“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster, …”
Friedrich Nietzsche
Or is that exactly what you have to be?
I like this quote, for the meaning it holds within it, I even learned to live by it, as I, too, can detect the monster I can shift into when dealing with monsters and beasts, especially human ones. The Medusa that I call upon when being attacked by her kind. An atrocity they fear approaching or even looking at. A hybrid nourished by their injustice and fake hopes, but who still fights for the little life she was forced to endure.
I, too, love my dark cave, the one they offered me to seek refuge in, isolated and alone, as my presence threatens them and shakes them to the core. And I, too, bite their violations and trespass without mercy, in a world in need of a Gorgon to remind people that none can take a monster but an equal, a hero, or the one made of the two.
But while thinking about Medusa, I couldn’t help but wonder who the woman behind the mask was? Was she really evil in her past human life? As I bear witness to the fact, that envy and unjust sentences can alter the sweetest souls, as they did to mine.
Like any myth, Medusa’s story varies from one version to another, but the most known version comes from Greek mythology. It is told that somewhere in North Africa lived Medusa, a beautiful priestess of Athena, the virgin goddess, whose servants were expected to maintain their chastity and remain celibate while serving in her temples.
Medusa’s beauty amazed men and gods, and Poseidon was one of her admirers. Despite her vows of chastity, Medusa was seduced and even violated by the sea god profaning one of Athena’s temples, while in other tales it was said that the relationship was consensual. In both cases, the only one to blame was the human Medusa, as Athena, consumed by her wrath, transformed Medusa into a Gorgon for her sin of violating her sanctity.
From beauty emerged the beast, a hideous creature, with a head covered with venomous snakes, turning anyone who looked at them into stone. Some representations, associate Medusa’s look with wings and a serpentine lower body. A scary figure yet feminine, with her gold scales, bronze hands, and burning eyes.
Medusa’s story is mostly known for her unfortunate encounter with Perseus, the man who slew the Gorgon with the aid of the gods. By cutting her head, two beings came to life: the winged horse Pegasus and Chrysaor, described as a golden giant with a golden sword or, at times, pictured as a winged boar. The two sons of Medusa and Poseidon were the legacies that commemorated an unusual and magical union. It is true that Perseus succeeded in his quest and ended Medusa, but he never broke the legend, as the name of the creature still resonates and hunts the hearts of men.
A tragic story, cruel and unfair with a dramatic end —that is the story of the Gorgon—but when meditating about this uncommon fate. What was Medusa’s fault, but being a powerless servant, whose beauty enchanted the real monster?
And there it was, the bitter truth: monsters create monsters !
And now that I think about all the modern Medusas, people viewed as cold, isolated, vicious, maleficent, or, in other words monstrous, deserving to be hunted down and slain. I can’t help but think, are those people really monsters, or are they victims of unseen brutes?
As I, too, walk in their shoes from time to time, protecting and shielding myself behind Medusa’s bad reputation, a curse I willingly undergo to protect myself and repel unwelcome predators. A legendary question, that seems to be well answered by a timeless legend.
So, in Medusa’s honor, to all the helpless, beautiful souls, who instead of celebrating their uniqueness and success are being oppressed and caged by envious losers, don’t wait to be transformed into a monster, just be one, if the result of being docile and obedient turns out to be the same.
Don’t offer them the chance to curse you, inflict that fate upon yourself and embrace it if needed. Be the Gorgon of your time and always remember : you are not alone my friend, as Medusa’s blood runs deep in our veins since the beginning of time.
Meryem !
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