Medusa, The Viticim

An entry essay written by Evelyn-Rose Brimley for the enterance exam to the Men of Letters.
We all know the myth of Medusa the Gorgon. It’s taught in schools and universities, used in writing, displayed in the movies to warn all that see: this is what happens to women who don’t obey. This is what to expect when dealing with women who speak out. They’re monsters; they turn men to stone with a single stare. They’ll bring families to ruin. Turn away and do not look, lest you become her next victim.
Now ask yourself. How did Medusa come to be the monster in the cave that many a brave men sought out to kill? What was she before the snakes and curse? How many know this answer without having to read the myth – in full. Not the adulterated script that plenty of historical writers and mythological scholars’ have whittled it down to. Who was Medusa before she was the monster?
This essay is not about the history of Medusa, it is about the history of victim blaming and the re-writing of history to reflect the writer’s personal beliefs and ethics. It’s about how all documents, before and after this recorded myth, have always been bias to the historians’ perspectives throughout out time. The issue at hand is not the truth of who is to blame and who the true victim is, but the systematic issue with recorded histories and the necessity to vet all new knowledge to not only perceive both ‘sides’ of every tale. Only then can the truth be discovered.
The mythos that is well known is as follows: Medusa was a Gorgon given the task and title of preserving the sanctity of Athena’s temple. Athena, goddess of war and virginity, held both these aspects paramount. Failure in either of these would be a punishment of eternal death, however Athena felt it necessary to punish Medusa with turning her hair to venomous snakes and a stare that would turn anyone to stone.
Some would say this was a fate worse than death – to be seen as a monster the remainder of your days until you were hunted down. However, to a victim, being turned into a monster, able to prevent anyone from ever touching or harming them again, would give them piece of mind.
As the legend is written, Poseidon found Medusa beauty overwhelming. Despite being rejected by the temple maiden on several accounts, he simply could not prevent himself and one day took Medusa in Athena’s temple, defiling it and her. At this time our recorded myths state that Athena was enraged and punished Medusa by turning her into the monster. However, the punishment should have been death. Place yourself within Athena’s shoes. Your faithful temple maiden has been ruined within your own walls, the remainder of the gods are demanding she be put to death for her trespasses. The Greek pantheon is a veritable ‘boys club’ and refusing outright would only have both of them killed for defiance. The only plausible outcome was to turn the victim into something the male gods would see as a monster but would empower the victim and give her peace of mind.
Should Medusa have considered herself a monster, not a victim, she would have torn through the streets of Greece, turning men, women and children to stone before her. She would be an unstoppable powerhouse without the intervention of the gods. Instead she fled. She hid herself away from everyone in a place she believed to be safe. Some may argue that Athena was truly punishing Medusa, their premise hinging on the fact that she later gave Perseus a mirror shield to end the Gorgon but the fact remains the same. The shield prevented Medusa from a painful death – instead allowing her to be turned to stone and feel nothing when Perseus decapitated her. Following that, Athena retained the shield with her ‘monsters’ head on going – it even became a symbol under the god for the wrath of women leading into the modern centuries.
Historians wrote and rewrote the histories of our tales to reflect their own image and mindsets. Should this myth be read and re-written by a female historian, it would have likely been a story of heroism for Athena and a path of glory for Medusa.