Naomi van der Zwan
1007295632
CLAA06H3
31 March 2021
Medusa, The Beauty
Based on the many works that include Medusa’s story
Long ago, during the ancient times when the earth was ruled by the gods, a child was born unto a goddess of the sea.
Ceto was the goddess of the water who ruled over all of the dangerous creatures in the sea. Ceto had long-wished for a child and prayed that her family would bless her womb. She had fallen in love with a human, though she did not know his name, she planned to trick him into loving her in order to produce the child she had been praying for. On one tragic and stormy sea night, Ceto’s man fell off of his boat and sunk deep into the deep sea. Unbeknownst to the man, and to be sure her man would never leave her, Ceto turned her lover into a deep sea serpent whom she’d be able to monitor for eternity. After the commotion, due to the realization that having a child was no longer a reality, Ceto flew into a rage and destroyed many sea caves, killing many of her brother’s friends. Her brother, Phorcys, was the god of hidden dangers (typically in the deep seas) and to cool her rage, Phorcys promised to become fruit for the child. Thus a child of the sea was born and they called her Medusa.
~Three years later, Phorcys is killed and Ceto realizes she cannot handle a child on her own.~
~Medusa was left in Athens to fend for herself. She had forgotten all about her mother and was raised by her neighbors and community. She was adored by many due to her inhuman beauty until she was 14 years old when her whole world was turned upside down.~
Medusa grew up to adore the goddess Athena in her hometown. One day she was visiting Athena’s temple, as she did as often as she could, when she had caught a man’s attention. Men had been adoring Medusa since she was a child so I came as no surprise to her that another would try to wed her. She had refused the man's flirtations because of her love for Athena and her hope to gain Athena’s love in return. This angered the man and as he filled with rage, he raped the young Medusa.
Athena had heard the commotion in her temple and came down to investigate. She found Medusa soiled in the man’s seed and was consumed with contempt. Athena was not, however, angry at the man; she was angry at Medusa as the man who assaulted her was the god Poseidon, Athena’s intended. Medusa was filled with joy to see the goddess she had been in love with her whole life and begged for help. Athena pitied Medusa for being so naive to love a goddess who could not love her back. Still fuming with rage she cursed medusa with serpents instead of hair and eyes so cold if they were to be looked upon, a body would paralyze into stone.
~Athena left her temple and Poseidon ran back into the sea. Medusa left Athens and vowed to catch every man in her gaze to gain revenge for Poseidon’s crimes. Medusa never regained her memories of the sea and continued to love Athena after the rejection and accepted her curse as a gift and superpower.~
~Medusa spent the next few hundred years paralyzing men all over the world and created a collection of stone statues until one day she heard people walking around her stone garden and as her heart dropped she recognized the eyes of the boy who had been searching for her. Her attacker’s spawn, Percy Jackson…~
Analysis
I created this version of Medusa’s story to highlight the fact that everyone has their own stories. The specific details in this myth do not come from one version of her story. I have mixed together many versions in order to make sure that the story would flow and be cohesive. The goal of my tale was to give Medusa’s life an origin story before she would meet her ultimate demise. In the end, I wanted there to be a connection to Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson story for a cyclical event in Medusa’s Life.
The original tale of Medusa is one similar to the tale I created. Medusa’s real parents were Ceto and Phorcys and they were, in fact, siblings. I decided to change Ceto’s personality to make it seem like all she wanted was a child and she would do anything for the child. I did this so that Medusa and Ceto’s separation would be sad which would add to Medusa’s painful life. This change needed to be made because of Ceto’s only known distinct personality trait of being a cruel goddess which would not have made a painful backstory for Medusa. In my tale, Phorcys dies when Medusa is only three while in the original stories, Phorcys has no known mention of his death as he became known to be the “old man of the sea.”. I decided to omit mentioning the fact that Medusa had siblings in the original tales in order to invoke the feeling of desperation in Ceto’s desire to produce a child. Medusa is the most famous Gorgon of Phorcys’ offspring ; she is one of three Gorgons. The Gorgons were the personifications of reefs and underwater rocks that could wreck the boats of any sailor. There are three other categories of children that Phorcys and Ceto produce; the Graeae - the personification of sea foam, Echidna - a dragon serpent who produces the Chimera and Cerberus, and Ladon - another dragon serpent who became a guard for the garden of Hera. These are just some of Phorcys’ offspring which furthers the reason why I chose to make Medusa an only child as it adds to the loneliness she experiences for the rest of her life.
To ensure that I included a phenomenon in my tale, I changed Medusa’s sexual preference/orientation to female. I did this to show that Medusa was infatuated and in love with Athena. By creating this version of Medusa, I was able to show desperation in the need for help from the woman/goddess she was in love with. In my tale, when Athena gets mad that Medusa was raped by Poseidon, she acknowledges her feelings but rejects her due to her naivety in believing Athena could love her in return. Growing up, Medusa idealized Athena and worshipped her; she wanted to be with her for the rest of her life which makes it heartbreaking when Athena curses her and takes Medusa’s beauty away out of jealousy. Instead of hating Athena, like in the original tales, Medusa learns to be grateful for the curse and accepts it as a gift and power that can be used as a weapon for revenge against men.
I mentioned that Medusa never regained any memories from her time living with her parents in the sea to further the heartbreak that Ceto would have had from abandoning her only child. In the original stories, because she is a Gorgon, she personifies reefs and underwater rocks that cause shipwrecks to any sailor. I thought this was interesting because sailors were typically exclusively men and as a Gorgon, in the original tales, Medusa had the ability and freedom to kill them then as well as in my tale.
At the end of the story, I decided to allow Medusa to live out the rest of her days travelling the world over time and killing all of the men that she wanted. I stated that she had a stone garden where she kept her victims which was meant to become familiar to people who have read Riordan’s Percy Jackson story. I thought this would be a good way to show that my take on Medusa’s story could align with Riordan’s take on Percy Jackson, another aetiological myth. I also thought that this would be a good way to allow the story to have a cyclical event. Since Medusa was raped by Percy’s father, Poseidon, it would be the ultimate revenge for her to kill one of Poseidon’s offspring. I added that she recognized Percy’s eyes to show that it is almost impossible to forget a trauma like rape and I wanted it to seem like she desired to get revenge at that moment for all of the pain Percy’s father inflicted on her. In the Riordan’s story, Percy, along with his friends, cut off Medusa’s head and used it as a weapon in order to get Zeus’ lightning bolt back. I decided to end the story before she died in order to allow people to make assumptions or connections to Riordan’s version or create an ending of their own.
Works Cited
“Ceto - Goddess of the Water • Facts and Information on the Goddess Ceto - Goddess of the Water.” Greek Gods & Goddesses, greekgodsandgoddesses.net/goddesses/ceto-goddess-of-the-water/.
Dhwty. “The Real Story of Medusa: Protective Powers from a Snake-Haired Gorgon.” Ancient Origins, Ancient Origins, 21 Jan. 2021, www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-europe/legend-medusa-and-gorgons-002773.
“Medusa :: The Real Story of the Snake-Haired Gorgon.” Greek Mythology, www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Creatures/Medusa/medusa.html.
“Phorcys in Greek Mythology.” Greek Legends and Myths, www.greeklegendsandmyths.com/phorcys.html.