Medusa: A beautiful and profound retelling of Medusa’s story

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Not only is the writing so wonderfully feminist, it is also beautiful. Jessie Burton writes Medusa in such a heartbreaking and (finally) humanising way so that I wanted to weep for this young girl of 18 who had only ever been treated horrendously and subject to misogynistic thinking. I loved Medusa more than I have loved any character in a book for a long time, I am still in awe of how Burton brought her to life so well and made my heart break for her. I’d been looking forward to this retelling of Medusa’s tale since it was announced and thankfully, Jessie Burton didn’t let me down. I’d never read any of her previous books before, and I’m so very glad that I finally did. I had a grand time reading this. So she’s eventually taken to the place. Mila tries to find a way to save Iris and essentially lift the curse from the town. If you want to know what happens next, collect the book and enjoy your nighttime.

The glorious illustrations add to the emotion of the story. They are bold and colourful. I’m sure this format is one that would entice younger readers to read (whether mythology or other stories). And this format is also one which I feel would reignite the wonder of more mature readers to revisit these wonderful tales. Apollonius of Rhodes’ Argonautica 4.828ff; Eustathius on Homer’s Odyssey 12.85; scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes’ Argonautica 4.828; scholia on Plato’s Republic 9, 588c. However, other sources gave Scylla different parents. ↩ In most ancient sources, Medusa and the Gorgons were imbued with a terrifying appearance. Aeschylus, for example, in his fifth-century BCE tragedy Prometheus Bound, described them as “three winged sisters, the snake-haired Gorgons, loathed of mankind, whom no one of mortal kind shall look upon and still draw breath.” [6] It was said that anybody who looked upon Medusa (or her sisters) was immediately turned to stone. We learn how Medusa came by her notable do. After being sexually assaulted by Poseidon in one of Athena’s temples, the goddess was appalled. No, not by the rape. I mean a god’s gotta do what a god’s gotta do. But that he raped Medusa in Athena’s temple! Desecration! Well, that cannot go unpunished. So, Athena seeks revenge on Poseidon by assaulting Medusa, figuring, we guess, that this might make Poseidon sad, or something. Uses her goddess powers to turn Medusa’s hair to snakes and her eyes to weapons of mass destruction. Any living creature she looks at will be lithified. Wow this book is another in a Medusa mythology retelling and it was needed! This tells Medusa’s story and gives her a voice which very few mythology tellings give notice to.Exiled to a far-flung island at the whims of Gods, Medusa has little company except the snakes she has for hair—until a beautiful and charming boy, Perseus arrives on the island and Medusa’s alone no longer. Disrupting her loneliness with the force of a supernova, unleashing desire,love and betrayal.... Both Medusa and Perseus just youngsters, who were falling in love. Both forced to change, to be something they’re not. Medusa forced by the gods. Perseus forced by King Polydectes. These books allow you to engage with a captivating mythological character, gain cultural and literary knowledge, and explore thought-provoking themes that resonate beyond the ancient world. I cannot praise the exceptionally written narrative and beautifully lyrical prose without mentioning the stunning illustrations by Olivia Lomenech-Gill. They truly bring Medusa and her story to life, I was honestly mesmerised by how hauntingly beautiful they were. If I told you that I’d killed a man with a glance, would you wait to hear the rest? The why, the how, what happened next?”

In one of his poems, Pindar applied the epithet euparaos (“fair-cheeked”) to Medusa. [1] Attributes Locale The book is a sensitive view of Medusa that we don’t usually have the opportunity to consider. Her fate designated at the hands of a God and Goddess feels cruel, how through no fault of her own has she been so horribly damned. As the story progresses, her sense of worth and hope grows. Perhaps she has overimagined or misunderstood Athena’s curse – “Woe betide any man fool enough to look upon you now!” Perhaps Perseus can help! Zeus feels a need to help the kid out. I mean, Perseus may be a bastard, but hey, in Greek mythology, that would put him in the majority. Am I right? Still, he is Zeus’s bastard, so Pop does what he can to help him out, sending along two gods to coach and aid the lad as needed. Hermes and Athena snark all over Perseus, pointing out his many weaknesses and flaws, while providing some very real assistance. They may not hold the kid in high regard, but neither can they piss off the boss. Very high school gym, and totally hilarious. People think your beauty is their possession. As if it’s there for their pleasure, as if they’ve got something invested in it. They think you owe them for their admiration.

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Medusa’s sisters, who are both immortal, think that the only way to stop a god is to ask another god for help. They ask Athena to help. Athena gives Medusa refuge in her temple, and for a short time it appears that everything is fine. But Poseidon, enraged, leaves the sea and rapes Medusa, destroying Athena’s temple in the process. When Athena finds out what has happened, she blames Medusa for desecrating her temple and sanctuary. Just as enraged as Poseidon, Athena turns each and every strand of Medusa’s beautiful hair into a snake. She then declares, “Woe betide any man fool enough to look upon you”. I do believe that every reader of this book knows what she means, but Medusa is puzzled. Is it a warning? The art was beautiful, and this book had so much promise for me - but unfortunately fell very flat. Perseus Confronting Phineus with the Head of Medusa by Sebastiano Ricci. ( Public Domain ) Keeping the Medusa Myth Alive This desecration of her temple infuriates Athena, who, instead of punishing Poseidon, directs her wrath toward Medusa. As punishment for the act within her sacred temple, Athena transforms Medusa into a hideous monster with venomous snakes for hair and the ability to turn anyone who looks at her directly into the stone. Jessie Burton has followed down the path taken by writers such as Pat Barker, Madeline Miller, and Natalie Haynes. And that path is retelling these ancient myths from the perspective of, not minor characters, but characters who do not shine in the spotlight. In particular the female voice rarely heard in many of these tales.

What is relatively new is the way in which female mythological characters are now being placed at the centre of narratives in which they’ve traditionally been peripheral. Taking her lead from the likes of Pat Barker and Madeline Miller, Higgins’s Greek Myths: A New Retelling is narrated by female characters. Or rather, it’s woven by female characters, because to give voice to this very 21st-century impulse, she uses a classical literary convention known as ekphrasis, or the telling of tales through descriptions of striking works of art – in this case, tapestries.

The Powers of Medusa’s Head

I had a map I had a star, but I also made hurricanes. I am telling you this because you need to understand what happened when Perseus turned up on my island. I made a choice, but also that choice was beyond me, waiting for its making” I’d imagine that if I said the name Medusa to you, the picture that would immediately spring to mind would be of a wild eyed harridan, with snakes madly circling her head.

Thus, the description of Medusa changed from one of an alluring lady, as Ovid describes in Metamorphoses:The World Entire retells the famous story of Medusa and Perseus. Medusa is the character with the snakes who looked upon her would turn to stone. She’s always portrayed as a monster and an evil creature. Perseus is the Greek hero who came to defeat her so we could win the heart of Andromeda. I wasn’t expecting The Odyssey, but i was expecting some effort to at least pretend like the author was trying to make it authentic to Ancient Greece… Instead, I kept finding turns or phrase or stylistic choices that decidedly didn’t belong in this era - like “girlfriend” and “boyfriend” - and honestly it was distracting - it kept taking me out of the story.