The real deal with Medusa

Did you know…

In the original story, the Medusa was a beautiful woman who held a very positive role. Tragedy fell upon her when she was confronted with endless hardships brought upon by male actions…very very bad actions. However, even in the face of tragedy and disgrace, Medusa was portrayed as meaningful. Just as Medusa was powerless to fight against the repressive actions forced upon her, so too was she powerless against the continual metamorphosing of the myth which resulted in the more popular myth commonly known today. In this popular version, Medusa is a monster with hair of a thousand snakes and causes everything she looks at to turn to stone. This monstrous image of the Medusa exists only because it has been directly determined by the male gaze.

The myth of Medusa is nothing more than a facade, does Medusa have the ability to turn things into stone because she is tired of male judgements (fair enough) or if her fearful imagery comes merely from our perception of her, a perception that has manifested itself from male warnings? Just saying…

By the way, how is this amazing installation at the old cistern in Istanbul? The cistern is dated from 532AC so Medusa’s column is keeping herself strong down there.