Performed by the mediators and educators for the public at Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Museum in Copenhagen on August 15, 2019

There are different ways to interpret Medusa in the written sources of mythology - and one of them (apart of the version where she was a born Gorgon-monster) tells her story as a beautiful priestess of Athena, sometimes as the head priestess of the goddess. Turning her into a monster in the consequence of an affair or a rape by Poseidon in the temple of Athena (is an ideologically charged contested field in interpretation). In both cases, it takes two to dance, however, the one Poseidon is seldom blamed in the interpretations of the classicists. In the aftermath of the event, Athena is told to “curse” Medusa with the power of stoning anyone she glances into the eye. However, can it be looked at as the ultimate power to protect oneself from attempts of a violation, like in the case with Poseidon? Gorgoneion, the protective pendant is worn later by Athena, can demonstrate the level of respect to Medusa’s stature – and therefore represent awe and respect instead of current fear and disgust.
Perseus, who performs the act of beheading Medusa for the sake of acquisition of her powers of stoning is appropriating her powers while forsaking the context in which they were acquired. The misogynistic nature of the story, therefore, emphasised on multiple levels.
What other arguments can we draw in defense of Medusa?
Etymologically, name Medusa - Ancient Greek Μέδουσα (Médousa), from μέδω (médō, “rule over”) means “sovereign female wisdom,” “guardian/protectress,” “the one who knows’ or ‘the one who rules”.  It derives from the same Indo-European root as the Sanskrit Medha and the Greek Metis (the mother of Athena, Titaness of cunning smartness), meaning ‘wisdom’ and ‘intelligence.’
The normalised Greek myth of Medusa offers plenty to be angry about. The monstrous being with snakes instead of the hair starts out as a human woman, who Poseidon rapes in Athena’s temple. The goddess then punishes Medusa by turning her into a Gorgon ‘monster’ and exiling her. Athena here is depicted as an enemy of women, a traitor to her gender, an impression strengthened by the oft-quoted words put into her mouth by the classical playwright Aeschylus: ‘I am exceedingly of the father…’ – and later being picked up by feminist theorist Judith Butler in her critique of Athena’s archetype and character in relation to the cause of women’s rights.

Earlier Medusa myths, ascribed to Homer, Hesiod and Pindar, make no mention of enmity from Athena; nor do authors contemporary with Ovid, including Strabo.
Ovid and Aeschylus (whose prime is contemporary to Athenian Empire ‘Victorian decadence’ period of stagnation and decline) exemplify classic patriarchal strategies that blame the victim, set women against one another, and reframe ancient myths to the detriment of powerful females. Athena, Medusa, and Metis have all been diminished in this way, as has Athena’s mother Metis, who has been removed from the scene of Athena’s birth. In “Theogony” of Hesiod, which is seen as a Bible-like source of the genealogy of gods in Ancient Greek mythology, the moment of Metis destruction is vividly violent: “But Zeus… deceiving Metis although she was full wise… he seized her with his hands and put her in his belly, for fear she might bring forth something stronger than his thunderbolt… but she straightaway conceived Pallas Athene… and she [Metis] remained hidden beneath the inward parts of Zeus…”.

As we can look at Medusa from the perspective of her being empowering character – queenly and wise – radically opposing the normalised narrative of the monster doomed to be killed by another masculinity-propelling hero, we are ought to open the critical portals for the re-interpretation of the archetypal characters in Ancient Greek mythography that lay the foundation of the European political imaginary.