The Backstory for the Annual Grumble Jones Halloween Scenario - The Song of Medusa

Among the many myths of ancient Greece, there is the tragic tale of a Priestess of Athena. While there were many Priestesses of Athena, our story deals with one of the Gorgon sisters...Medusa. In life, Medusa was a golden-haired, beautiful and kind hearted maiden who devoted herself to a life of celibacy to honor her goddess, Athena.

Medusa was a loyal servant of Athena and served her with steadfast and earnest devotion.

She dwelled peacefully in the temple and attended to her duties untroubled by the outside world of men.

But of gods...she had no experience and no protection.

By chance, Poseidon's gaze would fall upon Medusa. Enraptured by her beauty. A rival to Athena, Poseidon sought to possess Medusa. But, ever the loyal subject, she resisted his advances...but mortals cannot long resist the desires of a god.

Poseidon would not suffer rejection and raped Medusa upon the temple steps, which would humiliate his rival, Athena. 

Devastated by the ordeal, Medusa prayed to Athena for guidance...for forgiveness as she was now a wife to Poseidon. Athena, enraged at the humiliation and by Medusa's betrayal of her celibacy...cursed the maiden. Cast out of the temple, her skin was cracked and scaled, writhing snakes replaced her golden hair, and her eyes were cursed with a terrible power to turn men to stone with just a glance. And into her mind, was placed a madness which turned the fair priestess into a monster.

Cast out from her temple and turned into a monstrous beast, Medusa retreated from the world of men and gods. To dark places in the ground she fled and struggled with the madness inflicted upon her.

In time, the legend of her existence would become the stuff of many a young Athenian's quest to prove themselves a hero. Over the centuries, many a darkened cave would be littered with the stone statues of once young warriors destroyed by the baleful gaze of Medusa.

Medusa fell ever deeper into her madness and despair...at once hating the monster she had become and turning her fury upon the errant warriors who sought to kill her in vain quests for heroic glory. Whenever the stone monuments became too much for her to bear, she would seek yet another dark refuge to hide from men. And in time, her legend faded and men believed her to be a thing of fantasy and no longer a real threat upon the world. Medusa finally had centuries of peace in her cave. And she began to sing to herself...a plaintive dirge to ease her suffering. And many a young Grecian shepherd, hearing this song in the dark twilight would explore for its origin...only to become yet another monument to the pain and suffering of Medusa.

As time moved inexorably through the ages and Medusa was lost to memory...other evils walked the world and brought suffering to the people of Greece. In late April, 1941 a new conqueror raised its flag above the Acropolis and inaugurated a time of foreign occupation that would try the souls of the Greek people. 

Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht had become the latest conqueror of the Greek Isles. They would be a cruel and merciless master for the next three years. And like the rape of Medusa, they too would seek to rape Greece of her treasures as they had so many other nations under their jackbooted feet.

Greece was home to many of the ancient world's great treasures and antiquities. The Nazi leadership coveted these treasures and sought them out with the surrender of the Greek Army. But the Greeks had not been idly waiting for their nation's history to fall so easily into the hands of the Nazis. In fact, they had gone to great lengths to move, conceal and hide their great treasures. Upon entering the great museums of Athens, the Nazis found their halls empty and devoid of the great artifacts that told the story of Greece. 

One of the greatest treasures was hidden in the Caves of Filopappou Hill. In total, nearly 35 crates of artifacts and treasures were hidden in the caves. There were no guards to watch over the caves, but the Greeks were confident that the Germans would not find what had been hidden from them.

And sadly, they were correct as the Germans focused their energy on finding human beings and sending them away to death camps.

But unknown to all, the treasures were guarded by a fearsome guardian and her song could be heard at twilight.

By 1944, the once dominant Wehrmacht had been defeated on all fronts. In one of his rare moments of lucidity, Hitler gave the order to abandon Greece. As the Russians advanced from the east, the Germans prepared to exit stage right and return to the borders of the Reich. 

Generalleutnant Wofgang Hauser had only recently taken command of the German 41st Infantry Division. He was eager to get his command out of Greece and into Yugoslavia, before circumstances overtook his force and trapped them.

But as he worked feverishly to extricate his command as they pulled back from the Corinth Canal, he became privy to information extracted during interrogations of ELAS guerrillas captured outside of Athens. Prior to their executions, they confirmed that area caves had been used to stage attacks on retreating German columns. 

This wasn't the real nugget of information however. In one specific instance regarding the nearby caves at Filopappou Hill, there was the vague mention of treasure. For years, the Germans had wondered where the various museum treasures of Athens had disappeared to. Here now was evidence that the local caves had indeed been used to hide various artifacts, etc. Intrigued, Hauser formulated a plan.

Hauser knew that time was running short, but he also knew that as the Third Reich began to collapse, there would the need for currency other than Reichmarks in order to secure a future in Post-Nazi Germany. The deadline for fully evacuating Athens was set for October 12th. Hauser had come into the information on October 8th. Acting swiftly, he ordered a company of the 733rd Grenadier Regiment, to take several trucks up to Filopappou Hill, locate the caves, search them for Partisans, eliminate any that found and confiscate anything else of value. Hauser had convinced himself that gold would be found. Gold was the very currency he could use in post-war Europe.

The men of the 733rd Grenadier Regiment went up the hill on October 9th, 1944. They were armed and ready for action should they encounter any Partisans. They had already tangled with Royalist Guerrillas on the way to Athens from the Corinth Canal region. Hauser had chosen well, as these grenadiers were veteran anti-partisan troops and could be counted on to handle themselves well in action.

And indeed, a company of ELAS Guerrillas had moved towards the hill in order to extricate the hidden treasures. Hauser's headquarters utilized many local Athenians to manage local phone relays. And these folks had quickly informed ELAS of the German mission. The guerrillas lacked mobile transport and had to make the journey on foot. They would arrive at the hill caves at nearly the same moment as the Germans. They remained hidden in the olive groves and adjacent ruins, watching intently as the Germans disembarked from their trucks and prepare to search for the caves. 

There were three entrances to the caves, with one being a staircase from ruined main temple. The Germans spread out and began to enter the caves.

The guerrillas decided to seize the lightly guarded German trucks and then ambush the Germans inside the caves.

They moved quickly towards the trucks, when they began to hear firing from inside the caves. Single shots at first and then a blur of rapid fire from SMG's. 

Perplexed, the guerrillas hesitated and began to believe that other partisans or civilians had been in the caves and were now under fire from the Germans. The guerrillas decided to leave the trucks and head into the caves.

For centuries, Medusa had made these caves her home. She was rarely ever bothered by humankind and had even remained hidden whenever someone entered the cave.

She had watched the Greek civilians hide precious artifacts and treasures in the cave. She had inspected the treasures, and they brought back memories of her life long ago. She recognized that these treasures were the valued past of ancient Greece. 

She had even become possessive of these treasures, which were such a part of her past life. She had determined that on one would part her from them.

When the first Germans entered the cave, their harsh language was an assault to her ears. It was a unfamiliar tongue and she thought it barbarous. She moved silently around the unwary Germans. Then suddenly she turned her gaze on the first group of grenadiers. With shrieks of terror, they turned to stone as their brother grenadiers watched in horror.

I an instant, the Germans knew that leaving the cave was imperative. In another portion of the cave, other Grenadiers had discovered the crates. The were in the process of opening them, when they heard screams and gunfire. 

But even as they began to move towards that commotion, they found themselves ambushed by the ELAS guerrillas. In fierce hand to hand fighting, several Germans were killed. The others exited the cave and found themselves under fire from other guerrillas. A general skirmish erupted throughout the temple grounds. Inside the caves, Medusa rampaged, killing some Germans and Greeks indiscriminately with her bow and then turning her gaze on others...turning their anguished visages into stone.

Germans and Greeks cowered in terror and sought for cover and for an exit from the terror before them. Before long, only the dead or those turned to stone remained in the cave...save for one female querrilla. She trembled with fear beside the statuary that only moments ago had been her comrades in arms. She remained still as Medusa slinked near her. She looked up and beheld the monster that was Medusa.

But Medusa held back her baleful gaze of death. She felt pity and compassion for this young, Greek freedom fighter. She pointed towards a cave exit and beckoned for the girl to leave. 

She stared only a moment at Medusa and saw past the monster to the fair priestess that had been cursed so many centuries ago. She then turned and quickly left the cave. Medusa's eyes were moist with tears...tears...that had not fallen from her eyes for almost a thousand years. She then retreated into her grotto in the cave and slumbered.

In the temple grounds, the ELAS Guerrillas had prevailed, and the surviving Germans had fled back to Athens in a single truck. The guerrillas took possession of two remaining trucks and quickly loaded up their dead and wounded. They had suffered heavy losses both in the caves and in the firefight with the Germans. But they were alive, and their treasures were safe from the grasping hands of the Nazis. 

The surviving grenadiers would find themselves in interrogation chambers. General Hauser was furious at their failure to obtain the treasures, and their wild stories of a mythical monster convinced the General, that they had found the treasures and sought to hide them from the general. But despite the hard interrogations, the grenadiers maintained their story of a hideous monster that turned men to stone. Out of time, Hauser directed that they be placed in a penal battalion and with that, the Germans evacuated Athens on October 12th, 1944.

Finally, the hated swastika was brought down from atop the Acropolis.

The Wehrmacht would leave the city...never to return.

The people of Athens would fill the streets in celebration of their liberation.

The people of Athens celebrated long into the evening hours and filled the moon washed night with songs. On a hill overlooking the sea...a solitary figure stood beneath the moon and added her voice to the songs of thousands of free Athenians...her people and her home.

GJ152 The Song of Medusa will be available 

on October 1st, 2025.