Guest Post: Kelly Keaton: Favorite and Least favorite godesses

Today, we have the beautiful and amazing Kelly Keaton talking about her favorite and least favorite of the goddesses. I love her reasons for both.
 

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Kelly loves ancient history, fantasy, and mythology. She dreams of one day attaining magical powers, discovering the secret to immortality, ridding her home of pet hair, and being crowned Mardi-Gras queen. She likes pre-Raphaelite art, moonlight on snow, and MMORPGs. She lives in North Carolina with her family, one Great Dane, and two incredibly hairy cats.

Kelly’s alter ego, Kelly Gay, is a 2010 double RITA finalist and a recipient of North Carolina’s Art Council fellowship grant in literature. She writes the Charlie Madigan series for Pocket Books.

Ah, Greek mythology. One of my favorite subjects ever. I adore it. It’s so . . . human. Sure it might be encased in the brilliance and might of the gods, but really mythic tales are just a reflection of humanity and everything that makes us who we are. Family, love, hate, betrayal, envy, greed… It’s all there in myths. There is a little bit of the gods in each and every one of us.

I’m a huge fan of Egyptian and Celtic mythology, too, but Greek mythology is where I cut my teeth, where I got a hold of my grandfather’s old Time Life books when I was—I don’t know nine or ten, maybe—and started reading these amazing tales. I can remember lying on my bedroom floor, reading the same book over and over again, pouring over the ancient maps printed on the pages. That’s where my love of Greek mythology started, and the love affair continues.

I have my favorites and least favorites in the god department too, but they seem to change over time and then cycle back again. I can always find something interesting in each god or goddess. I love them when they’re bad and I love them when they’re good.

Surprising as most people might find it (since she is the villain in DARKNESS BECOMES HER); one of my favorite goddesses is Athena. Why did I paint her as the villain? Well, I felt she needed a change, something to spice up her life, and I am nothing if not a humble servant. Ha! Seriously though, Athena is the goddess of war, but not the enraged, bloodthirsty aspect like her brother Ares. No, she is a master at strategy, cunning, the Art of war. She is a warrior and a scholar. She cares for her city and crafts and culture. And she can be a badass when the situation calls for it. She sprung from the head of Zeus fully clothed, armed, and ready for battle, and she’s the only one of his children able to wield his thunderbolt and Aegis. My kind of goddess.

It’s hard to pick a least favorite. The gods have so many aspects to them that there is always something I can find like about them. But I guess if I had to pick one right now, I’d say Hera. She has my sympathy (to a degree). I mean, she’s the goddess of marriage and there’s Zeus humiliating her time and time again with his affairs. But, Hera is extremely obsessed with Zeus’s illegitimate offspring. They are the innocent ones in all of this and yet she targets them time and time again in her quest for revenge. So Hera’s habit of going after babies and kids is why I chose her. (And this might have something to do with all those Hercules episodes I watched!)

Thanks for reading my post. Always fun to talk mythology! Hope you all are enjoying your summer and, as always, Happy Reading!  

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