If you are at all familiar with Greek mythology, chances are you know who Medusa is. Cursed by the goddess of Athena for having the audacity to be raped in her temple, Medusa was transformed into a gorgon and later slain by Perseus. Roman poet, Ovid described Medusa as having many suitors, having Perseus go as far as to declare the punishment was deserved.
And then, Perseus cut off her head.
There is one particular excerpt from Ovid’s Metamorphosis: “She was once most beautiful, and the jealous aspiration of many suitors. Of all her beauties none was more admired than her hair… They say that Neptune, lord of the seas, violated her in the temple of Minerva.”
Medusa’s crime that was worthy of punishment was her beauty. Her beauty led to her assault because a man saw something he wanted and decided he could take it.
It’s a familiar tale to many, and the outcome is always the same.
In the end, the victim is blamed for being raped, for allowing it to happen. The questions of what she was wearing, how she acted and why she didn’t run or fight arise. The questions asked are never to help her; they serve merely to scrutinize and discredit so that all those who hear of her experience can walk away without care or second thought.
The most interesting thing about Medusa’s story is that it is told by a man from his perspective. We never hear her story.
A man rapes her inside Athena’s temple. A man spreads the news, where he tells of a beautiful woman who was cursed for being violated, who has been turned into a monster. A man kills her and carries her head like a trophy, giving it as a gift to the goddess who made her into a monster.
All we know is told from the bias of an onlooker, not the victim. It is told by a man who’s only connection to her is directly tied to her murder. The story of Medusa is not really her story.
No, the story of Medusa, just like the story of so many victims, is the story of the onlookers and the rapists.
Despite her suffering, we are taught to view Medusa as a monster. She turns people to stone with a simple glance, she’s a gorgon and is no longer human. Medusa is dangerous.
And yet, Medusa is just like other victims of such a crime. She was violated and then castrated by society, painted to be the perpetrator instead of the victim. Her image is marred and ruined, her life brought to shambles, all while her rapist, Poseidon or Neptune, continues on without consequences.
The story of Medusa is not her own; it is a story of men and their desires. It isn’t until you look past the words written on the page that you can truly see her story for what it is. A common, cautionary tale.
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