Thursday Confession

Thursday Confession
In which I try to reveal one of my obsessions, secrets, stupid kinks about myself that I wouldn't otherwise talk about in normal conversation.

I have an intense obsession with Medusa.
In Greek mythology, Medusa was one of the three Gorgon sisters - the other two being Stheno and Euryale. They are described thus:
Near them their sisters three, the Gorgons, winged
With snakes for hair— hated of mortal man—

In Ovid's Metamorphoses is it said that originally Medusa was beautiful and lived as a priestess in the goddess Athena's temple, but became filled with rage and hatred for men after she was raped by Poseidon in the temple. Athena effects a punishment upon Medusa, transforming her hair to snakes and disfiguring her face with blind fury so that any man who looks upon it will be turned to stone. It's good to see victim-blaming was alive and well back in BC.
The gorgons are conversely described as either being of monstrous form, or as beautiful as they are terrifying. I prefer the latter description.

In the tale, Perseus is sent by the his future father-in-law King Polydectes to retrieve Medusa's head as a gift. He travels to the island where the Gorgons live, and is aided by Athena and Hermes, who each give him magical swords, shields and the like as Gods tend to do. Perseus eventually decaptitates Medusa by looking at her reflection in his shield as he cuts off her head. He puts it in a sack and takes it back to the King. The sight of Medusa's terrible severed head turns the King to stone, Perseus' mother is saved, all is right with the world, some people go off and marry their mother, Zeus rapes a few more women, some guy travels to the ends of the earth for no reason, more women are condemned to Hades, the world keeps spinning and the heavens are still held on the shoulders of Atlas.
Athena is given the head of Medusa and attaches it to her shield, the Aegis, and by this time I think it's safe to say Athena is a stone cold bitch. But that's a post for another time.

While there are a lot of things to despise about this tale - punishing a victim for her rape, having her killed - the idea of Medusa is so alluring and so powerful that I can't help but love it. Even if she is murdered in the end, her power never dies. She is the personification of female power and raw fury. So gaze upon her.

Stay tuned for posts on Athena and Persephone!
Please leave a comment if you wish me to explore any other awesome woman figures in mythology - Greek, Roman, Celtic, Norse, I love them all.