Medusa, literally, petrifies: her face turned the ancients to stone. For Perseus and his patriarchal culture she was a dangerous female monster that had to be destroyed; for Dante she was the erotic power that could destroy men; Freud saw in her hair a nest of terrifying penises signalling castration. Yet in our time Medusas reputation has improved: feminists see her as a noble victim of patriarchy, and the designer Versace celebrates the lure of her mysterious face in a logo that stares at us from his ads for mens underwear, haute couture and exotic dinnerware. In our modern culture she is once again a powerplayer demanding to be recognized; Medusa, it seems, still has the power to transfix us. David Leemings Medusa explores how and why the mythical figure of the gorgon has become one of the most important and enduring ideas in human history.
