#and no medusa's head was not used to mark women's shelters in ancient greece

[themoonking]

complaining again! i don't think some people understand that it's fine and can be very fun to twist mythological figures around for the purposes of modern fiction. no one is getting upset over disney's hercules or anything. but it becomes misinformation when you try to pretend that the twisted version that modern fiction presents has mythological basis.

[sisterofiris]

Hello! Every now and then on tumblr I come across the notion that in Ancient Greek, there were women’s shelters marked with Medusa’s head. I am really skeptical, since what I’ve learned is that women were most likely not in the position to have any spaces to themselves in the fairly sexist Ancient Greece. Do you happen to have any information on that or any idea where to research? Thank you and have a nice day 💖

Yeah nah that’s not true. The concept of women’s shelters is born from our modern society and needs a lot of prerequisites, including:

that domestic violence is a crime, not an accepted form of punishment within the home

that women would seek refuge in an independent establishment rather than in a temple or with family or friends

that the state (or well-to-do men, or even more rare, well-to-do independent women) would provide funds for the existence of such establishments

None of these would have entered the mind of someone from family-based, patriarchal Ancient Greece. It would be just as inconceivable as a modern jury using the Code of Hammurabi as a basis for their rulings. As a result, there was no such thing as women’s shelters in Greece - let alone marked with Medusa’s head.

On a related note, @notbecauseofvictories has an excellent breakdown of the Tumblr claims about Medusa here.

[mythosbytati]

Tales of Monsters: Medusa

Medus herself is a relatively well-known figure in mythology, especially in the western world. She is one of the three Gorgon sisters, followed by Stheno and Euryale. As for what a Gorgon is, they are defined as fierce, frightening, or repulsive women who have the power to turn anyone who looks at them to stone. But how did Medusa end up this way? 

Originally she was a priestess in Athena’s temple, devoted to her work. All was going well until Posideon did what most male Gods do, take advantage of her. He raped her on the steps of Athena's temple and she was cursed by said Goddess to grow snakes for hair and to turn anyone who looked at her to stone. Why she did this is still up for debate. Some say that Athena was punishing Medusa for what she had done, cursing her to be alone forever. 

This perspective was popular amongst Greek men, seeing as Greek myths often featured womenly monsters in order to warn against being ensnared by beautiful women. However, there is another perspective which I personally find very interesting. Medusa’s head was actually used to mark women’s shelters in ancient Greece, which leads some to believe that perhaps Athena wasn’t punishing the fallen priestess, but instead, she was protecting her. 

The Goddess gave Medusa that power to protect herself from men so that no one would be able to disgrace her as Posideon did. I really like this version of the story and I personally believe that it better fits Athena’s character. She was the Goddess of battle strategy and wisdom, it was known that she was amongst the least vindictive Goddesses. She would know that Medusa was not at fault for what had happened. The idea that she was gifting Medusa protecting, albeit at a cost, is a much better version of this myth, I think.