Medusa: A beautiful and profound retelling of Medusa’s story

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The earliest known record about the story of Medusa and the Gorgons can be found in Hesiod’s Theogony. The serpentine locks of Medusa’s hair had an effect very similar to that of the head: while they did not necessarily turn people to stone, they could scatter entire armies. Andrews also examines the cultural and historical contexts that gave rise to the myth, unveiling the deeper meanings and symbolism behind Medusa’s story. Within are illustrations by the Northumberland-based Olivia Lomenech Gill, an artist whose work at its strongest has something of Frink’s about it.

You could take away my arms and legs, my body and my breasts; you could cut off my head and still not end the myth. Once upon a time, someone remarked of three old women that they had a single eye and a single tooth between them. It holds a magnifying glass up to society and in so doing offers a profound and beautiful journey about finding one’s own voice and self-realisation.With a look that would turn men to stone, Medusa has earned her place in Greek mythology as the ruthless Gorgon, with a head of snakes. Athena (referred to as Athene in the book) tries to talk an unnamed mortal into signing on to a huge battle between the Olympian gods and the Giants, new powerhouse versus the current champs. She is the author of three novels for adults, The Miniaturist (2014), The Muse (2016) and The Confession (2019), and is both a Sunday Times no. A dazzling, lyrical YA retelling of Greek myth, from Jessie Burton, internationally bestselling author of The Miniaturist and The Muse.

She is mortal, and shaped as humans are apart from her wings (the snaky hair comes later), but the elder Gorgons have scales and multiple tusks and limbs powerful enough to smash rocks. She was a woman who watched snakes instead of hair turn into stone, anyone who dared to gaze at her monstrous face. RCPCH endorses the use of Medusa and their monographs on the preparation and administration of injectable medicines for use in paediatrics.

Stalked by Poseidon she is sexually abused by him in Athena’s temple but far from sympathy you would expect from Athena, instead the goddess turns her beautiful hair to a mass of venomous snakes with a promise “woe betide any man fool enough to look upon you now”. In this version of the ancient stories, the hero is as thick as two planks, the maiden tied to a rock is vain and self-centred, and the monster is piteously misunderstood. Nonnus: The myth of Medusa, her death, and her monstrous offspring are alluded to throughout the epic poem Dionysiaca (fifth century CE), which relates the travels of the young god Dionysus.

Medusa’s head was finally given to the goddess Athena, becoming part of the armor she wore into battle. Medusa does not appear directly in the “Iliad,” the ancient Greek epic poem by Homer that focuses on the events during the Trojan War.With each day affection grows on both sides, with Perseus declaring that he thinks he loves Medusa, Medusa realizes that she feels the same. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page. Or noting that if he had really been solid on keeping promises he might have headed straight home to save his mom with that snaky head instead of stopping off to frolic in blood for a few days. Medusa's story is one that has long captivated me and I implicitly trusted Jessie Burton to deliver her story with the sensitivity and depth of emotion her character deserved, and with an empowering spin and full female autonomy that all women deserve.

The photo on our National Neonatal Audit Programme report is courtesy of Maddy and Baljit Singh, parents to triplets. Perhaps she has overimagined or misunderstood Athena’s curse – “Woe betide any man fool enough to look upon you now! Medusa turned from misunderstood villain to manic pixie dream girl, and it was hard not to make it through every page without rolling my eyes.Burton's text and Lomenech Gill's art are a perfect match, offering a powerfully feminist, elegiac, and original twist on this old story. Medusa’s narrative provides an in depth and descriptive account for how Medusa and her sisters came to be cursed as Gorgons by the goddess Athena.