Medusa. The snake-haired monster whose gaze could turn people to stone.
The earliest surviving accounts describe her as one of three Gorgon sisters, whose head was severed by the Greek hero Perseus as part of a challenge set by a king. Centuries later, in Ovid's Metamorphoses, we encounter a different side of her story. Once admired for her beauty, Medusa was violated by Poseidon in Athena's temple, only to be punished by the goddess, who transformed her beautiful hair into snakes.
In more recent years, Medusa's story has been revisited through the lens of patriarchal violence, and her image reclaimed as a symbol of feminine rage and resistance. One example of this is Luciano Garbati's sculpture Medusa with the Head of Perseus, which reverses the familiar narrative, depicting Medusa holding the severed head of Perseus.
And while we love to see a so-called 'monstrous' woman reclaimed as a symbol of resistance, there's something interesting to be considered within her imagery. If we wind back the clock to Ancient Greece, we find the Gorgoneion, a depiction of the Gorgon's head believed to possess protective powers. According to myth, after Perseus beheaded Medusa, he gifted her head to Athena, who placed it at the centre of her shield. The Ancient Greeks adopted the Gorgoneion as a protective symbol, placing it on shields, temple roofs, jewellery and everyday objects to ward off evil and intimidate their enemies.
But take a look at these ancient artefacts and you'll notice something. Medusa's face is wild, with bulging eyes, boar-like tusks and a protruding tongue. Over time, the Greeks began to soften her appearance, and by the fifth century BCE, depictions of Medusa were becoming increasingly human and conventionally beautiful. This transformation continued through the centuries, leaving us with the striking, feminine figure we recognise today.
And there's something curious about this. As we've reclaimed Medusa as a symbol of feminine rage and resistance, we've largely embraced an image of her that's far removed from the earliest Gorgoneia. We've celebrated her power while asking her to conform to an idea of beauty and femininity designated (by whom? One guess – starts with 'p' and ends with 'archy') as acceptable, stripping away the very features that once made her so fearsome.
But in those earlier depictions, Medusa didn’t need to be beautiful and agreeable to be powerful. In fact, it was precisely her fearsome qualities that made her a symbol of protection.
Athena's shield is a symbol for our Aura Protection blend, which supports strength, resilience and boundaries. Here, this Gorgoneion amulet serves as a reminder to stand our ground and bare our teeth, calling on the power within us to advocate, rebel and turn anger into action.