The Wrath of a Gorgon Wronged

December 27, 2018 10:55 AM

Medusa con la cabeza de Perseo - Medusa holding Perseus’ head (possibly nsfw) The story behind the Medusa statue that has become the perfect avatar for women’s rage: "This vision of a re-imagined Medusa myth is a sculpture by Luciano Garbati, a 45-year-old Argentine-Italian artist based in Buenos Aires who has watched in amazement lately as a piece of art he made in 2008 has gone viral across social media, as the perfect avatar for a moment of female rage."

(Trigger Warning: discussions of rape)

Inversione mitologica

The Timeless Myth of Medusa, a Rape Victim Turned Into a Monster: Since Ancient Greece, the snake-haired Gorgon has been a sexualized symbol of women's rage.

It’s easy to see why Cixous’ manifesto resonated far and wide. The story of a powerful woman raped, demonized, then slain by a patriarchal society? It seems less of an ancient myth than a modern reality. As pointed out in scholar Elizabeth Johnston's November 2016 Atlantic essay, "The Original 'Nasty Woman'", the way Medusa has resurfaced in recent election cycles also points to the pervasiveness of misogyny: Angela Merkel, Theresa May, and Hillary Clinton have all received the Medusa treatment lately, their features superimposed onto bloody, severed heads. One popular caricature even shows a Perseus-Trump, brandishing the head of his electoral adversary.

When it comes to silencing women, Western culture has had thousands of years of practice. And throughout much of that time, Medusa has consistently been used to "demonize" female leaders, as Johnston writes, "materializing whenever male authority feels threatened by female agency."

Medusa faces the courthouse

I can’t stop thinking about Medusa today, she who was assaulted and humiliated, and then after was treated with cruelty, contempt, and vicious attack. She was turned monster not by action of her own, but by those who made her victim, cast her aside, and then, after doing so, made the sadistic choice to never let her have a moment of peace, and after, used her effigy to terrify their enemies. How they created the monster and used the monster, which had nothing to do with the actions of the woman they cursed.

Were she to stand, today, in front of the Supreme Court, she would recognize its facade. How it resembles Athena’s temple. She would recognize in the frieze Liberty, flanked by Order and Authority, and in statuary, Justice herself (presented as a model, a toy, held by a towering woman in flowing classical robes, reading a codex, paying Justice no heed), all of them cast in stone, as if gazed on by Medusa at the height of her haunting. Justice, Liberty, Order, Authority, symbolically congealed in marble by chisel, unable to act. She could tell, one assumes, how the men that made this building feign worship at ideals that are invoked in rhetoric, but are toothless and inanimate as Carrara rock when betrayed.

posted by homunculus (25 comments total)

Reminds me of Judith beheading Holofernes. I like this version by Caravaggio.
posted by exogenous at 11:12 AM on December 27, 2018 [4 favorites]

Related AskMe
posted by ActingTheGoat at 11:14 AM on December 27, 2018 [2 favorites]

I'm not versed in Greek history, but I recently learned that ancient Roman and Greek men treated women with little regard, considering them much lesser than other "ancient, enlightened cultures." It's not just a few like Hipponax, but to the point that you could say that the roots of misogyny could be traced to ancient Rome and Greece, as stated by Mary Beard in the L.A. Times.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:17 AM on December 27, 2018 [4 favorites]

One popular caricature even shows a Perseus-Trump, brandishing the head of his electoral adversary.

Haven't seen that one; was it before or after this one?
posted by Alter Cocker at 11:26 AM on December 27, 2018

> I recently learned that ancient Roman and Greek men treated women with little regard, considering them much lesser than other "ancient, enlightened cultures."

An example of Roman misogyny: The Sexual Assault Case That Shook Ancient Rome: A prominent politician was accused of raping a 12-year-old actress—in 54 B.C. The way his legendary lawyer dismissed it speaks volumes about how we prosecute these crimes now.
posted by homunculus at 11:39 AM on December 27, 2018 [14 favorites]

absolutely buying that statue if I can afford it
posted by supermedusa at 11:47 AM on December 27, 2018 [19 favorites]

I still remember being so furious at the remake of Clash of the Titans, that went out of its way to tell us Medusa's story, that she was every bit as much of a victim of godly whims as the heroes. They even noted that she had moved herself to a remote location to make sure her curse did not harm anyone accidentally. And then the narrative said "Welp, that was a sad story. Let's completely forget it and get on with killing the monster!" The framing then painted Medusa as demonstrating her monstrousness by using lethal force against someone who had just broken into her home for the express purpose of murdering her in her sleep. Apparently they didn't have the castle doctrine in mythic Greece. I still maintain they could have leaned in the front door and called out "Hey, Medusa, we're off to ruin the gods' day, wanna come?" and she'd have responded with "Hang, on, I just need to grab a veil and an overnight bag!"

As far as this piece goes, I remember it getting passed around as if it were an ancient piece of art, despite the form being clearly a modern idealized body, not an ancient Greek idealized body. prefer the reinterpretation that
posted by Karmakaze at 12:08 PM on December 27, 2018 [21 favorites]

absolutely buying that statue if I can afford it

Sounds like you can get copies in various forms, in the near future (after December 14, 2018, at least):

Assisted by a patron of the arts who prefers anonymity, Andersen brought Garbati and the Medusa, which had been in storage in his workshop in Buenos Aires, to New York, and constructed a show of which the statue is the centerpiece. All the works in MWTH have to do with reimagining foundational myths, and refocusing their aesthetics and narrative visions. As part of the show, Andersen and Garbati commissioned a series of 100, 12-inch Medusas, produced by Brooklyn artist Vanessa Solomon and selling for $750 each.

Andersen says that prints and silk-screened t-shirts and sweatshirts will also be available, and that the show’s patron has committed to producing the statue in bronze—the original is resin—to install in a still-to-be-determined public space.

posted by filthy light thief at 12:27 PM on December 27, 2018 [1 favorite]

hmmm not sure I can swing $750 (for resin!) but a t-shirt, hey!
posted by supermedusa at 12:38 PM on December 27, 2018

I have gotten in touch with Mr Garbati on FB (I'm not on twitter) and have requested info. Mr Supermedusa seems to think that $750 is definitely too much but he also thinks its a really cool statue...
posted by supermedusa at 4:02 PM on December 27, 2018 [4 favorites]

Huh. Haven't read/seen/thought of anything including Medusa's whole story in so long I'm not even sure I knew the original, but now my writer brain is now churning with ideas. Thanks for posting this.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 4:50 PM on December 27, 2018 [2 favorites]

I like this version by Caravaggio.

She looks like she's all "Mmm, that's a bit more mess than I was expecting." Meanwhile the servant's thinking "Ahh geez, it'll be my head next if I can't get the bloodstains out of that linen, dammit!"
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:18 PM on December 27, 2018

Really interesting previously on the subject of Medusa and the symbolism of the severed head.
posted by chappell, ambrose at 5:52 AM on December 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

I go to a goth dance night every week named Lilith. As per the name, the mood of the night leans heavily toward the feminine. There was a statue of Hecate in the entryway that was stolen by some jerks last year, so the DJ replaced it with Medusa under the hopes that maybe people would be less likely to risk the wrath of a Gorgon.

Nope. She got stolen on Halloween this year (incidentally the same night I was at the club in my Medusa costume).

Some club friends got together to donate a replacement Medusa and gave it to the DJ for the solstice last week. I made cookies for the celebration, including this one of Perseus’ head that I placed in front of the statue as an offering.

Hopefully she will remain watching over us, as Medusa is surely the hero we need in these times.
posted by Lapin at 7:53 AM on December 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

hmmm not sure I can swing $750 (for resin!) but a t-shirt, hey!

hells yeah!
*clicks link for t-shirt*
*only "unisex" sizes*
ಠ_ಠ

ffs
posted by mon-ma-tron at 9:02 PM on December 28, 2018

@GarbatiLuciano: "She had to kill the man who tried to kill her, regardless his motivations. And yes, she is staring at the gods" (emphasis mine.)
posted by homunculus at 10:39 PM on December 29, 2018

@marlene: "There’s a word for what I feel when I see this sculpture! Thank you, I learned something new!"

Terribilità
posted by homunculus at 10:54 PM on December 29, 2018

I’ve been working on a Medusa story for about nine months now. The place I wanted to submit it said “no rape stories” so I didn’t submit it there. But I’m so tired. I’ll find a home for it, or I won’t. What do we do when a “rape story” is our story, and wants to be told? Even if people are worn out from listening, sometimes you just have to rage into the dark.
posted by Nancy_LockIsLit_Palmer at 4:24 AM on December 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

New Yorkers can see the statue in person in Manhattan through Jan. 7th: You can now visit the Medusa statue that #MeToo made famous
posted by homunculus at 8:54 AM on December 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

Sing, Goddess: "The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker’s unsentimental and beautiful new novel, tells the story of the Iliad as experienced by women captives, from inside the Greek camp overlooking the walls of the besieged city of Troy. They are the Greek heroes’ prizes, taken from conquered outlying towns and villages to be prostitutes, domestic workers, and, on occasion, wives..."
posted by homunculus at 1:47 PM on December 30, 2018

The best part of the article might be the disclaimer at the end:

An earlier version of this story mistakenly stated that Zeus raped Medusa. It was Poseidon, not Zeus. Zeus was the father of Perseus, and according to myth raped Leda, Europa, and Antipode, as well as being complicit in the abduction and rape of his daughter Persephone, but not Medusa.
posted by yhbc at 2:18 PM on December 30, 2018

Another sculpture by @GarbatiLuciano: “Oskurós”. "The obscure kuros presented as an evocative headlight. Tribute to Ἡράκλειτος."
posted by homunculus at 6:55 PM on December 30, 2018

I like to think this myth has been twisted from years of storytelling from the male point of view, notably with the most common version of this story coming from the particularly sexist Ovid.

"The monstrous being with snakes for hair starts out as a human woman, who Poseidon rapes in Athena’s temple. The goddess then punishes Medusa by turning her into a Gorgon and exiling her. "

Maybe Athena wasn't punishing her: she changed Medusa's appearance to protect her and make sure it never happened to her again - and also gave her the power to ensure that it never would. She changed her appearance, yes, but she also made her a force to be reckoned with.

One man's curse is another woman's power. If myths can be twisted in one way then I can twist them in another.
posted by sephira at 7:19 AM on December 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

Alternate universe Ellis Island.
posted by homunculus at 6:05 PM on January 24, 2019

Maybe Athena wasn't punishing her: she changed Medusa's appearance to protect her and make sure it never happened to her again - and also gave her the power to ensure that it never would. She changed her appearance, yes, but she also made her a force to be reckoned with.

I like that idea. Perhaps Athena put Medusa's head on her shield to remind herself how she ultimately failed to protect her.

I've got my own headcanon on the Medusa myth, inspired by Neil Gaiman's idea that gods are sustained and changed by belief.
posted by homunculus at 6:07 PM on January 24, 2019