While a seemingly straightforward tale, Medusa's story explores female dynamics, female power against patriarchal forces, and the ultimate defense against the male gaze. Medusa was the emblem of female power back in Ancient Greece and a symbol of both protection and aggression.
The most common interpretation of Medusa suggests she is an apotropaic symbol used to protect from and ward off the negative, much like the modern evil eye. She represents a dangerous threat meant to deter other dangerous threats, an image of evil to repel evil.
The Moral of Medusa
This myth is actually a warning to mortals. Don't believe yourself to be equal to the gods.
Medusa became the archetypical femme fatale, a conflation of femininity, erotic desire, violence, and death. Along with the beautiful Scylla, she foreshadows the conceit of the seductive but threatening female that emerges in the late nineteenth century in reaction to women's empowerment.
Attachment theory uses the Medusa Complex to refer to a self-destructive early state of inwardly directed aggression produced by a disruption of the mother/child mutual gaze. Marion Woodman saw the Medusa Complex as a dissociated state produced by paralysis of the fight-or-flight response in a state of petrified fear.
Medusa in Modern Culture
In modern culture, Medusa is seen as a powerful symbol of female intelligence and wisdom, related to the goddess Metis, who was a wife of Zeus. The snake-like head is a symbol of her cunning, a perversion of the matrifocal ancient goddess who the Greeks must destroy.
“Medusa, in effect, became the archetypal femme fatale: a conflation of femininity, erotic desire, violence, and death,” writes Kiki Karoglou, associate curator in the Met's Department of Greek and Roman Art and organizer of Dangerous Beauty, in an issue of the Met's quarterly Bulletin on the show.
While a seemingly straightforward tale, Medusa's story explores female dynamics, female power against patriarchal forces, and the ultimate defense against the male gaze. Medusa was the emblem of female power back in Ancient Greece and a symbol of both protection and aggression.
Gazing into Medusa's eyes could turn a person into stone, so she was very dangerous to be around. People wanted her destroyed, and a man named Perseus promised to do just that. But first he had to figure out how to approach Medusa without looking at her for even a moment.
The femme fatale was presented as callous, deceitful, and violent, often using her powers of seduction as a means to destroy her enemies. This archetype rose to prominence partly in response to the shifting status of women in society.
When Medusa had an affair with the sea god Poseidon, Athena punished her. She turned Medusa into a hideous hag, making her hair into writhing snakes and her skin was turned a greenish hue. Anyone who locked gaze with Medusa was turned into stone.
In fact, Athena was jealous of Medusa's beauty and lustrous hair. Poseidon ravaged her and took what she held dearly, her purity. Athena, outraged by this incident, cursed Medusa and turned her wonderful hair into venomous snakes, her beautiful face turned so ugly that any man who gazed upon would turn to stone.
Why are people getting Medusa tattoos? The Medusa tattoo has become popular among women who have experienced sexual assault. By reclaiming the Medusa identity, they are dispelling the belief that being victimized means they ought to be cursed or punished.
Today, survivors of sexual assault use tattoos of Medusa to fight back against the narrative that victims should be shamed, blamed or punished for their assault. Medusa and her story have been reclaimed as a symbol of strength and power, with her image also being used as a mark of protection against evils.
Just as a person who has extra-acute hearing can be more easily overwhelmed by very loud noises, so too is Medusa particularly prone to psychic attacks. Her openness to others also leaves her open to attack. Medusa refers to this as a 'weakness.
It represents death and reincarnation. Snakes shed their skin and thus become a symbol of rebirth. In terms of meaning, the two elements are complementary.
Medusa even boasted that she was prettier than Athena, goddess of wisdom, who watched over Athens. Athena decided to punish Medusa for her pride.
Eventually, Medusa was beheaded whilst pregnant (carrying Poseidon's offspring, Pegasus and Chrysaor) by Perseus, who took her head and continued to use it as a weapon, turning enemies who looked upon it to stone — until he eventually returned the head to Athena, and went on to marry the princess Andromeda, who just so ...
Medusa, according to Greek mythology, she was a monster. She was the ultimate seductress and exquisitely beautiful, only except her hairs. Instead of having a head full of beautiful hair, she had a head full of poisonous snakes.
She was cold, calculated, and terrifying. Now, the same generation has turned her into a feminist icon with a story too many can relate to; instead of being a symbol of fear, Medusa has become the symbol of justice for sexual assault victims.
The story of Medusa may represent the story of abuse and vilification of not only women but men.
She is both feminine and monstrous. While she may be known for her monstrosity, her beauty remains just as dangerous. In ancient Greek society, which was “a male-centered society, the feminization of monsters served to demonize women.” Medusa is, in other words, the ultimate femme fatale.
Her beauty caught the eye of the sea god Poseidon, who proceeded to rape her in the sacred temple of Athena. Furious at the desecration of her temple, Athena transformed Medusa into a monster with the deadly capacity to turn whoever looked upon her face to stone.
A ccording to ancient Greek myth, Medusa was one of the three Gorgons. Feared as a deadly monster, her hair consisted of writhing snakes, and she would turn to stone every man who gazed into her eyes.
Medusa is also very skilled in manipulating and deceiving others. She is capable of bending almost anyone to her will through methods varying from false kindness to blackmail and even torture.