.Dora never asked to be Pandora reborn. And she certainly didn’t ask to be paired up with an insanely hot immortal demon hunter on a mission to save the world and redeem them both. But The Fates seem to have their own quirky ideas. One of them being if she and said hot demon hunter consummate the inferno like attraction blazing between them, they’ll simply cease to exist, with any memory of their time on earth erased forever.Oh goody, the day just got worse.
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Watch for my review of Gold: Heart of a Warrior on December 29.
