11/7/19 Alexandra Shinkareva Period 8

Modern Mythology 2020

Alexandra Shinkareva PD 8 #25

November 7, 2019

Aim: How does Perseus’ quest highlight the plight of women in ancient greek society?

Do Now: Pop quiz on the story of Perseus

The class began with a think-pair-share activity where we had to compare the characterization of Danae and Andromeda against Medusa and her sisters and determine what their plight was. 

Ryan started the discussion by saying that the contrast between them was that Danae and Andromeda were beautiful and Medusa and her sisters were hideous snake-like creatures. This was the beauty aspect in their characterization, which was appropriate considering that “beauty” was written in big letters on the whiteboard. Then, Helen was called on and she mentioned that the contrast between the women was that Danae and Andromeda were beautiful women that were saved, while Medusa and her sisters were hideous creatures on their own. Brian agreed and said that the plight was that the women were never in control of the situation that they were in. They were the pawns of men. He gave the examples that Perseus came along and killed Medusa because he decided that she was ugly and that Danae and Andromeda were saved because men decided that they were beautiful women. 

To end this discussion, Ms. Fusaro summarizes the answers everyone gave. Then she said that the king (father of Danae) tries to avoid his prophecy by locking up his innocent daughter and the Cassiopeia (mother of Andromeda) almost had her daughter killed for her wrongdoings. This shows how the parents punished their innocent kids for their own purpose. It also led to the idea that Danae and Andromeda were powerful women, since Danae was involved in her father’s prophecy and Andromeda had to be killed for Cassiopeia to be forgiven by the gods. It is a theme in Greek mythology that powerful women often get put down, which coincides with the recurring idea that women should be subservient.

After the discussion, we watched a video titled “Medusa, The Curse”. The video went over the story of Medusa and how she came to be one of the Gorgons. Medusa was initially a very beautiful mortal. She was a priestess in one of Athena’s temples. Athena wanted Medusa to stay pure (a virgin). Eventually, Athena became jealous of her beauty. Medusa happened to attract the attention of Poseidon, but she kept rejecting his approaches. Poseidon got annoyed and simply took Medusa by force. Athena got mad at Medusa for not staying pure, despite the fact that it wasn’t her fault. As a result, Athena cursed Medusa by turning her hair into snakes and making it impossible for anyone to look at her because they would turn to stone. After this, Medusa became the target many warriors, where her head is their desired trophy. All but one warrior were unable to get her head and were turned into stone. That one warrior was Perseus. He got several gifts from the gods, one of gods being Athena. As a result, he was able to kill Medusa and get her head. When she was killed, Pegasus was born. From this moment, Medusa’s head was used as a protective amulet to keep evil away. 

After the video, we had a whole group discussion. On the slide, it stated that Medusa only became the monster her figure embodied after falling into pits of despair. The question was “What can we understand about monsters in Greek mythology from the story of Medusa?”.

Brian started off by asking a question about how Medusa’s head became a trophy and Ms. Fusaro answered that her head being a trophy was related to the idea that women were generally awarded as gifts in this time. Mat mentioned that it was strange that Athena punished Medusa and then helped Perseus kill her. Ms. Fusaro said that there is a theory that Athena cursed Medusa in a way that men can’t harm her, but it doesn’t make sense because she helped Perseus kill her. Ms. Fusaro also explains how Medusa became a Gorgon. Medusa’s transformation was very painful. When she sought refuge in one of Athena’s temples, she accidentally turned the priestess into stone by looking at her. As a result, Medusa exiled herself and the Gorgon sisters took her in. By allowing Medusa to turn people into stone by simply looking at her, Athena ostracized Medusa from any human contact.

Then, Ms. Fusaro brought up the fact that Athena and Poseidon were at constant war, so the extent of Medusa’s punishment was too extreme. Joshua responded by saying that Athena was petty because not only did she curse Medusa and help kill her, she also put Medusa’s head on her aegis. 

Towards the end of class, Ms. Fusaro put up a slide that stated, “The dichotomy of women either puts them into a monster status, such as Medusa (or Medea) or completely helpless, such as Danae. Andromeda (Europa…)”. The question was “What would be the purpose of passing this inference on to a younger generation?” but class ended just as we began to answer it. 

Reflection

The most important thing that I learned today was that the Perseus story continues to express the common theme that women must be subservient to men and be patient. This was shown in both Danae’s part of the story and Andromeda’s part of the story. I also learned Danae, Andromeda, and Medusa’s fate were dependent on men. Danae and Andromeda were saved because they were believed to be beautiful and Medusa was killed because she was a hideous monster. This demonstrates the idea that Greek mythology puts women into an extreme, whether it is beautiful and innocent or a horrible monster. Last but not least, I learned about the details of Medusa’s story because the story of Perseus only mentioned her when Perseus killed her. Today’s lesson applies to real life because the story demonstrates the perspective that Greeks had on women. They believed that they were supposed to be subservient to men and that they are either beautiful and innocent or the complete opposite.