Myth Adaptation: Minerva & Medusa
"Perseus tells the tale of how he severed the ‘head of the snake-headed Gorgon’: ‘Medusa was once an exceedingly beautiful maiden, whose hand in marriage was jealously sought by an army of suitors. According to someone who told me he’s seen it, her marvellous hair was her crowning glory. The story goes that Neptune the sea god raped this glorious creature inside the shrine of Minerva. Jove’s daughter screened her virginal eyes with her aegis in horror, and punished the sin, by transforming the Gorgon’s beautiful hair into horrible snakes.’ (That explains why, to startle her foes into terror, the goddess always displays those snakes on the front of her bosom.)"
- Page 170-1, Book 4, ‘Perseus’, Metamorphoses.
Medusa was unlike any other woman. You could not have found a person alive who was not enchanted by her beauty. Her golden locks and fair complexion were envied by everyone, even us gods, and her eyes were as clear and blue as the sky. Hundreds of men lined up to marry her, begged, whined, pleaded. But she never seemed to notice them. In fact, their pining and jostling for her attention only irritated her. She worked hard and was a devoted follower of mine. I would often find myself watching her, even doing the most menial of tasks. I found it peaceful… It was only a matter of time before one of the other gods caught sight of her. Neptune. He saw her bathing and his lust, as he declared, ‘overpowered him’, what could he do? I heard her screams as he dragged her into my shrine, my shrine, and defiled her. How he loves to torment me. She tried to get away but, of course, he was too strong. He stabbed her glistening, soft hair with his sharp trident. She was pinned to the ground. I couldn’t watch. I couldn’t act. I could only wait until it was over. How I would have loved to throw a sword and watch it pierce his back. But the gods can’t do such things. The law forbids it. I knew I would be expected to assert my authority, to punish her for tarnishing my shrine. But how could I kill her for a crime committed upon her? Poor, weak, innocent mortal. The true criminal roams free. An untouchable god. Always right even when we are wrong. I must protect her. She can’t endure such agony again. I will transform her. Transform her into something so powerful, so repellent, so threatening that no man would dare to go near her. And if they do, one glance is all it will take for them to meet a cold and stony fate, eternally fixed, infinitely trapped. A head of snakes will guard her, watch from every angle, defend her at every given chance. She will no longer need to fear. She will be able to raise her future children in peace, never having to worry of what man might do to her next. To everyone else my gifts of defence will appear as acts of punishment, stripping her of her beauty and sending her to live in the shadows of isolation. But she will know. She will. She will be grateful… I cannot foresee what the future may bring, but I hope that she and her children will forever be safe, away from the gluttonous clutches of Man.