#also the pose came from a fantastic ref model on deviantart called lockstock

[ah-bright-wings]

"When she was helpless in the power of sleep and even her serpent-hair was slumber-bound, I struck—"

——

"She was once most beautiful, and the jealous aspiration of many suitors ... They say that Neptune, lord of the seas, violated her in the temple of Minerva. Jupiter’s daughter turned away, and hid her chaste eyes behind her aegis. So that it might not go unpunished, she changed the Gorgon’s hair to foul snakes."

-Ovid, Metamorphoses

#I was struck this week by the fact that so many greek and roman myths feature acts of violence against women #but the depictions of them are always so serene #like Daphne twisting beautifully into a tree #or you have Medusa #assaulted and discarded #made into a monster #imagine this woman left bloodied and violated on Athena's altar #like some grotesque offering #and she is condemned instead of being shown compassion #I think it's time our depictions of Greek myths weren't always romanticized or made clean and pretty #there is a violence to the stories that repeats generationally #medusa #greek myth #digital art #tw: rape #tw: violence #also the pose came from a fantastic ref model on deviantart called lockstock #the intructions on the ref photo don't require permission for reference use but all pose credit goes to her!! #the original pose is a nude heads up