Without the support of the gods, he would have been petrified like every other warrior. It is only with help from all of the gods that Perseus is able to not only kill but fully decapitate her. Many warriors are sent to kill her, including Perseus. In order to punish her, Athena curses Medusa by replacing her beautiful hair with a head of venomous snakes and making it so anyone who looks into her eyes will be turned to stone.Īt this point, Medusa’s head became a desired trophy for many warriors who wanted to brave her fierce monster-like powers. When Athena discovers that Posidon has raped Medusa, she chooses to blame her rather than him. Athena is one of Poseidon’s sworn enemies, and through raping her sister, he is able to take power from her. Although Athena had the power to prevent this, she chooses not to.
Eventually, Medusa attracts the attention of Poseidon, who subsequently rapes her. Athena grows jealous, as many men flock to her, only to glance at Medusa instead. She becomes a priestess to her sister Athena and vows to her sister to remain pure. Medusa was one of three daughters - born with extraordinary beauty and stunning hair. In order to unpack the feminist implication of the mythology, let’s begin with the narrative of her story. The story of Medusa continues to provoke renewed perspectives on its symbolism - including through the lens of feminism and psychoanalysis.įrom a feminist perspective, Medusa’s story seems a cautionary tale of the symbolic decapitation of women and a loss of one’s power. Often times, this has allowed us to garner some sort of fable-like lesson from the stories of the Illiad or Metamorphoses. The stories of ancient Greek and Roman mythology have, over the years, been rediscovered, repurposed, and reinterpreted in more modern contexts.
0 kommentar(er)
