riptor5417:

epicene-street-light:

ok but can you imagine a worse, more terrifying fate than medusa’s one? just imagine. first of all you’re raped in your goddess’ temple. which, apart from the obvious trauma, means you can’t keep doing what you devoted your entire life to. your goddess gifts you with the ability to turn those you look at into stone and your hair into snakes so that you can defend yourself and be a threat rather than a victim to men. and then?????? a fucking MAN decides hes gonna hunt you down and slaughter you for…. sport like just because he can?????? and not only does he kill you but he keeps your head as a weapon???????? effectively using you and your body for his own purpose exactly like your rapist??????????????? like??? and this man is considered a hero while you’ll be remembered as a monstruous, dangerous entity???????????????????? medusa deserved better smh

And don’t forget that your wrong OP? And that medusa was punished for raped by posiden? And that she essentially got completely fucked over by everyone? Especially By Athena? Can you not make Athena sound so kind and innocent? She was a fucking bitch who was just as much of a bitter little bitch as the rest of the Greek gods she knowingly punished medusa and gave perseus the mirror shield to kill medusa with. YOU MY FRIEND ARE FAKER THEN PRESS ON NAILS AND KNOW NOTHING OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY so kindly Fuck off got it sweaty 😁😁😁😁

ok girl before you call me a “”fake hoe”” (that tag??? seriously??), know that:

– thats…… what ive been saying

– Athena is a very complex figure. We know that myths have been written and written again and that, strangely, they always seem to side with men…. I mean, rape culture was already a thing back then, and men would need to have a goddess as important as Athena on their side. She has been instrumentalized. What we know nowadays is the official version written by men, for men, as to ensure their power positions. So maybe, before insulting me, like…. go think a little bit? Those texts aren’t sacred. Have you read the Metamorphoses? It’s nothing but a political statement.

– So really, it’s necessary to place those stories into a different context as to try and find a middle ground. Why would Athena do that in the first place? Well, what choice does she have? Not a real one, to be honest. She’s the goddess of WISDOM. why do you call her a bitch. seriously. What else could Athena have done? Well, she couldn’t punish Poseidon (because gods can’t do that to other gods). She can’t let it go because what kind of goddess doesn’t make sure her temples are sacred places? She would have lost the respect from both humans and gods, and would have been put in a very delicate power relationships w Poseidon. 

– So she had to do something. She was expected to punish Medusa, of course, because that’s what gods do in general. Plus she was the only aspect of the “problem” she could really act on. Then first of all:

– snakes are an ambivalent symbol in this context. i’ve literally worked on that symbolic. they’re a medical symbol, representing both illness/death AND  remedy/life. i think the choice of snakes wasn’t innocent: it showed it wasn’t really a punition, that it was AMBIVALENT. AKA BOTH A CURSE AND A GIFT.  

– of COURSE it is still awful to have your hair transfigured into snakes when it was the most beautiful thing you had, and to be given this petrification power. But i want to emphasize something…

– it’s not a common metamorphose. Actually, that’s like the only metamorphose that works this way. Usually people get transformed into like… animals, plants, rivers. Why this for Medusa?

– i actually think Athena did her best to protect Medusa (she was HER GODDESS, HELLO, she was PRAYING IN HER TEMPLE) while making it look like she was punishing her for “soiling” her temple. again oF COURSE ITS NOT A PLEASANT FATE, nobody’s saying that. But its useful. A priori she wont ever get raped or assaulted again. Evidence of that? she eventually becomes a WEAPON. SHE’S DANGEROUS. shes NOT POWERLESS anymore. that’s like… the whole point

– not to mention…………… it literally is a rape symbolic. (do you really think men would have done this… i dont). how many rape survivors talk about being petrified before their rapist? why would Medusa become such a vibrant figure in the future? Medusa literally reverses the processus of rape. First, to be raped, youve got to be dehumanized, reduced as a mere object looking like a human. Sometimes (like…. super often) you even do it to yourself. thats like…… how womanhood………. works………………… and has always worked………………. reification……………….. do you have any idea of what youre talking about…… 

– anyway. What’s powerful in Medusa – what scares men – is that she now reverses that processus. SHE is the one DEHUMANIZING men. (not only men ofc but…. mostly because they were the ones doing that in the first place). the STATUES are a fucking SYMBOL. are you really this dense. That’s why we still know who Medusa was and not, say, Callisto, when she had a pretty similar story. 

– Athena giving Perseus the mirror shield is actually not found in every source. Honeslty – it was probably because men would need to have her on their side, as i said before. they needed Medusa killed (and by her own goddess so her gift/curse couldnt be mistaken for something Good) to show WOMEN that they couldnt stand a chance, and that even a goddess such as Athena would betray them. honestly. that’s like………. obvious, if you use your brain a little bit. 

– anyway. what we have now are WRITTEN STORIES of MYTHS that were ORAL. everyone used those myths as they wanted, but what we have now is an empoverished version of those stories, because they were written by MEN to further their political and misogynistic agenda. which is why Perseus was remembered as a hero! no woman and especially no female rape survivor would have glorified him like hello?????? and THIS is whats infuriating. 

AND THATS THAT ON THAT