by | April 14, 2020 · 6:29 pm
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Medusa’s #Metoo by Luanne Castle

So thrilled that my poem “Medusa’s #Metoo” has been published at North of Oxford. Most of my life, I took the myth of Medusa as I had been fed it: that she was a monster who turned men into stone when they looked at her. Perseus was the hero of the story for cutting off her head. But look further. Medusa was a beautiful woman who was raped by Poseidon in Athena’s temple. For Poseidon’s crime, Athena blamed Medusa and turned her into the deathly face framed by serpents instead of hair that we know her by. Surely Medusa’s #metoo story is an important one.

20 Comments

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20 responses to “Medusa’s #Metoo by Luanne Castle”

  1. derrickjknight
    April 15, 2020 at 3:10 am

    Congratulations, Luanne. An eye-opener for me

    Reply
  2. merrildsmith
    April 15, 2020 at 4:35 am

    Congratulations, Luanne. Excellent. I posted on the site, too: “Thank you for this. So many of the women in myths were victims like this. I’ll never think of Medusa the same way again!”

    Reply
    • Luanne
      April 15, 2020 at 8:05 am

      Thank you, Merril. It makes me so mad to think of how we’ve maligned Medusa in stories and movies all these years. And the hand of woman in her downfall is very sad. Both Medusa and Athene are victims of a male-centered society.

      Reply

  3. Pingback: Poem Up at Zingara Poetry Review | Luanne Castle's Writer Site

  4. Eilene Lyon
    April 15, 2020 at 8:52 am

    Wow! Excellent retelling of her story. Impressive.

    Reply
  5. Jill Weatherholt
    April 15, 2020 at 9:05 am

    Nicely done! Congratulations, Luanne.

    Reply
    • Luanne
      April 15, 2020 at 9:16 am

      Thank you so much, Jill. I watched that video of your mom with the stuffed animal yesterday and then got pulled from the computer before I could comment (I think). So touching and so heart breaking that you have to be away from her.

      Reply
  6. carlamcgill
    April 15, 2020 at 12:57 pm

    Wow, Luanne, this one is stunning! Thanks for the background! Congratulations!

    Reply
  7. Marie A Bailey
    April 16, 2020 at 6:38 am

    I’m with Carla: Wow! I love how you bring in the issues with social media, making Medusa’s story timely indeed. Congratulations!

    Reply
  8. D. Wallace Peach
    April 17, 2020 at 6:55 am

    Such a powerful poem and perspective, Luanne. This is heartbreaking, and in a strange way empowering in the way the treatment makes me angry. You evoked such feelings with this. Amazing and no wonder it found an audience. Well done!

    Reply
    • Luanne
      April 17, 2020 at 6:08 pm

      Oh, thank you so much! Yes, it is maddening, isn’t it? She is not only reviled, but ridiculed. So unfair. And, gee thanks, Athena, for sticking up for another woman.

      Reply
  9. Geri Lawhon
    May 23, 2020 at 10:24 am

    Thank you for this post. I had always thought of Medusa as horrible, but now I know she was the victim. Sad , but true in today’s world also.

    Reply

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