Question about Athena

#mythology #athena #medusa #question #greek #perseus #percyjackson #gorgon

[dragoncat]

It's simple, she wanted to help herself to a sick shield design

[geekweek]

The version of the story where Athena turns Medusa into a monster, as well as most of the stories that give Athena a petty side that is WAY out of character, we’re all written by Ovid, who HATED authority figures. In Greek versions of the myth, Medusa and her sisters Euryale and Stheno were all born gorgons.

[nicholaspoling]

There were 2 people writing that story, Medusa in one myth was just a child of Typhoon, so the monster look was already there, the gaze could have been added by Athena or just part of the og gorgon, but then another poet who was all screw authority, people with power always abuse power wrote Athena as a person who doesn't know how to help, some myths have it as Aphrodite doing the helping/cursing which is a bit more in line with her character.

[avr]

The versione where Athena makes Medusa a monster to protect her is the "female version" of the story
Medusa means "protector" and her head was in safe spaces for woman to hang out

But it is not woman who writes miths, but mens, so here's why Perseus in the end killed her and Athen helped him

I'm sorry if i wasn't able to explain or if i'm wrong, i'm still learning

[athensk.]

That’s all Ovid’s doing (well, writing!). No wonder he got exiled, guy was nuts 😜

[DiamondAppendixVODs]

It's because the version where athena turned medusa into a monster is basically a fanfiction. The canon is medusa always has been a monster, and also had two sisters who were also gorgons, I think

[edoardoprevelato]

So in the end this was Athena doing a crafting quest for a legendary +5 shield

[wavemaster]

As I understood it, she used that as an excuse when asked about her actions. Meanwhile she actively sought to have Medusa killed

[AldonNightstar]

There are many different versions of the story, one where Athena did it to her completely as punishment, another where she was born a Gorgon along with her sisters, and then there's a version I heard not to long ago where Medusa was turn into a Gorgon like the Original story, but in her seclusion, she continued to perform her roll as a priestess in a ruined Temple that used to belong to Athena, and when Athena's spies who watched over Medusa reported this to her she felt regret for what she had done to Medusa and believed that death would be the sweet release she desired and placed her head upon the shield after Perseus used it as a way to honor Medusa, for not only handling her punishment with dignity and Grace but continuing her work as a priestess to Athena, even though she had every right to want to hate and even destroy Athena for what she had been through.

[Sherman]

a lesson we can learn from this:

the olympians don’t care about their subjects. period.

[king_pigeon]

Also she's a goddess of wisdom. She had to realize that turning her into a gorgon would be an ineffective safety mechanism because everyone would try and kill her

[flair]

Hypothetically it would be because Athena realized how badly she flubbed up the intended effect of the spell, instead making Medusa a sad, lonely creature who was forever haunted by specters if men and women who could have been friends or lovers in the form of the statues. She sends Perceus to free her of this accidental curse and in so doing, honors her in death as an apology.

I don't really believe that theory but if I had to guess a reason following the logic, that would be it.

[clemi]

What’s interesting about the interpretation of Athena’s motive to curse Medusa is that you can pinpoint in time which one was more popular by looking at artworks of her. More monstrous? Athena was punishing her. More human like she either a tragic figure or Athena was protecting her. Not too mention that Medusa imagery were used to repel evil. The protective Athena idea already existed back then and contradiction in the story probably came from the fact that with time we merged different myths that was passed orally from different places and time of Greece. So Athena’s not making sense when you look at one interpretation is probably because Medusa’s history has been mashed together without caring about the context.

[skotosman]

I have never heard anyone make the argument that Athena did this to help Medusa. It was always out of Rage and jealousy even though Medusa never asked for being raped.

[allisondempsey]

Thank you, sir. Finally someone brought up the hypocrisy of the argument that Athena was trying to protect Medusa by turning her into a gorgon. How does turning someone into a hideous monster protect them, especially when they've been brutally sexually assaulted by Poseidon, who is Athena's uncle?

Honestly, at this point, it honestly amazes me when people say, especially girls, they like Athena. Considering what she did to both Arachnia and Medusa, I just don't understand why people are fans of her.

[hazbinotakusimp]

I remember the story being that Medusa was the most beautiful woman in her land and she worshipped Athena and it was a rule that you had to be pure to be worthy of being in Athena's praise (could be wrong there), but since she was so beautiful she had to turn away many many many men in order to remain pure, however that didn't stop Poseidon when he lusted for her and... He forced himself upon her, now since she was no longer pure, Athena punished her by making her a monster

But again I could be wrong as I was told the story YEARS ago

[koffee_Nyx]

I heard it’s because Athena’s so called “blessing” turned out to become a curse, so she helped Perseus “end her suffering.” 💀 I don’t actually remember where I’ve heard that, but…I’ve heard it somewhere 🤷🏻‍♀

[friendbright]

Those are two separate myths written by two separate people. In the myth where Medusa was killed, she was said to be the daughter of a sea monster along with her gorgon sisters. In the myth where Medusa was assaulted, the man who wrote it had a strong distaste for the gods and wrote several other myths where they were cruel, spiteful, and downright evil. The idea that Athena helped Medusa by transforming her into a monster is a modern one.

[artimuos]

In some myths Poseidon and Medusa were hooking up in temple of Athena.
And in this story I think Athena wanted Perseus to put Medusa out of misery.

[Ithqua]

Speaking of Medusa, if you see someone with a Medusa tattoo, it's often something survivors of sexual assault get as a sign of self empowerment.