#perseus and medusa

[fuck-edfrugs]

The warping of the story of Perseus and Medusa makes me angry. People act like the versions where Medusa used to be human are the only versions. People act like Athena did that to save her in those versions. People demonize Perseus.

He was a 15 year old kid trying to save his mother, was assisted in killing Medusa by Athena (in some versions), and used her head to kill the man attempting to force his mother into marriage.

He’s no monster. He’s a child doing anything he can to survive and keep his mom safe.

Medusa may have been a human in some versions but Perseus did not know that. The only way he would have known is if Athena told him. She didn’t.

Perseus is a victim too, in the older versions where Medusa is a born gorgon he and his mother are THE victims.

I read a post where someone was saying he hunted her for sport, killed her and used her as a weapon just because he could. How has the story become so warped that we all forgot that he was a child fighting for his mother.

Perseus was not the villain of the story.

#elfi said a thing #greek mythology #perseus #Medusa #perseus and medusa #ranting #seriously how have people forgotten the story this badly

[sarafangirlart]

Archaic Medusa

Got tired of seeing Medusa designed as a generic pretty woman but with snake hair. Also made a little height chart.

#greek mythology #ancient greek mythology #greek pantheon #medusa #gorgon #perseus and andromeda #perseus and medusa #gorgons #archaic #greek mythology art #Athena #athena greek mythology

[stevenmeeksfreeamericaradio]

Greek “heros” as a therapist.

Orpheus: don’t look back on the past for too long, you don’t wanna regret what you could have done. Keep an eye on the future.

Odyssey: it might take you a while to get where you want but if you want it, let nothing get in your way.

Achilles: remember if you love someone, keep a hold of them, you don’t want to loose them because of a mistake you’ve made.

Heracules: if someone tries to test you, show them you can beat all their tests.

Perseus: you can use a shield in life, it doesn’t make you weak.

Theseus: when your life feels like a tangled ball of yarn, there will always be someone to untangle it, so don’t loose that person. Don’t go leaving them on an island either.

#greek myths #greek mythology #ancient history #classical studies #dark academia #hades #orpheus #perseus and medusa #theseus #the odyssey #odysseus #achilles #song of achilles #tagamemnon #hercules

[meboii27]

disappeared for a while came back with more perseus (and hermes)

#hermes #greek mythology #greek myth art #perseus and medusa #perseus #they’re gay your honor #on my way to convince ppl to ship hermes with perseus cuz why not

[buckhead1111]

buckhead1111

#buckhead1111 #artist on tumblr #perseus and medusa

[taylorswiftarthistories]

Perseus and Medusa by Luca Giordano, 1660 / "Anti-Hero" by Taylor Swift

#medusa deserved better #perseus and medusa #luca giordano #baroque #baroque art #mythology #anti hero #taylor swift #midnights #medusa #perseus

[duitb]

Fanfic Idea: Medusa is in Olympus now with Athena

Medusa was the head priestess in Athena's temple. Athena had her eyes on the beautiful priestess but things went south before she could confess.

Poseidon was angry after Athena took Athens and wanted revenge. He found out Athena fancied the priestess and Medusa was sacrificed to the wrath of a petty god. Athena was angry beyond imagination but wasn't powerful enough to punish one of the 3 main gods, especially when her own father committed such sin every now and then.

Athena couldn't look in the eyes of Medusa as she was partly responsible for what happened to her. She decided to protect Medusa from further harassment. Medusa was given snake hair and the power to turn men into stone so that everyone would fear her and wouldn't even dare to look at her.

But things never go as planned. Medusa was considered a monster and people wanted to kill her. She had to hide in a cave so that she wouldn't hurt anyone and was left alone but that never happened. Also, she was pregnant with Poseidon's child.

Meanwhile, Perseus was selected to kill Medusa, the woman Athena loved. And she was bound to help Perseus to kill her loved one. When Perseus reached the cave, Medusa wasn't asleep, she died while giving birth to Pegasus.

Perseus cut the head from the dead body and used it to get rid of the annoying suitors, but later took the head and body to Olympus. Hermes knew about this tragic love story and guided Medusa's soul to Olympus instead of the underworld. Apollo used his healing power to attach the body to the head and put the soul back.

Medusa later became a war commander under Athena. Athena sculpted Medusa's face on her shield to honor her bravery. She felt the proudest when she saw mighty Poseidon talking to the great war commander respectfully while bowing down his head.

#ancient greek mythology #greek mythology #incorrect greek mythology #greek myths #greek myth retellings #athena #greek gods #greek goddess #incorrect greek gods #medusa #mythology #myth #hermes #apollo #perseus and medusa #pegasus #love story #happy ending #angst with a happy ending #angst #beautiful #retelling #myths #myths and legends #mythology and folklore #ancient greek #hermes and apollo #roman mythology

[moonsbypadfoot]

me while watching Percy Jackson when he beheaded medusa and realise it looks like the statue of perseus and medusa : 🫣😧

#percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #perseus and medusa

[capra-persa]

📍Metropolitan Museum (MET), New York 🇺🇸

#met #the metropolitan museum of art #new york #met new york #nyc #new york city #usa #mitologia greca #greek sculpture #classical art #roman sculpture #lucretia #perseus and medusa #magritte #ugolino and his sons #sculture #sculpture

[jennyandvastraflint]

A Snake's Eyes

A contemporary retelling on Medusa, a tale of neurodivergence and finding strength in myths.

Written by me.

The girl didn't look at other people. Not because she didn't want to, she did, but everyone would stare her in the eyes, try to crawl into her soul and force back awful memories.

There had been two adults who hurt her very badly. Both had been at what everyone called the Temple because it promised curing.

The first was the man in a blue suit with a horse pin who forced her to stare into his ice cold eyes for what he deemed an appropriate amount of time every other day. She had liked the horse pin, but when her gaze faltered (falter, as though looking down was wrong), she would be splashed with water. When she talked about her interests 'too much' and didn't follow the scripts, splash. Her mouth not in a constantly pleasant smile, splash. For everything that felt natural to the girl, splash.

The second was the Observer, the owner of the Temple. She was an infinitely tall woman with eyes that were as bad as the man's. 'Wisdom and Strategy', the sign on the door to her office said underneath her name.

"Wrong, wrong, wrong," she would say while pointing at different parts of the girl, each stab with her bony finger tearing on the girl like a predator bird's claws. Behind the mask of worried frowns and concerned smiles, no one saw the cruelty in the woman's eyes, even though the girl saw it so clearly.

"We have simply tried everything, but she won't behave. Poor, poor girl,” she would say, shaking her head.

The girl didn't want to listen, and so she unfocused her eyes and let her mind slither away. She imagined slithering like a snake, the animal she had lots of books and posters about, out between the bars in front of the window. The air was chilly, and the girl breathed slowly, enjoying each cool blade of grass that touched her scales.

"... special school," the girl caught the last words of the Observer, and she snapped back into her body, spine straight.

"What?" she asked, and in her hurry, she forgot to look up, up, up to the Observer's grey eyes. Almost immediately, the little bracelet the Observer had forced on her wrist the first day buzzed, so strong the girl let out a cry. She corrected her gaze and asked again, in the tone the man had splashed into her, "Miss, could you repeat that, please?" The words were unnatural, and the girl's tongue couldn't wrap around the stilted speech easily.

"We have decided you will go to a special school, dear." She always called her 'dear', but the word was hollow and wrong. When she said it, she sang something else, a word the girl didn't want to hear.

"But I would like to go to other children school," the girl said, her tone balancing right on the edge of Too Much and Too Little. She stood, and restraining her hands' dance, she argued in the words the Temple had forced into her head why she should not go to a special school (she knew there would be more men in suits doing script exercises and splashing her, and more Observers picking away at her). In the end, the Observer had to yield, the girl’s arguments flawless, and the Observer was not happy about that. The girl was happy, but she could only show a fraction of it while her hands were itching to wiggle and move freely.

The lightning bracelet came off two months later. After having 'adjusted' to school and proved she was 'normal enough', the girl was free, after years of weekly visits to the Temple, to go to school and – at least very secretly when no one saw – be what the Temple had tried to splash and shock out of her.

Two months in, the class went to the school library, and the girl got to explore the shelves of books in a calm, dimly lit environment. The natural light was kinder to her eyes than the fluorescent lamps overhead in many classrooms. Every day, when she came home, the girl would retreat into her room – her caregivers called it her cave – and lie in the blanket fort she had permanently set up, reading with only a little light her favourite snake books (she had some on other reptiles as well, though) and listening to violins and cellos play on an old tape she had gotten from a flea market. Her head would follow the melodies, and the tightness that built up over the day unspooled.

Just as the teacher was calling them all back, the girl’s eyes fell on a book depicting a woman with snakes for hair on the cover. Her mouth fell open in awe as she beheld the woman’s beauty and the green on her head. ‘Medusa’, the title read. The girl grabbed it and returned to her group, and they left after checking out the books.

The first night she had taken the book home, the girl had read it three times, and she had fallen in love with Medusa and her snake hair.

The next day at school, a boy thought it incredibly funny to taunt the girl for how she looked at her classmates, studying them. “Hey, watch out, or she’ll turn you to stone with her intense glare.” Many people laughed, but the girl sort of liked the idea.

When the boy stared at her, too, the girl said, “That’s right, don’t you look me in the eye, or I’ll turn you to stone like Medusa!” There was power in it, and though some were still laughing, she could hear the uncertainty in the melody their laughs sang.

From that day onward, the girl called herself Medusa to anyone who asked. Interacting with her classmates got a little easier now that they weren’t staring into her eyes constantly, though some of the teachers (the very strict ones that reminded Medusa of the Observer and the man in the blue suit) told her to stop fooling around. Medusa didn’t care, and if they were particularly nasty, she imagined turning them to stone.

In Medusa’s fourth year, a new student joined their class, and seeing as the spot next to Medusa was empty – no one wanted to sit next to Snake Girl after all – the newcomer got to sit there.

“Hi,” they muttered during religious education, and Medusa tilted her head at them. “I’m Perseus,” they introduced themselves.

Medusa frowned, remembering the character from the story. “You have the same name as the stupid man who beheads Medusa. I’m Medusa,” she said, and too loud, as it seemed, because the teacher cleared his throat rather noisily and glowered in their direction.

After the lesson, Perseus stood and stretched their limbs. “You have a cool name. Did you choose it yourself, too?”

“Yes,” Medusa said, because she had. “I don’t like when people look me in the eyes, and I wish I could turn them into stone for it.”

Perseus laughed, and their laughter was like silver bells playing a gentle song. “Well, I’d better not look you in the eyes then! Wanna be friends? Promise I won’t behead you.”

“Sure,” Medusa said after a moment of hesitation, and just like that, she had made a friend for life.

Medusa and Perseus were inseparable, and Medusa noticed that Perseus didn’t quite fit in themselves. It wasn’t in the same sense as Medusa, but when they got changed for PE class, she noticed Perseus went to a different room to the boys and girls, but they joined in enthusiastically in the games, and much more competent than Medusa whose limbs just wouldn’t seem to listen to her.

“My older sister is like that, too,” Perseus said after PE one time, and they offered Medusa half of their granola bar.

“I don’t like those,” Medusa said, eying the raisins in the bar wearily. Perseus simply shrugged and ate both halves themselves.

“My sister’s autistic, and she has dyspraxia as well. If you want, I could introduce you later today. She’s home from university.”

Medusa knew only the first word Perseus had used, because that’s why she had been sent to the Temple. Perhaps the second one was true as well; it felt true.

Medusa followed Perseus home, and she stood a little lost in their small room until Perseus offered her a chair to sit. “I’ll go get my sister Euryale,” Perseus said, and when Medusa nodded, they rushed out.

Moments later, two people came back: Perseus with their shoulder-length blonde hair, and a taller girl with curls that were dyed green. Medusa shrieked in delight, and she couldn’t help her hands dancing along with the rest of her. “Your hair looks like snakes!”

Euryale grinned. “Well. Perseus, you weren’t lying about your new friend, she’s sweet.”

Perseus flustered, and they tugged their sister’s sleeve. “Gift?”

“Oh right.” Euryale pulled a small box wrapped in snake-scaled paper. “Perseus told me about the lights at school. They suck, don’t they. I hope this’ll help…”

Medusa unwrapped the box carefully, not wanting to rip one single scale, and she beheld the mirrored sunglasses inside the box.

“You’d have to tell the teachers, but they shouldn’t make too much of a fuss. They suit you.”

As soon as she had put them on, Medusa gasped. The world was so much quieter when some of the light was gone!

“Exactly my reaction,” Euryale said, fiddling with one of the hair-snakes. “People don’t like seeing their own reflection, it makes them too aware of how they’re staring at others. Those mirrored glasses will make at least a decent portion of them look away.”

Medusa wiggled her hands happily, finally feeling truly herself and comfortable to show it. “Thank you.”

Euryale reached out a hand for Medusa. “Got to stick together, haven’t we?”

~fin~

#wrote this for a course at university but thought some of you might like this #greek mythology #medusa #actually autistic #autistic characters #own voices #nonbinary #nonbinary character #myths and legends #original fiction #original writing #original work #perseus and medusa #euryale #autistic #tw aba therapy #reference and implications of it at least #young adult

[safirefire]

From the author of one of my favorite romcoms (The Trouble With Hating You) comes a new book in the Rick Riordan Presents imprint: A Drop of Venom

link to book and full summary from images above

The Aru Shah series was fun and I’m excited for this now. It is a Perseus and Medusa retelling set in India. Also Manisha is giving strong Liya Thakkar vibes and I’m here for it. TW for assault.

#a drop of venom #sajni patel #rick riordan presents #the trouble with hating you #aru shah #pandava quintet #bookblr #mythology #medusa #gorgon #perseus #perseus and medusa #greek classics #greek mythology #desiblr #desi tumblr #pjo #ya fantasy #reading #booklr

[sarafangirlart]

It’s actually really odd how Poseidon took no issue with Perseus killing Medusa and Cetus, like I’m 70% sure there was probably a myth out there about him taking revenge but it didn’t survive to the modern day bc of this pottery art:

It shows Poseidon rushing toward Medusa’s corpse with one of her sisters running towards him like “some invisible guy killed her go stop him!” And it looks like Athena is urging Perseus to run faster (hence why there is two of Perseus) and it got me thinking, is this why Perseus has the Invisibility helmet? It seems odd for him to have it considering that he killed Medusa while she slept, was it to avoid Poseidon’s wrath? Since Poseidon only started attacking Odysseus when his son Polyphemus told him his name?

So if all it takes to avoid Poseidon is to keep your identity secret, then how come he didn’t catch on when this random kid showed up out of nowhere, rescued Andromeda and killed Cetus with Medusa’s head? Idk maybe there’s something I’m missing.

#Gary Stu Perseus lmao #everyone loves him even the gods he technically offends #who could blame them he’s a cutie patootie #greek mythology #ancient greek mythology #greek pantheon #Poseidon #poseidon greek mythology #poseidon god #Medusa #perseus and medusa #perseus #perseus and andromeda #Athena #athena greek mythology #athena goddess of wisdom #athena goddess #gorgon #greek pottery

[qweenofurheart]

i hope u can enjoy some oc art as well 🤲

#my art #oc #my ocs #you ate my heart #(its the name of the original comic i want to make) #also some #greek mythology #??? #perseus #perseus and medusa #i went to the met so i was inspired by the statue hall #original character #figure drawing

[jareckiworld]

Alberto Abate (1946-2012) — Perseus and Medusa  (oil, canvas, 1979)

#Alberto Abate #italian art #greek mythology #greek myth #Perseus and Medusa

[hecatesdelights]

...Vaulted with such ease into his seat, As if an angel dropp'd down from the clouds, To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus, And witch the world with noble horsemanship.

-William Shakespeare

#pegasus #pegasus art #perseus and medusa #pegasus and perseus #magical beasts #good mythical morning #hellenic polytheism #greek myth #greek gods #heros and monsters #alteredai #ancient greek mythology #witches of tumblr #paganblr #hellenic pagan

[noniez]

couple of spreads from past months

#sketchbook spread #original comic #sappho-rama #<-was cool #pokemon #timothee chalamet #elio perlman #perseus and medusa #chelsea market #the metropolitan museum of art #new york city #nyc sketches #self portrait #my art