Meghan Khameraj
Throughout history, Medusa got the bad reputation as a scornful, evil woman who turns people into stone with a mere glance. However, much like most women of ancient mythology, she was a victim of patriarchal societal norms. Medusa’s origins, her trauma, and her pain are conveniently forgotten when it comes to telling her story. Her origins put into perspective the ordeals she went through that led her to become the evil gorgon that everyone thinks of her as. She wasn’t evil just for evil’s sake but was forced by the misogynistic tendencies of pitting women against each other and the damaging experience of rape.
Medusa’s story is best portrayed through Ovid’s Metamorphoses where she is depicted as a beautiful young woman who was the priestess of Athena. Medusa was the only mortal born from two primordial sea gods. Medusa was so beautiful that many men lusted for her but as a priestess, she remained a virgin and dedicated to Athena. Poseidon became intrigued by Medusa’s beauty and broke into Athena’s temple and raped her. Athena was enraged by this and turned Medusa into a Gorgon instead of helping her.
After Medusa was turned into a gorgon, Perseus was tasked with beheading her. He asked Athena and Hermes to help him and they provided him with winged-sandals, an invisibility cap, and a mirrored-shield. He then set forth to find Medusa and murder her.
The story of Medusa, when it is told as a good versus evil tale and Medusa is the evil factor in the story, is actually quite entertaining. That’s probably why it continues to be told that way. However, it is not acceptable for Medusa’s traumas to be dismissed for the sake of a good story. Although she is a fictional character, her struggles are very common amongst women. The tendency to pit women against each other for the sake of a man is, unfortunately, an issue that creeps its way into the everyday lives of women. Athena blames Medusa because of two reasons. One, she can’t possibly blame Poseidon for what happened. He is a male god who just raped a woman. She might’ve been scared herself. Two, it was commonplace for rape victims to be villainized and seen as unholy simply because their virginity was stolen from them. Although it’s easy to see Athena as part of the problem in Medusa’s story, it’s actually the societal factors that are problematic and led her to react in the way that she does. Perseus also contributes to Medusa’s abuse by literally murdering her. Perseus is praised for killing Medusa and it is all too common where victims of rape are shunned from society or continuously abused or murdered because they are seen as less than human or in Medusa’s case less than worthy to live.
While doing research on Medusa for this blog post I found it increasingly difficult to find sources that were true to her original story.
I DO NOT KNOW WHICH IS THE “ORIGINAL” STORY OF MEDUSA. DO YOU KNOW? YOU SHOULD MORE SIMPLY SAY THAT HER STORY — WHICHEVER THE ORIGINAL STORY WAS — IS LIABLE TO BE RECOUNTED IN MANY DIFFERENT VERSIONS
The tale of Medusa is oftentimes twisted to be appropriate for children. Her story is also twisted to make it seem as if she were a promiscuous woman who was boastful about her beauty and lured Poseidon to have sex with her in Athena’s temple. If I’m being honest, I didn’t know much about Medusa until probably three months ago. I just assumed she was born as a gorgon and I wasn’t aware of her rape. It wasn’t until I was watching a YouTube video by Mythology and Fiction Explained where the narrator fully explained Medusa’s story. I assumed that I was one of the few people who didn’t know her actual story but as I spoke to some of my friends about it, I realized I wasn’t the only one. It is understandable why the story is changed for children, however, to make Medusa seem like she wanted sex from Poseidon is highly damaging and further allows the misogynistic themes of ancient mythologies to be accepted in today’s society. It is important to tell Medusa’s story as honestly as possible because it is undeniable that the tales of ancient mythologies immensely impact modern day society.
Whether the creators of Medusa’s myth knew it or not, her story is a representation of the conditions women had to live within ancient times and continue to live with today. Medusa, just like Athena or Hera or the Amazonian women, should be seen as a feminist icon instead of continuously being portrayed as a promiscuous and evil woman.
THIS IS WELL SAID, AND PROBABLY CORRECT
Luckily, I feel as though because of movements such as the #MeToo movement, she is slowly being recognized as a victim rather than a villain. Hopefully, as time progresses and people become more aware of the injustices that women face, Medusa will be seen as the good character in her story and the men who wronged her and the society she lives in will be seen as evil. When people see Medusa for who she really is, a victim, hopefully, society as a whole will start treating real-life victims of rape and abuse with respect and take them seriously. As I mentioned earlier, mythology has a huge impact on who we are and what we do as a society. Although it is highly fictional and the worlds these characters live in aren’t similar to the world we live in, we all want to be like our favorite characters and if those characters are good then we will inherently be good.
POSSIBLE, AS YOU SAY THAT MEDUSA STORY IS ” a representation of the conditions women had to live within ancient times and continue to live with today”, WHEREAS HER PERSECUTOR ATHENA IMPERSONATES A MORE MASCULINE CHARACTER?