Many years ago there was a beautiful women called Medusa. She lived in a place called Athens in Greece. She was a very kind and she obeyed her Greek gods and goddesses. There were many pretty girls there, Medusa was one of them. Every single day Medusa always boasted about her self. She says to other people she is the most prettiest out of everyone in the whole wide world. On Sunday, Medusa told the miller that her skin is more beautiful then fresh white snow. On Monday, she babbled the cobbler that her hair is brighter than the sun. On Tuesday, she commented the blacksmith's son that her eyes are greener than Aegean sea. On Wednesday, she boasted to the public that her lips are redder than the reddest rose in the world. When Medusa wasn't busy she would boast about her …show more content…
Until one day Medusa and her friends went to the Parthenon. It was Medusa's first time going to the Parthenon. The Parthenon was the biggest temple in Greece. In the Parthenon was the goddess of wisdom and that was Athena. There was statues of most of the gods and goddesses in the Greek culture. All the people who went there obeyed Athena, all except Medusa. Medusa saw all the statues and she whispered "Who ever did this statue did do a good job but it would look better if I was the statues." Every picture she saw she said that the person did a good job but she would look better in the picture and she is so delicate. When Medusa reached the altar she sighed happily and said, "My this is a beautiful temple. It is a shame it is wasted on Athena for I am much prettier than she is, perhaps one day people will build an even grander temple to my beauty." Then Medusa's friend grew pale. The priestesses heard what Medusa said and they gasped. The roomer went really quickly through the whole temple and everyone started to leave. Everyone knew Athena will get angry if anyone compared her to someone
Some explanations actually see Perseus and Medusa as being symbolic. Some claim that Perseus symbolized the reason and good in our souls and that Medusa symbolized the bad and evil desires that transform reason and wisdom to stone in people. They say that she was very ungodly. Because of that she served as a warning against people misusing the gifts that God graciously gives us or dishonoring God by our pride. Medusa was very proud of her beauty and especially her hair. As is explained in the myth, her hair got turned into snakes and she would turn anyone to stone
The tragic play Medea is a struggle between reason and violence. Medea is deliberately portrayed as not a ‘normal woman’, but excessive in her passions. Medea is a torment to herself and to others; that is why Euripides shows her blazing her way through life leaving wreckage behind her. Euripides has presented Medea as a figure previously thought of exclusively as a male- hero. Her balance of character is a combination of the outstanding qualities of Achilles and Odysseus.
Another, more recent version of Medusa’s story sets her as once being a beautiful woman with shining hair and a beauty that many said rivaled Athena’s. She was a priestess/handmaiden in Athena’s temple. Poseidon, god ...
By acknowledging that she is beautiful, she shows that she isn’t someone who is low in self-confidence. It also shows that she isn’t surprised to know that Troilus has fallen in love with her, but rather it is something that migh...
Medusa contains life-saving information for women that is sometimes needed in order to survive (Culpepper, p. 23). Culpepper then goes on to write about her own experience of “Experiencing [Her] Gorgon Self” when she was attacked in her home. Instead of allowing the attack to occur, the Gorgon within her took over with rage and fury to shove the man back outside (p. 23). After the attack, Culpepper knew that something else had embodied her during this moment. As she looks in the mirror, she knows what she sees: the Medusa!
Her hatred toward Greek women continues as she discusses the fact that she should not have to bear children or have a strong maternal instinct in order to be considered a woman of societal worth. Women should be as important in battle as men are, as she states on page 195 when she says “They say that we have a safe life at home, whereas men must go to war. Nonsense! I had rather fight three battles than bear one child. But be that as it may, you and I are not in the same case.” The gender imbalance in the ancient Greek civilization is greatly upsetting to Medea, creating her mindset that Greek women are weak and simple minded while Greek men are oppressive and inequitable. Medea shares
Athena was the Greek Goddess of many ideas, but she was famous mostly for her superior wisdom, her cunning skills in times of war, and her implausible talent for household tasks, such as weaving and pottery. She was celebrated more than any other God in ancient mythology, was the supposed inventor of countless innovations, and her figure gave reason for Greek woman to gain rights long before others of their time. The goddess of war, the guardian of Athens, and the defender of Heroes; Athena’s impact on the lives of Ancient Greeks is outstanding.
In her first speech Medea wins over the chorus by a plea to solidarity in the face of women's victimization by a male-dominated society, and this response by the chorus is an essential step in the poet's paradoxical task of winning sympathy and understanding for a mother who kills her children. But as that first speech itself indicates, Medea both is and is not a typical (Greek) woman: she is a foreig...
Ironically, Medea’s actions are similar to a man when she takes charge of her marriage, living situation, and family life when she devices a plan to engulf her husband with grief. With this in mind, Medea had accepts her place in a man’s world unti...
In the beginning, Medusa was a beautiful young priestess in the temple of Athena, whose actions led to her fall into the hands of various gods. The piece is meant to communicate and explain to the audience the hardship she faced through the good, the bad and the downright tragic leading to her destruction. From losing her love, her friend and even herself.
"Medea: Historical Context." Drama for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 1 November 2010.
On and on Medusa talked about her beauty to anyone and everyone who stopped long enough to hear her -- until one day when she made her first visit to the Parthenon with her friends. The Parthenon was the largest temple to the goddess Athena in all the land. It was decorated with amazing sculptures and paintings. Anyone who entered was awed by the beauty and intricacy of the fabulous temple. They couldn’t help but think of how grateful they were to Athena, goddess of wisdom, for inspiring them and for watching over their city... Athens. Everyone, that is, except
...eable quality in a woman is her beauty. In addition, Duffy makes the protagonist annihilate her husband even though in the original myth, Medusa was decapitated, thereby challenging the speculations that a characteristic of women is to be defend less and insubstantial, dating back to ancient times, by showing that women too are vengeful conquerors.
In addition to the earlier lessons I have mentioned, there are slightly less obvious teachings in the story. For one, be grateful and humble about what you have. Eventually when you are not grateful for what you have, it will be taken away from you. You will realize that you are no longer happy, and realize how much it meant to you. Also, no one will love you if all you care about it is the physical appearance. Medusa was obviously a very lonely woman, and will never find love, especially now, since she can no longer look a man in the eye without turning him to stone. There is much more to life than beauty alone. Beauty eventually fades. Instead of boasting about your beauty, you could be learning new skills, meeting new people or even starting a family. Medusa herself symbolizes how quickly youthfulness and beauty can fade away. She is thought of to be a part of an ancient early ritual, her image was on an amphora on the site of the Eleusinian mysteries in Greece. The story induces emotions such as fear and pride. For one, people were scared when Medusa said she thought she was prettier than Athena because they thought the goddess would overhear. Secondly, Medusa clearly had a lot of pride, which was the most obvious emotion displayed in the story. By the means of Medusa displaying her pride, it also displays unacceptable behaviour. We see that there are consequences to acting like she