Sooo Medusa. Turns out the reason she was a monster [looking at her face would turn a man to stone in Ancient Greek mythology] was because she was raped by Poseidon. She was turned to a beast because she was raped. Pretty classic patriarchal narrative. And the good hero Perseus is aided by Athena (the goddess of war and wisdom?) to behead her… Alas, she is pregnant with twins- Pegasus (a winged-horse) and Chrysaor (a giant with a golden sword)…. and they both spring from her neck.
Medusa, is the allegorical representation of a raped woman. Some narratives have her as a beautiful woman among her Gorgon family (all beasts apparently except for her). Because she was raped in Athena’s temple by Poseidon (sacrilegious!) Athena turns her into a beast with snakes as hair and so horrid looking that anyone who lays eyes on her turns to stone.
Poseidon was an olympian presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes, and horses. His brother Zeus, ruled the skies, his other brother Hades ruled the underworld, and he the ocean when their father Cronus was overthrown…. so ya know classic Power Family….
It’s the ultimate and perhaps ORIGINAL victim blaming narrative. A “man” of great power, from a powerful family, rapes a woman and the powerful goddess whose house he uses to do such a horrid thing freaks out and turns medusa in a monster. Not supporting her but damning and blaming her. Athena is valorized in the mythologies as a warrior for good, wisdom, and handicraft. She often wears a helmet and carries a spear. She is depicted by owls, olive trees, snakes and the Gorgoneion (a protective amulet to turn away evil forces…) See below… so she wears the image of the thing she created as a means to repel it? IDFK.
Anyway- I bring all this up because a fabulously preserved mosaic of Medusa was uncovered recently in Spain and it got me thinking about how loaded this allegory actually is.
She gets turned into an “untouchable” by a woman who perpetuates patriarchal power, narratives, and systems- war etc. This untouchableness is her only defense from this happening again. Looking at her alone kills men (and women too?) by turning them into stone. So she is banished. When she’s beheaded her family sings songs of sorrow so powerful that Athena (the bitch that did this to her in the first place) creates a flute to mimic the beauty of their sorrow. Shit’s so complicated.
Medusa has been used as a symbol for feminism for decades. I need to do some more research, but I love this as a subject matter…. especially bc the art market is always so obsessed with subjective work that I have yet to focus on…. the snakes are mazes…. they are what we fight with and against.
She could be woven, CNC cut, medallions to keep us safe from patriarchal constructs and violence…. I could slip cast them out of clay or porcelain. Hang them on doors, necklaces, to ward off patriarchal violence… .
Ok- i have to go apply to jobs that have nothing to do with this…. JOy.