The tattoo: Dave Brewer, Trigger Happy Tattoo, La Habra, California. Image from Matthew Graner's Flickrstream. The original painting: Caravaggio, oil on canvas mounted on wood, 1597.
I've always had a soft spot for Medusa. And it's not just because kids used to use her name as an insult toward me because of my wild and crazy hair and I've since empowered myself by studying her. Okay, that's a large part of the attraction. But it's also because she just got a really bad rap. Yeah, she got caught in the arms of Poseidon in Athena's temple, but hey, who's gonna say no to a god? And, for that matter, she might have said no to him in first place but been raped anyway. After all, Greek gods weren't exactly immune to the charge of rape.
Anyway, I can understand Athena being pissed off, but enough to turn her into a monster just so Perseus could whack her head off so that the head could be on her shield? Seems pretty harsh to me. But then, I like snakes. That's not to say I want them growing out of my head but still, she's a pretty unique figure.
2 comments:
Beautiful piece! I too have a soft spot for Medusa but mine has no explanation.. that I know of.
Her image was historically used for protection, maybe that's part of it?
At any rate, she's a very cool gal.
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