Seeking meaning behind Medusa

Medusa by Arnold Bocklin

I have recently discovered a new show called Clash of the Gods on the History Channel, and find it quite interesting as it reviews a variety of myths and explores their real world connections behind the myth. I have most recently watched their exploration of the Medusa myth which provoked some interesting thoughts in my own evaluation of it, as I do not completely agree to the same conclusions they came to in certain aspects of the myth.

Before going into my interpretation of the myth, a brief overview of the myth for those who may not be familiar with the details of it. Medusa began as a young maiden of renowned beauty but who could be obtained by no one because she served as a priestess of Athena, and thus she took a vow of chastity. But there was one man who would not let that stop him. When Medusa was within Athena’s very temple Poseidon approached and raped Medusa upon the temple floor before the eye of Athena. Athena was outraged but Poseidon  himself could not be punished, for one, it was accepted that he was simply acting within his nature as a god and could be expected to behave no differently than he had. Punishing Poseidon for what he had down would have been like punishing a carnivore for eating meat. So it was than that the curse was placed upon Medusa and she became the Gorgon and sent away to be isolated upon the island.

The point where I tend to somewhat vary in my personal interpretation of this myth is to view what became of Medusa as a punishment against her. It may certainly appear like a punishment, to be turned into this hideous monster destined to live exiled and alone forever, but that is the first mistake to make, to try and apply a mortal perception to the gods. They are beyond us, beyond our limitations and they are not bound to mortal conceptions of morality and punishment.

It is similar to the idea of being careful what you wish for, we may not understand the ways of the gods, so they may grant our wishes in ways that are not how we have intended. One can see this in considering Artemis who was known to turn a woman into a tree who asked for her protection against the purists of Apollo. Being turned into a tree might not appear to be the ideal solution, but it had preserved her from falling prey to Apollo, so the gods do not always act in a way we understand or in a way that might appear to be of our best interest when they are turned to.

With this it is time to further examine the Medusa story, and how it may be perceived as anything but a punishment. For one thing, a rather interesting factor in the story is the fact that Medusa’s monstrosity was in fact reflecting upon her exterior the way she would have been viewed by society after what became of her. In spite of the fact that she was the victim in Greek society she would have been exiled for what happened to her, she would not have been able to obtain a normal marriage and no longer being virginal she lost her place in the temple, so she would have been exiled by society and viewed as if she were a monster and she would have nothing to protect her from being subject to the crime again by others.

So what does Athena do? Makes Medusa into one of the most powerful woman there is, she ultimately insures that no man can ever touch of offend Medusa ever again, and gives her the ability to have her revenge at last in her own way. Being that Poseidon himself is beyond punishment, Athena through Medusa punishes mankind for the crime. With nothing more than a look Medusa can turn to stone any man who tries to come near her. She becomes feared, and almost untouchable.

But of course she is in the end fated to meet her eventual death when the young hero Perseus comes along, but even in her death, Medusa is able to have a sort of final revenge and Athena strikes out against the crime which had befallen the priestess. The severed head of Medusa is rather poetically used to protect another woman from having to suffer as she herself once dead.

The mother of Perseus was at the mercy of men whom wished her only harm, first her father whom had locked her away in a tower with the hope she would die because of the prophecy about the death a child by her would bring him, and when Zeus impregnated her, he sends her away out to sea once more hoping she would die without him having to get his hands dirty. But with the aid of Zeus she lives and is brought to an island, there the King decided he wants her and demands to make her his wife against her wishes.

So Perseus goes upon his quest for the head of Medusa to preserve his mother, and after defeated the monster returns just in time to stop the wedding using the head of Medusa to kill his mother’s tormentors, both her father, and her would be husband.

So Medusa’s life might not have been pleasant, not by human standards, but there was nonetheless a sense of divine justice behind it.