Friday, July 12, 2013

How Greek Myths Inspire Us to Be Heroes

Jordan Dane
@JordanDane

My ADR3NALIN3 guest today is Eva Pohler. She is a lecturer in writing and literature at the University of Texas at San Antonio and also a teen and adult fiction author. We met online through social media with a face-to-face meet at one of my books signings. I’m honored she could join us. I’ve had the pleasure of reading the first book in her Gatekeeper’s series and loved her passion for Greek mythology. Here’s Eva to share that passion with you.
 
 Gatekeeper's Daughter Saga ebook

Synopsis
In The Gatekeeper's Sons, Therese and Thanatos, the god of death, met and fell in love. In The Gatekeeper's Challenge, they did everything they could to be together, even break an oath on the River Styx. But the Olympians don't tolerate oath-breakers.

In this third book in the saga, The Gatekeeper's Daughter, Therese may have finally succeeded in becoming a goddess, but if she wants to remain one, she'll not only have to discover her unique purpose, but also make some allies among the gods. Artemis sends her on a seemingly impossible quest across the world, while Than searches for a way to appease Ares. To make matters worse, her baby sister's life depends on the outcome of her quest

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I fell in love with Greek myths in the eighth grade, when I read Edith Hamilton’s Mythology. Later, after studying Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, I better understood why most people are drawn to myths: They help us to project and symbolically play out our own fears and desires. Carl Jung wrote of universal archetypes—such as the Madonna, the soldier, and the rogue. Sigmund Freud wrote that art was the opportunity for adults to continue childhood play in a socially acceptable way. Joseph Campbell built upon the works of both Jung and Freud to describe The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which inspired George Lukas in the creation of Star Wars.

As a writer, I, like Lukas, wished to tap into that universal consciousness where fears and desires are shared. Myths make it possible to project universal fears, or what we often call our inner demons, into monsters that can be externally fought and defeated. The most universal fear is death. I created a saga for young adults in which death is not only faced and, in some ways, battled, but also embraced and transcended. 

In the first book of this contemporary fantasy, The Gatekeeper’s Sons, fifteen-year-old Therese Mills meets Thanatos, the god of death, while in a coma after witnessing her parents’ murder. She feels like the least powerful person on the planet and is ready to give up on life, but the story forces her to fight. As she hunts with the fierce and beautiful Furies (the deities responsible for punishing the bad souls) to track down her parents’ murder and avenge their death, she falls in love with Thanatos and symbolically accepts her parents’ and her own mortality. 

In the second book, The Gatekeeper’s Challenge, Therese has the opportunity to transcend death by accepting five seemingly impossible challenges issued by Hades, the god of the Underworld. All five challenges represent the universal fears of rejection, culpability, disorientation, death, and loss in the forms of a box not allowed to be opened, an apple that shouldn’t be eaten, a labyrinth meant to confuse, a Hydra that wants to destroy, and the allure of bringing back the dead. These same myths are recycled again and again through the centuries because they help us to recognize our inner demons and inspire us to defeat them. 

The third book of the saga, The Gatekeeper’s Daughter, forces Therese to look inward. All gods and goddesses serve humanity or the world in some way, and in order to remain at Thanatos’s side, she must discover her unique purpose while protecting her loved ones against antagonistic forces. Throughout mythology, heroes have gone on long quests, often seeking an object. The object is not without importance, but self-actualization is the true victory in any hero’s quest, and Therese’s is no exception. 

The fourth book, The Gatekeeper’s House, begins with an attack on the Underworld, and now that Therese is just like any other god, she is without the special favors afforded to humans. She’s on her own in this epic battle to rebind the unleashed souls and save the House of Hades while helping the Furies discover the identity of the attacker. She has to learn to put her big girl goddess panties on and run with the big girl goddesses if she’s going to be relevant. Think of Odysseus when he returns to Penelope after his long journeys. Heroes must remain relevant when they return home. 

The fifth and sixth books of the series, The Gatekeeper’s Secret and The Gatekeeper’s Promise, depict Therese transcending from the status of rookie god to become a key player among the Olympians. Her journey parallels those of the demigods in the ancient myths; however, unlike them, she has managed to become fully god, an immortal among the Olympians, and that is not without consequences. 

As young adults negotiate through adolescence and adulthood, they struggle with the same universal conflicts portrayed by the ancients. As modern readers, we should revisit those stories to help us with our own epic battles—both internal and external ones.
 
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Eva Pohler loves to interact with people. Here are a few places you can find her:

Website, Facebook, Amazon Buy Link, Goodreads, Twitter


The first book of her saga is free in all ebook formats and is also available in audiobook!


















12 comments:

Jordan Dane said...

Who wouldn't want to be a goddess? Your character Therese is living the fantasy with the god of Death, but it's not all ambrosia, for sure. Welcome to ADR3, Eva. So glad you're here.

I'll be at your signing tomorrow at Barnes & Noble-La Cantera at 2pm - San Antonio. Yay!

Eva said...

Thanks so much, Jordan. I'm glad to be here and look forward to seeing you Saturday!

Sechin Tower said...

This looks great, Eva! I'm going to have to check your books out.

Eva said...

Thanks, Sechin! I hope you enjoy them!

Unknown said...

I've said it before and I will continue to sing my praise of Eva. I truly believe she should be a world known big published author. This series of books far exceeds any normal expectations. How certain other sparkling vamps for instance.....lol can be more praised and swooned over and not Than and Therese really boggles my mind! I recommend these books to everyone I talk to and will continue to do so until mainstream media realizes what exactly they are missing! :)

Eva said...

Awww, thanks, Kristi! You rock!

Unknown said...

With Greek Gods and Goddesses in a book how can you go wrong then add a modern twist with out compromising the myths. Great job Eva.

Anonymous said...

Wow Eva. It's so interesting to see where your inspiration came from. It puts a lot of things in context.

Eva said...

Thanks, Lisa! So glad you stopped by.

Eva said...

What a nice thing to say, Jonel. Thank you!

Unknown said...

Truly a WONDERFUL series!!! I know I'm patiently awaiting the next chapter of the story. Eva you are definitely Author to be reckoned with :)

Eva said...

Awww, shucks, BJ. So nice of you to stop by and say so! <3