This site is dedicated to Medusa
I saw you once, Medusa; we were alone.
I looked you straight in the cold eye, cold.
I was not punished, was not turned to stone –
How to believe the legends I am told?…
(Stanza copyright 1978 from Invocations and Mythologies in Collected Poems of May Sarton)
To meet Medusa is to meet a symbol of that which dies, so that from death may come life, and thus a symbol of fear. For to look directly at Medusa is to look at your own mortality. Or so it is said. But many things have been said about Medusa, and most of them are simply not true.
We read in Bullfinch that Medusa was a horrifying Gorgon, a frightening gargoyle of an ugly old woman with vicious snakes for hair. So revolting and horrible was the sight of her, that just one look turned you to stone!
In this tale, Medusa was once a beautiful girl, with sea-green eyes and a rich mane of russet curls but, alas, she dared to compare herself to Athena. For her presumption she was transformed into a cruel monster of frightening aspect.
Another story says that Poisedon (in the form of a horse) raped her in the temple of Athene. If this is the true version, it would not be the first, or the last time, that a woman was punished for being abused. Medusa, portrayed as the guilty party in the rape, went off to hide her shame and humiliation in a deep cave.
In any case, as a monster, her gaze could turn men into stone which was perhaps not a bad idea and must have afforded the poor girl some consolation. All around the cavern where she dwelt might be seen the stony figures of men, the ossified remains of ancient stalkers and Peeping Toms who had so rudely tried to violate her privacy.
What Medusa means
The Greek story can demonstrate the overthrow of the great goddess religions as the male gods like Zeus and Poseidon took power.
It’s viewed by many, like Alicia Le Van, as expressive of the subjugation of women by a violent and oppressive male-oriented culture, a culture which viewed the life-giving, creative energy of Medusa as threatening.
And she is decapitated, she is silenced.
In this way the female wisdom of Medusa, along with the wisdom of all women in general, is silenced, and the forces of nature are conquered in an ultimate act of domination.