Blog Tour: Furious Guest Post

Three high school girls become the avenging Furies of Greek legend.

We were only three angry girls, to begin with. Alix, the hot-tempered surfer chick; Stephanie, the tree-hugging activist; and me, Meg, the quiet foster kid, the one who never quite fit in. We hardly knew each other, but each of us nurtured a burning anger: at the jerks in our class, at our disappointing parents, at the whole flawed, unjust world.

We were only three angry girls, simmering uselessly in our ocean-side California town, until one day a mysterious, beautiful classmate named Ambrosia taught us what else we could be: Powerful. Deadly. Furious.

Like everyone, goddesses have a family history – their parents’ background, the interesting circumstances surrounding their birth, how did they become who they are. The Furies have a particularly juicy story behind their family tree. When you read Furious, you’ll get more details, but here – on Publication Day!! – is  a Basic Guide to the Furies:

Once upon a time, back in the day before Greece was even ancient, there was the father of all fathers: Father Heaven. He was a deadbeat dad who hated all his children. True, the kids were total monsters. Literally. There was a one-eyed flesh-devouring giant and a towering creature with a hundred hands and fifty heads. Father Heaven hated his offspring so much that he imprisoned them in the bowels of the earth. But one of his kids – the Titan Cronus – decided to stand up to him.

With his sword, Cronus castrated Father Heaven and threw his dad’s mutilated genitalia into the churning, swirling sea.

When the blood hit the water, it created a mighty trio, conjuring them out of pain and the desire for revenge. The Furies, a.k.a. Creatures of Darkness.  a.k.a. Sisters of the Night. a.k.a The Erinyes were born. They have writhing snakes for hair and eyes that weep tears of blood. Sometimes, they have bat wings and the bodies of dogs.

Their entire reason for living is to pursue and punish, avenging the innocent and taking care of injustice. They don’t attack with swords or teeth; it’s more a mental game with them. They make their victim feel so crazy guilty that he or she goes insane.

But power is power and abuse breeds abuse. The Furies have been known to quickly go overboard in their hunger for revenge.

            If you want to know more about these goddesses of vengeance, The Oresteia, a trilogy of plays by the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus, spells it out. The story involves Agamemnon, his wife Clytemnestra and their son Orestes, plus a whole bunch of gods. The complicated plot revolves around bloody playback, real eye-for-an-eye stuff. I recommend it.

The final play in the trilogy, The Eumenides, ends with the Goddess Athena taming the Furies with a mixture of bribes and threats. Throughout the land, the former terrors become known as “The Kindly Ones.”

            This is where Furious picks up. I wondered what would happen if centuries later, someone got mad enough and the Furies came out of retirement to answer the call for revenge.

Which Fury is which?

Megaera translates as “the jealous one” and she is the epitome of envy. She’s angry, untrusting and resentful, the master of holding a grudge. She especially punishes those who commit marital infidelity – or in high school terms, guys who cheat on their girlfriends. In Furious, this is Meg.

Tisiphone is the avenger, a retaliator who punishes those who harm the guiltless and vulnerable. She’s especially angry at anyone who murders a family member. In Furious, Tisiphone (Stephanie) wants to avenge Mother – Mother Earth.

Alecto (Alix) is the restless, endless maker of grief who revels in wars and quarrels. She loves nothing better than the adrenaline rush of getting in someone’s face.

I admit that I have some of each Fury in me. How about you? What makes you furious, and why?

Thanks to Savannah for hosting my Publication Day stop on my blog tour. I hope you all enjoy Furious.

~~Jill

About the author:

Jill Wolfson was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After attending Temple University, she worked as a journalist for newspapers and magazines around the country, such as the Fort Lauderdale (Florida) Sun-Sentinel and San Jose (California)Mercury News. Her award-winning novels for young people include What I Call Life; Home, and Other Big, Fat Lies; Cold Hands, Warm Heart, and Furious, all published by Henry Holt.

Website| Twitter | Facebook

Happy Reading!