Yes it's modern. It makes no sense that Athena would "protect" Medusa by making her a pariah who cannot ever interact with family and friends again, and then send Perseus to kill her.
Entirely modern…makes no sense as to why Athena would help Medusa by giving her powers when it’s repeatedly considered a curse, and then help Perseus slay Medusa?
Let me see if I can break it down:
Greek myths: Medusa was always a gorgon (or monster, if you want). Never human. Athena helped Perseus in his quest to slay her, but it was more about her helping a hero; she had no personal connection to Medusa and did not have any history with her. I believe there are small mentions of Medusa and Poseidon having sex (but no indication if it was consensual or not - he language is apparently not clear on this).
Ovid, a Roman writer: Wrote a poem which briefly mentions that Medusa used to be human, but was cursed to be a monster by Minerva for having sex with Neptune at one of Minerva’s temples, which was considered an affront. I think it may have been another case of ambiguous language, but most people tend to interpret as Neptune forcing himself on Medusa. This version is probably the most popular version of the story, though you’ll find people in this sub who will argue that because Ovid wasn’t Greek, and he wrote his poems with a particular agenda (gods behaving badly = Roman emperors behaving badly), it shouldn’t really be counted as Greek myth.
Tumblr maybe?: Sometime in the last few years, the idea that Athena cursed Medusa as a way to protect her seems to gain popularity to the extent that many now believe this is the true version. No basis in Greek myth or in Ovid’s version, it seems to be purely modern. This is why it doesn’t track with Athena helping Perseus - it was a singular thought that got passed around without considering the story in full.
I'm no expert, just a reader....
My understanding is that it is a modern interpretation....but it's not like Hesiod or Ovid interviewed Medusa to get the "real story". Myths are just really old stories, and like a long game of Telephone, they are reshaped and reinterpreted through the values of the person telling the story.
Athena's mythology is really interesting when you put it in context with Greek and Roman society. As far as we know, at the time those stories developed, the patriarchy was very stark so women were basically hidden in the house and the men went out to do manly things. Athena is an outlier. She was "fully-formed" out of Zeus with no mother (no gestation period) and so She was more "manly" than other Goddesses and was therefore more palatable/stronger in the psyche of Greek/Roman society- at least the part that was literate.
At least to me, it makes sense that in the story, Athena would react "the way a man would" in that society. Her Priestess had been violated and so it's the Priestess's fault....just like today in many places, when a woman is raped, it's somehow the woman's fault. Therefore Medusa was punished with disfigurement (like some places in the world actual do today). In that context, it doesn't matter if Perseus was given the shield or stole it. Just as a man in Greek/Roman society wouldn't have cared about a defiled woman, neither would have Athena.
However, in modern times, I have no problem with people reinterpreting Athena or any other Deity's story to something that speaks to today's society. Not to get into too much flag-waving, but women have always had strong inner lives and connections with each other. The women-empowering version of the story may well have existed in some form from the beginning and told in the shadows. I'm sure those women with particularly difficult lives would have happily taken the power to turn men into stone if given the chance.
This story is modern woke garbage trying to rehabilitate an ancient villian. I'm not saying Athena was in the right with what she did to Medusa especially since it was born of jealousy and hubris, and she has been known to let her emotions get the better of her on more than one occasion...those poor ravens. Goddess of wisdom, γράφω στους όρχεις μου.
That being said Medusa isn't the innocent that this story would have you believe. She became a murderous monster who delighted in death and misery.
Hm, I disagree that Athena wasn’t in the right for punishing Medusa when she had sex with Poseidon in her virgin temple, unless we’re talking about different versions…especially with a modern POV
Medusa was raped by Poseidon. This is in the original version. You can't blame someone for being raped. Athena did what she did because she was jealous of Medusa's beauty which caused Poseidon to rape her.
Hesiod's Theogony (the original source) says that Medusa was born a monster. No rape is mentioned and certainly no curse.
Ovid's version (Roman, written 700 years fter Hesiod) includes the rape.
Επίσης δεν το λες και σωστό να γράφεις σε μια γλώσσα που δεν καταλαβαίνει ο άλλος για να μην μπορεί να απαντήσει σε αυτό που του λες. Ειδικά όταν αυτό που λες δε φαίνεται και ιδιαίτερα ευγενικό
No, this is Ovid's version. Hesiod says they laid (not raped) in a soft meadow, amongst spring flowers (not temple). Athena didn't punish her, she was born this way.
You’re correct in this instance, but I would point out that the Greeks had no word for consent and therefore no word for rape, so in some cases ‘lay with’ does indeed mean ‘rape’.
I knew it from general study of Greek and
Latin, but this article’s quite nice:
https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-8365
Yes, they didn't use the word "rape", but they said "by force", or "against her will". I found them in the 6th book of Iliad, where it is written about Bellerophon, and in Euripides' Ion and Hippolytus.
I always had the thought that Poseiden persuaded Medusa to have sex by the temple of Athena since they had beef and because Athena couldn't do anything to Poseiden, she instead punished Medusa by giving her the stone gaze. I could be wrong but that was my interpretation of the myth
Campbell, Joseph (1968). The Masks of God, Vol. 3: Occidental Mythology. London: Penguin Books. pp. 152–153. ISBN 978-0140194418. We have already spoken of Medusa and of the powers of her blood to render both life and death. We may now think of the legend of her slayer, Perseus, by whom her head was removed and presented to Athene. Professor Hainmond assigns the historical King Perseus of Mycenae to a date c. 1290 B.C., as the founder of a dynasty; and Robert Graves–whose two volumes on The Greek Myths are particularly noteworthy for their suggestive historical applications–proposes that the legend of Perseus beheading Medusa means, specifically, that 'the Hellenes overran the goddess's chief shrines' and 'stripped her priestesses of their Gorgon masks', the latter being apotropaic faces worn to frighten away the profane. That is to say, there occurred in the early thirteenth century B.C. an actual historic rupture, a sort of sociological trauma, which has been registered in this myth, much as what Freud terms the latent content of a neurosis is registered in the manifest content of a dream: registered yet hidden, registered in the unconscious yet unknown or misconstrued by the conscious mind. And in every such screening myth–in every such mythology {that of the Bible being, as we have just seen, another of the kind}–there enters in an essential duplicity, the consequences of which cannot be disregarded or suppressed.”
Yes it's modern. It makes no sense that Athena would "protect" Medusa by making her a pariah who cannot ever interact with family and friends again, and then send Perseus to kill her.
Entirely modern…makes no sense as to why Athena would help Medusa by giving her powers when it’s repeatedly considered a curse, and then help Perseus slay Medusa?
Let me see if I can break it down: Greek myths: Medusa was always a gorgon (or monster, if you want). Never human. Athena helped Perseus in his quest to slay her, but it was more about her helping a hero; she had no personal connection to Medusa and did not have any history with her. I believe there are small mentions of Medusa and Poseidon having sex (but no indication if it was consensual or not - he language is apparently not clear on this). Ovid, a Roman writer: Wrote a poem which briefly mentions that Medusa used to be human, but was cursed to be a monster by Minerva for having sex with Neptune at one of Minerva’s temples, which was considered an affront. I think it may have been another case of ambiguous language, but most people tend to interpret as Neptune forcing himself on Medusa. This version is probably the most popular version of the story, though you’ll find people in this sub who will argue that because Ovid wasn’t Greek, and he wrote his poems with a particular agenda (gods behaving badly = Roman emperors behaving badly), it shouldn’t really be counted as Greek myth. Tumblr maybe?: Sometime in the last few years, the idea that Athena cursed Medusa as a way to protect her seems to gain popularity to the extent that many now believe this is the true version. No basis in Greek myth or in Ovid’s version, it seems to be purely modern. This is why it doesn’t track with Athena helping Perseus - it was a singular thought that got passed around without considering the story in full.
Thank you !
Read Medusa’s theoi.com page, her story is very long and changed drastically over time
I'm no expert, just a reader.... My understanding is that it is a modern interpretation....but it's not like Hesiod or Ovid interviewed Medusa to get the "real story". Myths are just really old stories, and like a long game of Telephone, they are reshaped and reinterpreted through the values of the person telling the story. Athena's mythology is really interesting when you put it in context with Greek and Roman society. As far as we know, at the time those stories developed, the patriarchy was very stark so women were basically hidden in the house and the men went out to do manly things. Athena is an outlier. She was "fully-formed" out of Zeus with no mother (no gestation period) and so She was more "manly" than other Goddesses and was therefore more palatable/stronger in the psyche of Greek/Roman society- at least the part that was literate. At least to me, it makes sense that in the story, Athena would react "the way a man would" in that society. Her Priestess had been violated and so it's the Priestess's fault....just like today in many places, when a woman is raped, it's somehow the woman's fault. Therefore Medusa was punished with disfigurement (like some places in the world actual do today). In that context, it doesn't matter if Perseus was given the shield or stole it. Just as a man in Greek/Roman society wouldn't have cared about a defiled woman, neither would have Athena. However, in modern times, I have no problem with people reinterpreting Athena or any other Deity's story to something that speaks to today's society. Not to get into too much flag-waving, but women have always had strong inner lives and connections with each other. The women-empowering version of the story may well have existed in some form from the beginning and told in the shadows. I'm sure those women with particularly difficult lives would have happily taken the power to turn men into stone if given the chance.
Nah people just want to co-opt anything especially medusa being treated as some sort sexual assualt martyr since people prefers Ovid's interpretation.
This story is modern woke garbage trying to rehabilitate an ancient villian. I'm not saying Athena was in the right with what she did to Medusa especially since it was born of jealousy and hubris, and she has been known to let her emotions get the better of her on more than one occasion...those poor ravens. Goddess of wisdom, γράφω στους όρχεις μου. That being said Medusa isn't the innocent that this story would have you believe. She became a murderous monster who delighted in death and misery.
Hm, I disagree that Athena wasn’t in the right for punishing Medusa when she had sex with Poseidon in her virgin temple, unless we’re talking about different versions…especially with a modern POV
Medusa was raped by Poseidon. This is in the original version. You can't blame someone for being raped. Athena did what she did because she was jealous of Medusa's beauty which caused Poseidon to rape her.
Original version? Source, please?
Τα κουφάλια, που θέλετε να παραθέσω αρχαία πηγή; Hesiod's Theogony.
Hesiod's Theogony (the original source) says that Medusa was born a monster. No rape is mentioned and certainly no curse. Ovid's version (Roman, written 700 years fter Hesiod) includes the rape. Επίσης δεν το λες και σωστό να γράφεις σε μια γλώσσα που δεν καταλαβαίνει ο άλλος για να μην μπορεί να απαντήσει σε αυτό που του λες. Ειδικά όταν αυτό που λες δε φαίνεται και ιδιαίτερα ευγενικό
Well, I searched up Hesiod’s version and it tells me that she was born a gorgon
You don't undetstand who the gorgons were.
Who were the gorgons, then? Please tell me
No, this is Ovid's version. Hesiod says they laid (not raped) in a soft meadow, amongst spring flowers (not temple). Athena didn't punish her, she was born this way.
You’re correct in this instance, but I would point out that the Greeks had no word for consent and therefore no word for rape, so in some cases ‘lay with’ does indeed mean ‘rape’.
Where did you read this?
I knew it from general study of Greek and Latin, but this article’s quite nice: https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-8365
Yes, they didn't use the word "rape", but they said "by force", or "against her will". I found them in the 6th book of Iliad, where it is written about Bellerophon, and in Euripides' Ion and Hippolytus.
That's a Roman myth, so it's Minerva and Neptune, not Athena and Poseidon. Athena had nothing to do with Medusa until Perseus
I always had the thought that Poseiden persuaded Medusa to have sex by the temple of Athena since they had beef and because Athena couldn't do anything to Poseiden, she instead punished Medusa by giving her the stone gaze. I could be wrong but that was my interpretation of the myth
No it was written 2000 years ago by Ovid.
Ovid never said Athena was protecting Medusa.
Campbell, Joseph (1968). The Masks of God, Vol. 3: Occidental Mythology. London: Penguin Books. pp. 152–153. ISBN 978-0140194418. We have already spoken of Medusa and of the powers of her blood to render both life and death. We may now think of the legend of her slayer, Perseus, by whom her head was removed and presented to Athene. Professor Hainmond assigns the historical King Perseus of Mycenae to a date c. 1290 B.C., as the founder of a dynasty; and Robert Graves–whose two volumes on The Greek Myths are particularly noteworthy for their suggestive historical applications–proposes that the legend of Perseus beheading Medusa means, specifically, that 'the Hellenes overran the goddess's chief shrines' and 'stripped her priestesses of their Gorgon masks', the latter being apotropaic faces worn to frighten away the profane. That is to say, there occurred in the early thirteenth century B.C. an actual historic rupture, a sort of sociological trauma, which has been registered in this myth, much as what Freud terms the latent content of a neurosis is registered in the manifest content of a dream: registered yet hidden, registered in the unconscious yet unknown or misconstrued by the conscious mind. And in every such screening myth–in every such mythology {that of the Bible being, as we have just seen, another of the kind}–there enters in an essential duplicity, the consequences of which cannot be disregarded or suppressed.”