Throughout Greek mythology, Medusa has always been perceived as a monster with the power to turn people into stone simply by looking at her. Although there have been stories pointing to Medusa as a misunderstood victim, let's take a look at the character in the revamped series. Is Medusa bad in Percy Jackson and the Olympians?
Who is Medusa?
Medusa was written by the Roman author, Ovid, as a beautiful mortal maiden who has taken a vow of celibacy as her devotion to Athena. But after being seduced by Poseidon in the temple of Athena, Athena punishes her by turning her hair into snakes.
In mythology, her story begins with her death. The hero Perseus decapitated Medusa after getting some help from Hermes and Athena. Medusa's head was then used as a weapon to turn people to stone once they looked into her eyes.
Is Medusa Bad in the Percy Jackson Books?
Throughout the Percy Jackson books, Medusa has always been described as ruthless, cold, and merciless. She gains pleasure from turning people into stone and adding them to her collection in her stone garden.
In the previous Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief movies, the role of Medusa was portrayed by Uma Thurman, who tries to lure Percy, Grover, and Annabeth into her garden to turn them into stone. Not much about her character was explained in the movies.
In the revamped show, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, we finally get a more understanding look into Medusa's character. This is because there has always been some controversy about Medusa's character in the original books written by Rick Riordan.
In an interview with Variety, Rebecca Riordan, Rick Riordan's wife and an executive producer of the series, shared that they decided to make some changes to Medusa's backstory.
"The only reason Medusa is not more fleshed out in the books was that it was Percy’s narrative and we don’t have her perspective.”
Rick further added:
"As a 12-year-old boy in 2005, I don’t think he had the bandwidth for deconstructing the patriarchy. He was looking at it as, ‘This is a scary woman who’s trying to turn me into stone.’”
The passage in the book reads:
"'It's a terrible story,' Aunty Em said, 'Not one for children, really. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a...a boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed by me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but eventually they passed on. They faded away. I alone have survived, but at a price. Such a price.'"
Some have interpreted the books as Poseidon raping Medusa. And upon learning this, Athena only punished her.
“There are many versions from ancient times of what happened in that temple with Medusa and Poseidon and Athena. Who’s to blame? Who’s the abuser? What’s the real story? It’s fiction, but it certainly is important to acknowledge that there is abuse involved here. Abuse of power.”
Is Medusa Bad in Percy Jackson and the Olympians?
Thanks to this slight change in narrative, we finally see Medusa with kinder eyes— one that shows her as a misunderstood and judged person.
This change was credited to Daphne Olive, who did a great job at keeping the original myth intact while maintaining an age-appropriate backstory.
In Percy Jackson and the Olympians episode 3, Medusa gets to tell her side of things to Percy and Annabeth. Played by Jessica Parker Kennedy, Medusa says:
“Athena was everything to me. I worshipped her; I prayed to her; I made offerings. She never answered, not even an omen to suggest she appreciated my love. I wasn’t like you, sweetheart. I was you. I would have worshipped her that way for a lifetime: in silence.
“But then one day, another god came, and he broke that silence. Your father.
The sea god told me that he loved me. I felt as though he saw me in a way I had never felt seen before. But then Athena declared that I had embarrassed her and I needed to be punished. Not him. Me. She decided that I would never be seen again by anyone who would live to tell the tale.”
But ultimately, she petrifies her enemies as her way of processing Athena's curse. No matter what, Medusa is evil. But thanks to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV adaptation, we finally understand that underneath all of that, Medusa is a traumatized victim too.
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