I think you just described most Greek mythology there.
Olympian dude (usually Zeus, but others too) sees a mortal chick he likes. Decides to snu-snu chick. Olympian female (usually Hera, but others too) gets upset but being unwilling or unable to confront the dude takes out her anger on the mortal, usually by turning her into some monstrosity.
The gods are often such dickheads, it makes me suspect that a lot of those stories were really some sort of ancient version of fan-fiction/satire-parody, more or less along the lines of Reynard the Fox, or pretty much anything today where supernaturals or other not-quite-human stand-ins make fun of actual people in power and the systems that be .. ie, same old political bitching via entertainment that we get now, only today it's superheroes, Star Wars and Zootopia.
Sure, but Perseus wasn't part of her Drama until the end. All he knew was that she was turning people to stone And that the only way he would get to see his mother again was to kill Medusa, who was a well known monster to the king in those parts. The King who was attempting to boink his mother.
It's a tragedy, but Perseus isn't the one leading the tragedy, the various kings are.
This statue is actually perfectly emblematic of feminism, in a way that I doubt the creator intended. Life and the world are horrifically tragic, to point that people constantly screw each other over without any knowledge of their "victim's" circumstances. Feminism doesn't give a shit about anyone else's tragic circumstances, past or present, but women's and seeks to subvert every situation so that women are never the victim.
Except, you'll notice, that Medusa is still depicted as a monster, even if she defeated Perseus in this work. Because the tragedy is inescapable.
I've long thought the same thing. A sympathetic take on Medusa is something I'd be down for, if you could find somebody who wanted to make it but wanted nothing to do with the hypocrites of the MeToo movement.
Does a greek myth have a version pre-existing a book published 8 AD? Obviously. Hesiod, an actual greek and the guy responsible of most written forms of greek myths, wrote one down, likely based on a pre-existing oral one, in which Medusa is just born that way.
Ovid had this thing where he routinely depicted the gods just plain hating humans. Not acting about as unreasonably as one might expect an antropomorphic personification of a natural, sociological or psychological force, and as the greeks and romans traditionally depict them, but acting in ways I can only describe as punching down.
To be fair, Medusa got screwed over. She gets raped by Poseidon in Athena's temple and then Athena turns her into a monster.
Timeless story, no-one persecutes a woman more cruelly than another woman who feels slighted.
I think you just described most Greek mythology there.
Olympian dude (usually Zeus, but others too) sees a mortal chick he likes. Decides to snu-snu chick. Olympian female (usually Hera, but others too) gets upset but being unwilling or unable to confront the dude takes out her anger on the mortal, usually by turning her into some monstrosity.
The greeks knew women, dude. they knew.
The gods are often such dickheads, it makes me suspect that a lot of those stories were really some sort of ancient version of fan-fiction/satire-parody, more or less along the lines of Reynard the Fox, or pretty much anything today where supernaturals or other not-quite-human stand-ins make fun of actual people in power and the systems that be .. ie, same old political bitching via entertainment that we get now, only today it's superheroes, Star Wars and Zootopia.
Sure, but Perseus wasn't part of her Drama until the end. All he knew was that she was turning people to stone And that the only way he would get to see his mother again was to kill Medusa, who was a well known monster to the king in those parts. The King who was attempting to boink his mother.
It's a tragedy, but Perseus isn't the one leading the tragedy, the various kings are.
This statue is actually perfectly emblematic of feminism, in a way that I doubt the creator intended. Life and the world are horrifically tragic, to point that people constantly screw each other over without any knowledge of their "victim's" circumstances. Feminism doesn't give a shit about anyone else's tragic circumstances, past or present, but women's and seeks to subvert every situation so that women are never the victim.
Except, you'll notice, that Medusa is still depicted as a monster, even if she defeated Perseus in this work. Because the tragedy is inescapable.
They don't care. He's a man; he's evil.
So why the fuck is she empowering women here by holding Perseus's head?
Oh right, because feminists aren't responsible for their own actions and if a man holds them accountable [as Perseus did] he must be punished.
I've long thought the same thing. A sympathetic take on Medusa is something I'd be down for, if you could find somebody who wanted to make it but wanted nothing to do with the hypocrites of the MeToo movement.
The Fate anime series already has a very cool and somewhat sympathetic take on Medusa.
It has several variations on her, technically, though the original is still my favourite character in the whole Fate franchise
And its also Athena who gives him the shield he uses to defeat her stone gaze.
Moral of the story is Athena is a piece of shit.
Pretty sure that's another retcon by the roman Rian Johnsson that was Ovid.
Do we have an older version of the story?
Does a greek myth have a version pre-existing a book published 8 AD? Obviously. Hesiod, an actual greek and the guy responsible of most written forms of greek myths, wrote one down, likely based on a pre-existing oral one, in which Medusa is just born that way.
Ovid had this thing where he routinely depicted the gods just plain hating humans. Not acting about as unreasonably as one might expect an antropomorphic personification of a natural, sociological or psychological force, and as the greeks and romans traditionally depict them, but acting in ways I can only describe as punching down.