MEDUSA
Medusa, Caravaggio, 1597, oil on canvas.
Cristianna Willamson
Medusa by Caravaggio shows incredible technical skills but depicts the infamous Gorgon in a negative light due to the violent subject matter and artistic choices by Caravaggio (Caravaggio). Caravaggio was infamous for his high-contrast oil paintings that depict questionable subject matter. His art was met with much controversy and disgust because of his violent and sexualized depictions. Caravaggio painted two versions of Head of Medusa (Image 1). The first was also called Murtula and was found after his passing. The second and more famous Medusa was commissioned by Cardinal del Monde as a trophy for the Grand Duke defeating his enemies. When viewing this piece, viewers see Medusa beheaded with a shocked look on her face. Her neck is violently severed and the blood is pouring out. Her face is filled with shock and the snakes coiled around her head squirm. When looking closer at this piece viewers see that the face is modeled by Caravaggio himself, hinting that he is the only one safe from Medusa's gaze. This piece is technically challenging due to its high contrast, difficult subject matter, and its almost lifelike look. Viewers state that visiting this piece in person is shocking because the head seems to pop out of the canvas because the shadowing is flawless. This is also a unique piece because of the painted sphere which accentuates the look of Medusa coming out of the canvas. Although this piece is technically perfect, it paints Medusa in a negative way. For starters, Medusa looks shocked but some may argue that her eyes carry rage inside. She is commonly depicted as the bad guy which hurts her name and image. In Greek mythology, Medusa is said to turn anyone who looks at her to stone. And later in life her head was cut off by Perseus and used as a weapon. This is because Medusa was the only mortal of her Gorgon sisters (Lecture 4). This is a clear depiction of the crossing between mortals and gods. In this myth, her body was used as a weapon for Perseus’s benefit. Although many see her as a monster due to her incredible powers, she can actually be considered a victim. In ancient traditions, she was referred to as beautiful and “normal looking”. Many Medusa depictions since show her looking dangerous and violent, painting her as a criminal. Depictions like Caravaggios support those claims because she is depicted without beauty and a hint of rage. She seems violent and passersby would be fearful of this piece because it is filled with gour. This adds to her image problem and continues the narrative of Medusa being a villain. In recent years, Medusa has been repainted from a feminist perspective. What was an image of “female rage” has since been rewritten to show feminism and beauty. And she has since become the image of the popular designer brand Versace. And now that her image has been repainted, her story must be told.
Medusa- Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV Series (2023)
Loreley Drees
Most everyone has heard of Medusa, the monstrous Gorgon with snakes for hair that can petrify her victims.. Fewer people know of the epic quest of Perseus, in which he “heroically” brought back the decapitated head of Medusa to King Polydectes in a kibisis, after boasting that he could “just as easily give Polydectes the Gorgon’s head” (Morford pg. 533) as a horse for a gift. And less people know that Medusa was not always a “monster”. Indeed, according to Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”, she was turned into a Gorgon by the goddess of warfare herself, Athena. Before her transformation, Medusa was a very beautiful maiden who served as a priestess in Athena’s temple. She was so beautiful in fact, that she captured the eye of Athena’s rival Poseidon, who ultimately ended up raping Medusa within Athena’s temple. “In retaliation for desecrating her shrine” (Maquire), Athena turned Medusa’s hair into snakes, thus turning her into the “monster” we know today. Thus, my goal throughout this essay is to highlight the complexity of Medusa, and how her origin story perpetuates harmful stereotypes of women and victims of abuse. I then aim to analyze a popular book series turned TV series, to highlight an example of good character nuance of such a misunderstood character and argue how this modern portrayal of Medusa could benefit future generations.
While earlier versions of Medusa’s story, primarily Hesiod’s “Theogony”, depict Medusa and her sisters as the offspring of Phorcys and Ceto, Ovid’s adaptation was much more popular, hence why this version is all the more impactful in society today. The narration of Poseidon’s advances on Medusa also vary. In the “Theogony”, Poseidon and Medusa made love in a meadow with flowers, and the language seems to be neutral in terms of reciprocation. However, the field of flowers could also mirror the field in which Hades abducted Persephone, who was also singled out in some way from her friends (rather than sisters in Medusa’s case), so this could indicate some levels of non-consensual sexual activity. While Hesiod's version of Medusa does not involve Athena, Ovid’s does and further perpetuates harmful stereotypes that pit women against one another. Supposably, Athena aided Persus in the killing of Medusa because “the girl had been willing to have her beauty compared to [that of herself]”, (Maquire). Through this lens, it appears that the grey eyed goddess felt threatened by the beauty of Medusa, and thus seeked to enact revenge upon her competition, which is a common female trope in many pieces of media. However, this trope also makes both women in the narrative submissive and dependent on a male figure. In this instance, Athena because she was likely unable to punish a fellow god as easily as a mortal, and Medusa because she was unable to shake off the unwanted advances of the same god. Both women are scrutinized and seen as petty, while the main person (or god shall we say) to blame is given a free get out of jail free card for his problematic behavior.
Not only is this narrative demeaning of women, but this trope also excuses the behavior of many real men who have been let off due to similar circumstances. Therefore, it is quite refreshing to see instances in the media where this myth is retold in a more female empowering way. In Rick Riordan’s TV series “The Lightning Thief”, as derived from the book, Percy and his friends encounter Medusa disguised as Aunty Em at the Garden Gnome Emporium, where she invites the young heroes to seek refuge in her house after being chased by the Fury Alecto. Here she tells her own story of how she came to be a “monster”, claiming that Athena was everything to her, but that the goddess never acknowledged her efforts and prayers. But then Poseidon came around, “the sea god told me that he loved me. I felt as though he saw me in a way I had never felt seen before. But then Athena declared that I had embarrassed her and I needed to be punished. Not him. Me,” (Riordan Ep. 3). While the show is aimed towards younger audiences and the word rape is never explicitly used, the discussion of power imbalances is brought up, painting Medusa in a more sympathetic light. Riordan even emphasized this himself in interviews “the real curse wasn’t making her ugly. It was making her invisible” (Hailu citing Riordan). Invisibility is something many victims of sexual abuse face, and Medusa’s challenge in this adaptation is grappling with the trauma she has faced at the hands of the gods. While she still is a villian and attempts to manipulate Percy to ditch his friends so he can save his mother, this adaptation still adds more nuance to Medusa’s character, making her a tragic villain who audiences can actually sympathize with. Additionally, making Medusa beautiful in this adaptation, in her stylish dress, heels, and red lipstick, takes away that monstrous side of her, and really allows viewers to see her as a traumatized woman instead of an outright monster.
Perhaps the best part of all is that because this TV Series is aimed at younger people, they now get to see this new twist on an iconic villain from mythology. By humanizing Medusa and shedding more light on the problematic behavior of Poseidon and to some extent Athena, perhaps people can begin to think more critically about abuse of power, and how good people can be driven to do bad things. Not all monsters are inherently evil, and not all heroes are inherently good. And, if we want to begin retelling the tragic story of Medusa, to give women more agency in these very real situations that transcend myth, what is not a better place to do so than with our next generation of leaders.
Works Cited
Hailu, S. (2023, December 30). How “Percy Jackson” updated the book’s Medusa storyline to get closer to the original myth: “she was a victim of rape.” Variety. https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/percy-jackson-change-medusa-book-rape-myth-1235850337/
Information from Lecture 4 of CLAS 430
Macquire, K. (2023, August 22). Medusa. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/Medusa/
“Medusa, 1597 by Caravaggio.” Caravaggio, www.caravaggio.org/medusa.jsp. Accessed 19 Feb. 2025.
Morford, M., & Sham, M. (2023). Classical mythology 12th edition. Oxford University Press, USA.
Steinberg, J. E., Rirodan, Rick (2023). Percy Jackson and the Olympians [TV Series]. Ep 03, United States of America; Disney+.