Medusa gets a raw deal. The poor snake-haired, hideously-deformed, boggle-eyed, lithogenic hag was made to play the role of Victim in an early performance of Blaming the Victim - one of Western Civilisation's most cherished and regular productions.
As we are all aware - if only from watching the slaughter of plastic monsters in the original Clash of the Titans movie (or the plastic acting of the recent remake) - Medusa is a heinous slug beast that gets her comeuppance at the hands of mighty Perseus, who goes on to use her severed head to petrify a sea monster, and rescue the fair Andromeda. Or something like that.
Well, I discovered the back-story to the Medusa myth today*, and it paints her in a more favourable, but tragic light. In this version, Medusa starts her life as a chaste and dutiful young lady. Unlike her ugly sisters, Stheno and Euryale, Medusa is a good kid, and enjoys nothing better than tending fires and polishing statues Cinderella-style, in the Parthenon: the home of Athena - everybody's favourite ever-virgin goddess of wisdom.
That's just about working out for Medusa, until Poseidon takes a shine to her, and in typically Olympian style, he dispenses with courtship, and ravishes Medusa, right there in Athena's temple. Now you might well suppose that Athena should be miffed at Poseidon for rudely deflowering her serving girl in such a manner: but No! This is Greek Myth, and the gods are capricious. Medusa gets a scalp-load of asps, and a one way ticket to Hades, sine die. Any man who looks at her will be turned to stone.
So what can we make of this new evidence? I'm moving for acquittal in the case of History v. M. Gorgon. I'll explain my reasoning now, and I'll also show that some of the theories used in the 20th c. to interpret myths are outdated, and need to be supplemented with new ideas.
1) It's been suggested before** that the doctrine of Athena's perpetual maidenhood was introduced as a patriarchal ploy, intended to remind women that engaging in illicit sexual activity is the opposite of wisdom, and will result in severe punishment. Allowing oneself to be raped is equally unwise and punishable. I can agree that the story probably did serve this 'moral' function...ie it's all Medusa's own fault, she must have been behaving improperly - polishing the statues seductively, being in the temple without a chaperone, or whatever... So that's where the 'blaming the victim' charge comes in. But I'm not resting my case just yet.
2) When the whole myth is interpreted as a piece, and with a psychodynamic slant, a more humane ethic can be discerned. For one thing, the serpentine sea monster, Cetus, sent by Poseidon to take the helplessly bound maiden Andromeda, is about as clear a phallic symbol as ever slipped out of the sick mind of Sigmund Freud. It is defeated by the disfigured face of Medusa, Poseidon's earlier victim. This suggests a kind of aversion therapy... the abuser is made to look at the result of his abuse, and loses the power to re-offend: shame and guilt lead to remorse...
It's worth noting here that the defeat of Poseidon's lust - Athena's revenge by proxy - does not come about until after Medusa's head has been separated from her body. Poseidon is made at last to see the injured psyche of the Gorgon - and can no longer see her sexual aspect. She becomes the suffering subject, no longer merely an object of lust.
The points above might all be made within the framework of 'traditional' Freudian theory, or mythological analysis as practised by Jung or Joseph Campbell. The focus is on the power struggle between the unbridled, unthinking male libido of the sea god, and Athena's demure chastity: Id against Superego; The Anima as guide to a higher consciousness. Fair enough, I guess - this is as far as the exegesis of legends and fairy tales in psychological terms usually gets.
3) What interests me more though, is the role played by the 'minor', mortal characters: Perseus, Medusa, Andromeda, Danae. I believe the whole myth presents a paradigm for dealing with, and recovering from, traumatic abuse - including rape, incest and pederasty. I'll expand on this point, and on the significance of each mortal character in parts 2 and 3 of this post.
*Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.770 (according to the Oracle of Wikipedia)
** I recall reading point 1 somewhere, but can't find the quote at the moment. I'll update this footnote asap!
