This is a piece I wrote for one of the local small scholarships; it's to write a story in the point of view of a mythology character. I chose the story of Medea from Jason and the Argonauts. The scoring system is based on accuracy as well so my essay (I think) reflects on that (meaning, I didn't make the facts up other than the details and how it all happened)
Thanks~!
EDIT: dashes seem to not work so I changed them to hyphens with spaces around them
As an anguished cry echoed from the distance through the emptied street, tears at last began to flow down her pallid cheeks. With sudden abandon, she wept bitterly, clutching shakily at her tormented heart.
Before, her features had been stern and vengeful as she had prepared the poisoned robes; her eyes had been dry as she had watched the Corinthians leave to witness the marriage, and her façade had been unwavering in its deception when she had presented the cursed wedding robes to Glauce, to whom her Jason had so readily pledged his faithless love. But at the sound of the distant cry - an echoing indication of Glauce's death, she lost her cold composure. Her sheer determination to murder Glauce had obscured her agony before, but after satiating her resolve for revenge, Medea now collapsed in grief, unable to forgive and forget Jason's betrayal.
Having discerned his planned treachery, Medea had confronted Jason and had painfully reminded him that without her, he could not have surmounted the challenges he faced in his quest for the Golden Fleece: the fire-breathing oxen, the warriors from the sown teeth of a dragon, and the dragon that guarded the Fleece itself. But even at the mention of her brother Apsyrtus, the bronze Talos, as well as Pelias and his daughters, Jason had derisively replied that it was not Medea but love that had helped him - a blinding love, planned and set by gods upon her. Love! What did he know of love when it was she who had betrayed her own people and killed for him? Through threatening tears, she had watched Jason abandon her and with tearing and furious heart, she had planned the retribution.
When the distant shouts soon changed into a clamor, Medea broke from her sorrowful daze. She stood uncertainly, and whispering to herself that a vengeance creates a pitiless cycle, she beckoned for her children. Her sons, Mermeros and Pheres, hesitantly came forward, not comprehending their mother's grieved expression and the blade in her hand. For a moment, Medea held her ill-fated children intimately against her bosom and then, with a stifled cry, she thrust the blade. Each stab she dealt, she felt in her own heart and her tears equaled their shed blood - blood that would no longer be cruelly spilled by the revenging Corinthians. Murmuring words of apologies, she embraced their lifeless bodies with her bloodied arms, and with her tears on their crimsoned faces, she placed her lips against their cold brows.
"Medea!"
At this vehement shout, she slowly turned to face him, but her grief - so evident before - had vanished from her dark eyes, now filled with pained hatred.
Thanks~!
EDIT: dashes seem to not work so I changed them to hyphens with spaces around them
As an anguished cry echoed from the distance through the emptied street, tears at last began to flow down her pallid cheeks. With sudden abandon, she wept bitterly, clutching shakily at her tormented heart.
Before, her features had been stern and vengeful as she had prepared the poisoned robes; her eyes had been dry as she had watched the Corinthians leave to witness the marriage, and her façade had been unwavering in its deception when she had presented the cursed wedding robes to Glauce, to whom her Jason had so readily pledged his faithless love. But at the sound of the distant cry - an echoing indication of Glauce's death, she lost her cold composure. Her sheer determination to murder Glauce had obscured her agony before, but after satiating her resolve for revenge, Medea now collapsed in grief, unable to forgive and forget Jason's betrayal.
Having discerned his planned treachery, Medea had confronted Jason and had painfully reminded him that without her, he could not have surmounted the challenges he faced in his quest for the Golden Fleece: the fire-breathing oxen, the warriors from the sown teeth of a dragon, and the dragon that guarded the Fleece itself. But even at the mention of her brother Apsyrtus, the bronze Talos, as well as Pelias and his daughters, Jason had derisively replied that it was not Medea but love that had helped him - a blinding love, planned and set by gods upon her. Love! What did he know of love when it was she who had betrayed her own people and killed for him? Through threatening tears, she had watched Jason abandon her and with tearing and furious heart, she had planned the retribution.
When the distant shouts soon changed into a clamor, Medea broke from her sorrowful daze. She stood uncertainly, and whispering to herself that a vengeance creates a pitiless cycle, she beckoned for her children. Her sons, Mermeros and Pheres, hesitantly came forward, not comprehending their mother's grieved expression and the blade in her hand. For a moment, Medea held her ill-fated children intimately against her bosom and then, with a stifled cry, she thrust the blade. Each stab she dealt, she felt in her own heart and her tears equaled their shed blood - blood that would no longer be cruelly spilled by the revenging Corinthians. Murmuring words of apologies, she embraced their lifeless bodies with her bloodied arms, and with her tears on their crimsoned faces, she placed her lips against their cold brows.
"Medea!"
At this vehement shout, she slowly turned to face him, but her grief - so evident before - had vanished from her dark eyes, now filled with pained hatred.
