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Synopsis for Patroness Chapters 1-28
Characters:
Main character Gods
Athena – goddess of art, wisdom and war. Born from Zeus’s head with no mother.
Gaia – mother earth. Matriarch of all the gods, born from Chaos (the first god) with Eros (love).
Pallas – minor warlike goddess in Libya. Best friend and foster sister to Athena, who she killed by accident.
Triton – Father to Pallas, son to Poseidon. Water god ruler of Lake Tritonus.
Medi – Libyan deity, priestess to Athena’s temple in Amazon. Daughter of primordial gods, Ceto and Phorcyes.
Zeus – Greek god of thunder, commander of heaven and earth.
Aphrodite – Goddess of Love. Having an affair with Ares.
Hesphetus – God of the forge. Son of Hera alone, husband to Aphrodite. Ugly.
Siblings of Zeus
Poseidon – God of sea. Brother to Zeus. Rival to Athena. Grandfather to Pallas
Hera – Goddess of domestic arts, motherhood and marriage. Wife to Zeus, stepmother to Athena.
Hades – God of the underworld. Husband to Persephone.
Hestia- virgin goddess of hearth, home, and architecture.
Demeter – Goddess of seasons
Zeus’s children, Athena’s half siblings.
Hermes – messenger god. Half brother to Athena.
Artemis – Hunter and midwife goddess. Twin sister to Apollo. Daughter of the titan Leto.
Apollo – sun god. Favored son of Zeus.
Ares – God of war. Son of Hera. Lover to Aphrodite and father of most of her children. Rival to Athena.
Hebe – goddess of youth and beauty. Cupbearer to the gods. Hera’s daughter.
Dionysus – God of wine. Newest member of Olympus.
Persephone – goddess of youth and spring and the underworld. Daughter to Demeter.
Titans
Leto – goddess of modesty and motherhood. mother of Artemis and Apollo. Lives on the island of Delos.
Rhea – Mother of Zeus, Hades, Demeter, Hestia, Poseidon and Hera. Former Queen who saved infant Zeus from her husband.
Cronus – Former king who ate his children when Gaia prophesized that they would overthrow him. Lost war to Zeus and was imprisoned. Husband to Rhea.
Prometheus – Former friend of Zeus who helped birth Athena from his head.
Condemned to eternal torture for giving human’s fire.
Primordial Gods
Sthenno – Queen of Amazon. sister to Medi. Gorgon
Euryale – warrior diety in Amazon. Sister to Medi. Gorgon
The Graeae: Pemphredo, Enyo, and Deino – old crones sisters who share one eye and one tooth, Sisters of the Gorgons.
Mortals:
Perseus – Mortal son of Zeus. Athena’s half brother. Thrown into sea with mother as a baby.
Danaë – Mother of Perseus, Princess of Argos. Seduced by Zeus and thrown into the sea with her infant by her father.
Dictys – Fisherman of Serifos, saves Danaë and Perseus, and care for them. Brother of the king.
Polydectes – King of Serifos.
Modern Story
Leigh – teenage girl, living and working with Aunt and Uncle at their fancy shore house.
General Alea – strange general who saves Leigh from a sinking ship and protects her when they land on a strange island.
Di – Strange woman who lives on the strange island Leigh and Alea land on.
Sid – Leigh’s abusive uncle
Rebecca – Leigh’s Aunt, sister to her father.
Ch 1
ATHENA is born a full grown woman in armor when Prometheus cleaves ZEUS in the head with an ax to relieve a swelling headache. She understands she is a god, a child born of only one parent, Zeus, ruler of the universe. She wishes to please her father but, upon the advice of his wife HERA and his brother POSEIDON, he sends her away to be fostered, to preserve her virginity from sex crazed Olympus.
Ch 2
LEIGH is a girl of color living with her white aunt and uncle. She works for free as a waitress on her uncle’s tour boats. There is a lot of tension in the household. Leigh goes to work, recalling a dream she had of a beautiful woman who foretold her mother leaving and her life changing. A General on the cruise grabs her and takes her out on deck just in time to see a rogue wave hit the boat.
Ch 3
Athena is fostered at LakeTritonus, in Libya. Athena foster sister PALLAS is a dear friend to her and Athena is distraught to learn that Pallas is not a “deathless god”. A mortal injury can kill her. Athena is called back to Olympus and is anxious to prove herself to her father. Pallas and her cousin TRITON warn her that Olympus doesn’t grant women the freedom she’s known with them.
Ch 4
Leigh awakes on a lifeboat with GENERAL ALEA who saved her life. She tells Leigh that the safety beacon doesn’t work but she is confident she will get them safely to land. She believes the rouge wave destroyed the tour cruise ship.
Ch 5
Athena returned to Olympus to help her father, Zeus, pacify a war her half brother, ARES, incited. There is tension with the other Olympians, and Athena decides to prove herself. he fosters the development of the mortals who pray to Olympus and when they found the city of Athens she beats out her uncle POSEIDON as it’s patron and namesake. She has now show up her brother Ares and her uncle Poseidon and Zeus declares her his most favored child.
Ch 6
Athena has dedicated herself to care and management of Athens, inspiring the culture toward greatness. She receives word through her half brother, HERMES, that her friend Pallas wishes to see her. She reluctantly leaves her city and returns to Tritonus to visit with her foster sister. She finds that in her long absence the tribes of Libya have developed into a matriarchial culture, honoring Athena and Pallas. Athena is intrigued but also uncomfortable when Pallas takes her to visit the city of Amazon, run by the Primordial deities, daughters of Zeus’s enemy. STHENNO, the queen, EURYALE, the commander of the army, and MEDI the high priestess all greet Athena in different ways. Athena finds herself drawn to Medi who invites her to stay for the solstice festival. Upon returning to Athens, Athena finds it boring and stale and returns with Hermes to Amazon to learn more about the culture.
Ch 7
General Alea informs Leigh that she isn’t sure where they are or when they will reach land. Leigh struggles to keep her composure and she and the general relate on a possible shared history of familiar abuse.
Ch 8
Athena and Hermes return to Amazon to participate in their solstice festivities. Pallas godes Athena until she agrees to battle the victor of the sparing matches. Athena is delighted by the fighting styles of the female warriors and wonders if she couldn’t teach Athenian women to fight. During the match between Euryale and Pallas, Pallas is fatally wounded, but saved with Medi’s healing and a donor lung. Medi asks Athena to walk with her to invoke GAIA (mother earth).
Ch 9
Still tense about Pallas’s injury, Athena is also excited and confused by Medi’s attention and her own feeling for her. She notes the differences between Medi’s feminine body and her own, athletic build when they strip to go into the ancient river to invoke Gaia. They are about to kiss when Gaia herself rises from the river, saying she has waited to Athena. After she leaves, Medi excitedly returns to the city.
Ch 10
Athena is confused and upset about her feelings for Medi and how they could affect her place in Olympus. Pallas awakens after several days and Athena confides in her. Pallas is supportive and suggests she could find a way to be with Medi in Athens. She also reminds Athena that she promised a match with her, and will not let her injury discourage her. They agree to set the match for a year’s time and Athena departs for Olympus.
Ch 11
Leigh and General Alea find land, but damage the boat reaching it. Alea keeps Leigh from being tossed into the rough surf and Leigh marvels over the general’s strength as they pull their useless dinghy to the beach.
Ch 12
Athena returns to Olympus and finds Ares and APHRODITE have been humiliated for their affair. Aphrodite’s husband HESPHETUS makes Athena new amour and she offers him a place in Athens. Aphrodite calls on her for advice but doesn’t like her council. Athena attempts to teach her Athenian priestesses how to fight, but they do not take to it. She mentors her half sister ARTEMIS.
Ch 13
Athena is excited to learn a group of young girls have been inspired to learn to hunt and spar in Athens. Zeus calls on her to help with Hera, who is furious over the addition of DIONYSUS to Olympus. He offers her anything she wants to take care of it and Athena explores the possibility of marriage without losing her standing in Olympus. She does not tell Zeus about Medi, as she is still unsure herself about her feelings. Athena offers Hera a place in Athens as her own, acknowledging the difficulties she faces in her marriage to Zeus. Hera agrees to the bargain.
Ch 14
The girls Athena has been fostering into warriors have shown great initiative and skill with warfare. Athena blesses them with a safe place to train and good weapons, anxious to form her own guard of women. They thank her with the blessings at Solstice, and Athena blesses Athens with a great temple on the acropolis. She and Hermes go to Delos to pick up Artemis on their way to Athena’s fight with Pallas. Athena meets LETO, titan mother to Apollo and Artemis. Apollo worries about Artemis’s virtue.
Ch 15
Athena arrives in Tritonus for her spar with Pallas to find her friend has hyped up the event. Pallas’s welcome turns sour when Athena introduces her to Artemis and she and Pallas have a fight. Pallas refuses Athena’s gift of new armor, forged by Hephaestus. Her mortal lover reveals to Athena that Pallas is worried she will fail after all her big talk. Athena hopes to call off the fight. Zeus and Poseidon arrive with bets on the winner.
Ch 16
Athena tries to call off the fight but Pallas attacks with anger after seeing her grandfather Poseidon in the audience. Old resentments bubble to the surface during the fight and Athena loses control. As she tries to disable Pallas and end the fight, Zeus distracts Pallas with the gleaming Argos shield from the audience. Athena accidentally decapitates Pallas, killing her.
Ch 17
Leight finds out she and General Alea have landed on a small deserted island. The boat is destroyed. Leigh despairingly reflects on the times in her life when her wishes have come true, to terrible consequences. General Alea tells her to buck up and be brave or she won’t survive.
Ch 18
Athena consumes Pallas’s soul to take it to the underworld, Hades with Hermes. She throws herself at the mercy of Tritonus who forgives her. Everyone knows Zeus interfered but no one dares to call him on it. Hermes takes Athena to Hades where she meets her uncle for the first time and then releases Pallas’s soul in the Elysian Fields. Pallas absolves her, showing that a piece of her soul is still within her. They return to attend Pallas’s funeral.
Ch 19
Medi takes Athena to Amazon to grieve. Athena and Euryale bond in their grief. Athena considers giving up warfare forever. As she and Medi’s relationship continues to evolve toward romance, she is shocked by Amazon matriarchal values, and the fact that Medi is not a virgin. In emotional turmoil, she takes to wandering the land and visiting Egypt. Hermes comes to retrieve her back to Athens, with new that the guard of young girls she had been fostering are in trouble.
Ch 20
Leigh and General Alea meet Di, who keeps a house on the island that they previously found to be isolated. Di and General Alea seem to be familiar with each other. After threatening them Di offers Leigh food and shelter while they get their boat fixed.
Ch 21
Athena returns to Athens to find her girl warriors have been brutally raped and beaten, and one of the girls is missing. She negotiated with Hera for her location and must allow Hera to marry the girl to her rapist. She executes the other men who raped the girls. Medi comes to Athens to help deliver the babies conceived in the attack. Athena avoids her. She is forced to admit she put the girls in danger by encouraging them to learn to fight and determines that girls must be kept at home and protected.
Ch 22
Fed up with Olympus and distraught Athena goes to Medi and they finally kiss and confess their feelings for each other. Hera and Artemis invite Medi to Olympus and Athena reluctantly agrees. She gathers her courage to ask Zeus to grant her the favor he has offered, by giving her his support in marrying Medi. He grudgingly agrees. Athena joyfully returns to Athens to propose to Medi but finds Poseidon come from her temple, indicating that he and Medi were just intimate.
Ch 24
Poseidon has raped and badly injured Medi. Athena, in her distress and arrogance determines that all men are a danger and she must make it so that Medi can defend herself when Athena cannot protect her. She turns her into the snake lady we know and love, Medusa. Medi/Medusa is horrified by the transformation and heartbroken by Athena’s violation and flees. Athena believes she is right, yet mourns the turn of events.
PART 2
Ch 25
Leigh and Di become friends. General Alea offers to teach Leigh self-defense. Leigh never wants to leave the island.
Ch 26
Some strange things are happening on the island with Di and Alea. Leigh thinks about her mother who she hasn’t seen for some times. She notices changes in her body that make her wonder how long she’s been on the island. She trains with General Alea and later overhears a worrisome conversation, but is too sleepy or drugged to understand it.
Ch 27
Centuries after the transformation of Medi to Medusa, Athena watches Princess Danaë and her infant son Perseus be thrown into the sea by Danaë’s king father. As Perseus is a mortal child of Zeus, Athena takes pity on him and helps to rescue them. She takes the form of an owl and continues a centuries old search for Medi across Northern Africa. Much has changed. Aphrodite comes to Athena for advice, because she has avoided Olympus since Poseidon’s attack. Aphrodite realizes what happened but Athena tells her not to mention it.
Ch 28
Athena is fond of Perseus and his mother and protective of them against King Polydectes, who is interested in Danaë. As Perseus grows into a teenager, he becomes reckless and boastful, and Athena worries that the tricky king will manipulate him.