I, Medusa: A Novel
From New York Times bestselling author Ayana Gray comes a new kind of villain origin story, reimagining one of the most iconic monsters in Greek mythology as a provocative and powerful young heroine.
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Readers say *I, Medusa* is a powerful, vivid reimagining of the Greek myth that centers Medusa’s humanity and explores themes of trauma, resilience, a...
This was a very interesting take on the story of Medusa. It was an easy read and the pace was perfect. I felt like all the characters were relatable.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Ayana Gray for the ARC.
I, Medusa is a powerful reimagining of the iconic Greek myth, recast through the lens of a woman of color. Ayana Gray breathes new life into the legend by centering Medusa’s humanity and origin story. Her relationships with her sisters, the intimacy of caring for each other’s locs and the sacredness of braiding as craft, and the immigrant experience are particular standouts.
Medusa has long been vilified in traditional texts, painted as a monster rather than a survivor. Gray joins the chorus of contemporary storytellers reclaiming her narrative—not as a cautionary tale, but as a portrait of resistance, rage, and resilience in the face of violation and injustice. The novel does not shy away from the trauma inherent in Medusa’s myth. It treats it with honesty and weight, especially in her fraught entanglements with Poseidon (trigger warning for those unfamiliar with the Greek myths: sexual assault) and Athena. These dynamics are navigated with nuance, revealing the layered complexities of positions of power and the expectations of women in society.
I highly recommend reading through the end notes to learn more about Black representation in mythology and in antiquity in general. She has a long list of impressive beta readers and collaborative authors. This was my first novel from her, but I look forward to reading more from Ayana Gray. I, Medusa is a searing, necessary addition to the mythological canon and a triumph of voice, perspective, and storytelling.
This book was provided to me for free in exchange for my honest review.
I, Medusa is a powerful reimagining of the iconic Greek myth, recast through the lens of a woman of color. Ayana Gray breathes new life into the legend by centering Medusa’s humanity and origin story. Her relationships with her sisters, the intimacy of caring for each other’s locs and the sacredness of braiding as craft, and the immigrant experience are particular standouts.
Medusa has long been vilified in traditional texts, painted as a monster rather than a survivor. Gray joins the chorus of contemporary storytellers reclaiming her narrative—not as a cautionary tale, but as a portrait of resistance, rage, and resilience in the face of violation and injustice. The novel does not shy away from the trauma inherent in Medusa’s myth. It treats it with honesty and weight, especially in her fraught entanglements with Poseidon (trigger warning for those unfamiliar with the Greek myths: sexual assault) and Athena. These dynamics are navigated with nuance, revealing the layered complexities of positions of power and the expectations of women in society.
I highly recommend reading through the end notes to learn more about Black representation in mythology and in antiquity in general. She has a long list of impressive beta readers and collaborative authors. This was my first novel from her, but I look forward to reading more from Ayana Gray. I, Medusa is a searing, necessary addition to the mythological canon and a triumph of voice, perspective, and storytelling.
This book was provided to me for free in exchange for my honest review.
Overall Reaction:
As a story, this book is one I would give 4.5 stars. The prose and societal historical research that went into this are very evident. Ayana Gray crafted a beautiful, amazing, and relatable prose. From start to finish it had me hooked and invested in every part of it. It truly offers tragedy and hope. It is a book I will be recommending to many to read.
Why did I give it 3 stars if I love most of the book? Well, this is where things get a bit more complicated and a bit longer. I have split it up into parts to make it easier for scrolling. Be warned this is mainly just one long rant. But I DO Recommend the book. The rant is just more for people to understand that this DOES NOT Retell the Greek story of Medusa. This is much closer to the Modernized Re-Envisioning of Ovid’s Medusa which was a poem in his 15 part Poem written for Political Reasons.
Parts:
1. Greek v. Roman: The Importance of Recognizing Two Separate Cultures / Religions
2. Contents of the Story: Brief Glimpse at What’s Inside
3. Ovid: Who Was He? What Was Metamorphosis?
4. Similar Not the Same: Greek v. Roman Gods & Goddesses
Part One - Greek v. Roman: The Importance of Recognizing Two Separate Cultures / Religions
It seems almost as if it should be common knowledge that idea of two separate religions and areas are in fact different. However, in the modern era more and more ideology has been popularized of Rome and Greece being interchangeable. Most notably their religion. While Rome did in fact use many figures from Hellenism, they also had their own Italic Religion with heavy Etruscan Influence. Most of these figures from Hellenistic poems and prose were changed to Rome’s own deities. They were not interchangeable.
Roman stories were commonly told through prose and found a ground in realism through their institutes and history, unlike the Greeks who preferred poetry and dramas to tell more compelling stories centering their deities. Roman deities were viewed as utilitarian, less individualistic, and focused more on servitude to family and state. Greeks viewed their deities as being more individualistic. They were closer to humans but a more idealized version. There was more of a focus on individualism and the beauty mixed with folly of human nature. Where Greeks focused on the physical of their deities, monsters, and heroes, Romans focused less on it allowing for an audience’s own interpretation. Romans believed mortals should strive towards a godly nature and Greeks believed mortals should serve the gods, but they could never attain them. For the Greeks, the afterlife was just a place. It was not inherently a punishment. Romans disagreed interpreting the afterlife as a place where you could live amongst the gods or even help guide your family.
While they held differences, they did share qualities in their deities intermingling with humans. Their gods held human emotions and their stories were ones that like most religions are a way to explain the world we live in. Some stories were ways for both, like other cultures, to remember their history and events.
Greece and Rome were two distinct cultures that did overlap at times. However, to say they are interchangeable is to erase two entirely different cultures and beliefs. Italic and Hellenism are still practiced in circles today despite many believing them to be no longer practiced. Outright refusal to listen to these groups has perpetuated harmful misinformation that has led to many followers of the Cult of Athena, Poseidon, and even Apollo to be attacked in their own spaces. It has led and contributed to an erasure of Roman and Greek History.
Part Two – Contents of the Story: A Brief Glimpse at What’s Inside
Does the book I, Medusa hinder or help the perpetuation of misinformation? Well, this is a long answer. Gray establishes throughout her prose a firm and well written understanding of Ancient Greece. It is very clear that time and care was put into it. However, when it comes to Medusa’s story it begins to falter.
Told through First Person Point of View, we meet our main character Medusa “Meddy” on an island secluded and hidden from the mortal world. Meddy and her 2 older sisters Stheno and Euryale have never been off the island. Their parents Ceto and Phorcys were trapped here long ago. Meddy is 17 and while she hasn’t had a direct formal education her sisters have taught her a lot. She was even able to teach herself 4 languages. While Meddy is intelligent she still holds a great naivety about things: what the world is like outside of the unchanging island, what sex is, just how far cruelty can go.
After a spring celebration, Euryale is chosen by Prince Maheer of Aithiopia, son of Ares, to be his bride. That night he attempts to violate Euryale. Meddy, to save her sister, bribes Maheer to call off the wedding. Maheer turns down her offer and attempts to violate her. Fighting back, Maheer stumbles, crashing his head on the table, and dies. A week later Athena arrives to investigate the death. Meddy confesses and Athena choses her to train as an Acolyte.
This is where I thought Gray might take a good turn in reclaiming the story of Medusa from Ovid and giving Athena back the credit she is due. Athena in Greek Mythology is a protector of women. (See Part Four for more information). Unfortunately for me, I would later be disappointed.
Meddy agrees and she is off to be an acolyte to become a priestess of Athena. The bulk of the story is during this time. Meddy meets Kallisto, no not that one, and Apollonia amongst 7 others vying for the coveted spot. One by one each drops, Meddy gets into a series of trouble for disobeying and offending Athena, and eventually loses Apollonia. During the night of the Panathaea celebration Apollonia is separated from Medusa. Medusa is saved by Poseidon (who has been grooming her and continues to do so), but Apollonia is not as lucky. The next day Apollonia is removed from service by Athena and Athena victim blames her.
Fast forward, Meddy becomes a priestess. Upon return to her island for a celebration, she is given wine of the gods that makes her drunk and then Poseidon rapes her in the garden. Athena stumbles upon them and punches Poseidon who threatens to have her virginity removed should she try that again. Athena aggressively takes Meddy into the celebration hall, a swift trial is held, and she turns her into a Gorgon. Off page, Meddy’s sisters are also turned. For the next few weeks, the sisters turn all men who dare reach their shores to stone. Apollonia and Meddy reunite and leave the island establishing a home in Cyrene.
After a priest rapes a young girl and she turns up pregnant, Meddy finally takes up being a vigilante (the last 10 pages of the book btw). And this is how it kinda ends.
The story was beautiful. I will say that. I adored the sisterly bond. The mentioning of loc braiding being one of the oldest forms of craftsmanship had me cheering. This story held a rich insight to so much culture and history while allowing readers to be able to connect to it. Meddy was a bit naïve, but she didn’t read too young for me and it made sense why the prose was written how it was written. My issues primarily only lie with the mythology.
Gray speaks of this in her author’s note which I did enjoy. However, the disconnect for me came when she spoke of this tale being a retelling of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. That story is Roman, and this story is very much Greek. This is where my problem lies because the two are not the same. The gods are not interchangeable. Ovid’s version has come to be a symbol for many survivors, including myself. However, the constant harm it has done to Hellenism is something that shouldn’t be overlooked either.
Part Three – Ovid: Who Was He? What Was Metamorphoses
Ovid is widely known as a Roman Poet. Unfortunately, in modern times his works have been screamed at as being Greek and often used to overshadow practitioners of Hellenism. Ovid, Publius Ovidius Naso, was alive 43 BCE – 17 CE. A prolific writer of the early Roman Empire, Ovid held a dream of being a poet and not going into Law as his father wished. When he was old enough, he began training under Arellius Fuscus (orator) and Porcius Latro (rhetorician). He was said to be an exceptional student. It wasn’t until the urging of Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus (orator) that Ovid gained success as a writer. In 8 CE, Ovid was banished from Rome for offending Emperor Augustus Caesar.
Metamorphoses was Ovid’s most famous work, despite all of the works geared towards women prior to its writing. Through 15 books of dactylic hexameter poetry, Ovid gives a chronology from creation to the death of Caesar. This is what would lead Ovid into exile. Emperor Augustus had found his poem to be erotic and a direct breech of the emperor’s moral reform. This poem was Ovid’s way of speaking out directly against Augustus, Livia, and the Inner Court. He took stories and inspiration from the Greeks, replacing their deities with ones of Rome, and applying Roman beliefs that he wanted to speak out against and bring to a harsher light. In essence, Ovid’s most famous work is a Roman Political Piece. Ovid’s works were banned from all Roman public libraries by Augustus. They were never seen or treated as mythological or religious pieces nor was it an effort to preserve Hellenic stories. Rather it was purely political and generated as a piece for Romans and against Augustus.
So, what is the story of Medusa in Metamorphosis? Well, in Book IV we have Perseus telling the story of Medusa. Perseus speaks of his clever tricking of the Graeae, and how he found tracks leading to the place of the Gorgons. He speaks of how he killed Medusa in her sleep and from her came Pegasus and his brother Chrysaor. A man then asked why Medusa was the only one with snakes for hair. It was said that she was once the most beautiful of them and had many jealous suitors. Of her beauty, her hair was the most beautiful part of her. It was said by another person that Neptune, lord of the seas, violated her in the temple of Minerva. Minerva, Jupiter’s daughter, hide behind an aegis and turned her eyes away to keep them chaste. To keep the act from going unpunished, Minerva changed the Gorgon’s hair to foul snakes. Now Minerva wears the snakes that she created as a breastplate to terrify her enemies and numb them with fear.
Ovid’s tale has been debated as being misogynistic but has also taken a different side as being a take on women’s power and expectations in Roman Society. This becomes more apparent when added with the fact that Ovid often tried to write works that were to empower women and challenge the beliefs that were set within society at the time.
However, overtime this version as well has taken on a much darker and more horrifying tale. Even Ovid has been accused of changing more than he did. Modern society however has done the following: Minerva is replaced with Athena. Medusa is made into a Priestess of Athena. Medusa wasn’t a Mortal Gorgon but a Mortal Woman. All of which has then been defended using Ovid. These takes have all been used to erase parts of history and drastically change two different religions.
Part Four – Similar Not the Same: Greek v. Roman Gods & Goddesses
Modern Eras have commonly mistaken Greek and Roman deities as being the exact same. That perhaps comes from the similarities between the two and perhaps even the overlapping of the cultures. While they are similar in some ways, they are also very different. Roman Italic Deities are more related to Etruscan (indigenous Italians) than to Hellenic ones.
Athena is often called Minerva. Both are regarded as goddesses of war, victory, and intelligence but that’s about it.
1. Greek: Athena – Regarded as Greek and a Goddess of War she was more closely associated with War Intelligence, and Civilized War Tactics that promoted Peace and Prosperity. Athena Nike was regarded as Victory and often depicted with wings until eventually Nike would be worshiped as a separate god. Athena Polias was the Goddess of the Acropolis. Athena was also regarded as Protector of Greek Cities and prayed to during times of war or crisis.
2. Roman: Minerva – was labeled a Foreign Goddess and often depicted as such in mythology. She was prayed to during times of War but it wasn’t until 60 BCE that she took the mantel Goddess of War and temple would be built for her. Minerva Victrix was known as Minerva Victory and did not separate as Nike did from Athena. Minerva Victrix was also not depicted with wings. Minerva was not regarded by Romans until the Capitolan Triad came to be. This triad consisted of Juno, Jupitar, and Minerva and together they all 3 protected Rome.
3. Etruscan: Menrva – Goddess of War and Weather. Daughter to Tin and Uni.
Neptune and Poseidon are a bit closer making their distinguishing factors a bit harder. However, both are still different.
1. Greek: Poseidon – Major God of the Sea and Horses. Consort – Amphitrite, a Nereid. Heavily important to Athens and maintained vast cults and major temples across the Greek world.
2. Roman: Neptune – Minor God of Fresh Waters, later promoted to Major God of Fresh Waters and the Sea. Neptune Equester is the God of Horses. But he is often compared to Consus an Agricultural God associated with Horses. Romans often attributed sea victories to Fortuna until Neptune was deemed a more major deity and given the sea. Consort – Salacia the Goddess of Salt Water and Ocean Depths. Neptune would not see influence to challenge that of Poseidon’s until the turn of modern western civilization.
3. Etruscan: Nethun – God of Wells later movies to God of All Bodies of Water.
4. NOTE: Consus as mentioned above with Neptune was opposite him. While Neptune was promoted, Consus was demoted.
The important piece here in this long rant is that while Gray did an AMAZING job with her story, there is still this constant conflation of Greek and Roman culture, as well as the misunderstanding of Roman Mythology and Ovid’s Political works.
As a story, this book is one I would give 4.5 stars. The prose and societal historical research that went into this are very evident. Ayana Gray crafted a beautiful, amazing, and relatable prose. From start to finish it had me hooked and invested in every part of it. It truly offers tragedy and hope. It is a book I will be recommending to many to read.
Why did I give it 3 stars if I love most of the book? Well, this is where things get a bit more complicated and a bit longer. I have split it up into parts to make it easier for scrolling. Be warned this is mainly just one long rant. But I DO Recommend the book. The rant is just more for people to understand that this DOES NOT Retell the Greek story of Medusa. This is much closer to the Modernized Re-Envisioning of Ovid’s Medusa which was a poem in his 15 part Poem written for Political Reasons.
Parts:
1. Greek v. Roman: The Importance of Recognizing Two Separate Cultures / Religions
2. Contents of the Story: Brief Glimpse at What’s Inside
3. Ovid: Who Was He? What Was Metamorphosis?
4. Similar Not the Same: Greek v. Roman Gods & Goddesses
Part One - Greek v. Roman: The Importance of Recognizing Two Separate Cultures / Religions
It seems almost as if it should be common knowledge that idea of two separate religions and areas are in fact different. However, in the modern era more and more ideology has been popularized of Rome and Greece being interchangeable. Most notably their religion. While Rome did in fact use many figures from Hellenism, they also had their own Italic Religion with heavy Etruscan Influence. Most of these figures from Hellenistic poems and prose were changed to Rome’s own deities. They were not interchangeable.
Roman stories were commonly told through prose and found a ground in realism through their institutes and history, unlike the Greeks who preferred poetry and dramas to tell more compelling stories centering their deities. Roman deities were viewed as utilitarian, less individualistic, and focused more on servitude to family and state. Greeks viewed their deities as being more individualistic. They were closer to humans but a more idealized version. There was more of a focus on individualism and the beauty mixed with folly of human nature. Where Greeks focused on the physical of their deities, monsters, and heroes, Romans focused less on it allowing for an audience’s own interpretation. Romans believed mortals should strive towards a godly nature and Greeks believed mortals should serve the gods, but they could never attain them. For the Greeks, the afterlife was just a place. It was not inherently a punishment. Romans disagreed interpreting the afterlife as a place where you could live amongst the gods or even help guide your family.
While they held differences, they did share qualities in their deities intermingling with humans. Their gods held human emotions and their stories were ones that like most religions are a way to explain the world we live in. Some stories were ways for both, like other cultures, to remember their history and events.
Greece and Rome were two distinct cultures that did overlap at times. However, to say they are interchangeable is to erase two entirely different cultures and beliefs. Italic and Hellenism are still practiced in circles today despite many believing them to be no longer practiced. Outright refusal to listen to these groups has perpetuated harmful misinformation that has led to many followers of the Cult of Athena, Poseidon, and even Apollo to be attacked in their own spaces. It has led and contributed to an erasure of Roman and Greek History.
Part Two – Contents of the Story: A Brief Glimpse at What’s Inside
Does the book I, Medusa hinder or help the perpetuation of misinformation? Well, this is a long answer. Gray establishes throughout her prose a firm and well written understanding of Ancient Greece. It is very clear that time and care was put into it. However, when it comes to Medusa’s story it begins to falter.
Told through First Person Point of View, we meet our main character Medusa “Meddy” on an island secluded and hidden from the mortal world. Meddy and her 2 older sisters Stheno and Euryale have never been off the island. Their parents Ceto and Phorcys were trapped here long ago. Meddy is 17 and while she hasn’t had a direct formal education her sisters have taught her a lot. She was even able to teach herself 4 languages. While Meddy is intelligent she still holds a great naivety about things: what the world is like outside of the unchanging island, what sex is, just how far cruelty can go.
After a spring celebration, Euryale is chosen by Prince Maheer of Aithiopia, son of Ares, to be his bride. That night he attempts to violate Euryale. Meddy, to save her sister, bribes Maheer to call off the wedding. Maheer turns down her offer and attempts to violate her. Fighting back, Maheer stumbles, crashing his head on the table, and dies. A week later Athena arrives to investigate the death. Meddy confesses and Athena choses her to train as an Acolyte.
This is where I thought Gray might take a good turn in reclaiming the story of Medusa from Ovid and giving Athena back the credit she is due. Athena in Greek Mythology is a protector of women. (See Part Four for more information). Unfortunately for me, I would later be disappointed.
Meddy agrees and she is off to be an acolyte to become a priestess of Athena. The bulk of the story is during this time. Meddy meets Kallisto, no not that one, and Apollonia amongst 7 others vying for the coveted spot. One by one each drops, Meddy gets into a series of trouble for disobeying and offending Athena, and eventually loses Apollonia. During the night of the Panathaea celebration Apollonia is separated from Medusa. Medusa is saved by Poseidon (who has been grooming her and continues to do so), but Apollonia is not as lucky. The next day Apollonia is removed from service by Athena and Athena victim blames her.
Fast forward, Meddy becomes a priestess. Upon return to her island for a celebration, she is given wine of the gods that makes her drunk and then Poseidon rapes her in the garden. Athena stumbles upon them and punches Poseidon who threatens to have her virginity removed should she try that again. Athena aggressively takes Meddy into the celebration hall, a swift trial is held, and she turns her into a Gorgon. Off page, Meddy’s sisters are also turned. For the next few weeks, the sisters turn all men who dare reach their shores to stone. Apollonia and Meddy reunite and leave the island establishing a home in Cyrene.
After a priest rapes a young girl and she turns up pregnant, Meddy finally takes up being a vigilante (the last 10 pages of the book btw). And this is how it kinda ends.
The story was beautiful. I will say that. I adored the sisterly bond. The mentioning of loc braiding being one of the oldest forms of craftsmanship had me cheering. This story held a rich insight to so much culture and history while allowing readers to be able to connect to it. Meddy was a bit naïve, but she didn’t read too young for me and it made sense why the prose was written how it was written. My issues primarily only lie with the mythology.
Gray speaks of this in her author’s note which I did enjoy. However, the disconnect for me came when she spoke of this tale being a retelling of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. That story is Roman, and this story is very much Greek. This is where my problem lies because the two are not the same. The gods are not interchangeable. Ovid’s version has come to be a symbol for many survivors, including myself. However, the constant harm it has done to Hellenism is something that shouldn’t be overlooked either.
Part Three – Ovid: Who Was He? What Was Metamorphoses
Ovid is widely known as a Roman Poet. Unfortunately, in modern times his works have been screamed at as being Greek and often used to overshadow practitioners of Hellenism. Ovid, Publius Ovidius Naso, was alive 43 BCE – 17 CE. A prolific writer of the early Roman Empire, Ovid held a dream of being a poet and not going into Law as his father wished. When he was old enough, he began training under Arellius Fuscus (orator) and Porcius Latro (rhetorician). He was said to be an exceptional student. It wasn’t until the urging of Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus (orator) that Ovid gained success as a writer. In 8 CE, Ovid was banished from Rome for offending Emperor Augustus Caesar.
Metamorphoses was Ovid’s most famous work, despite all of the works geared towards women prior to its writing. Through 15 books of dactylic hexameter poetry, Ovid gives a chronology from creation to the death of Caesar. This is what would lead Ovid into exile. Emperor Augustus had found his poem to be erotic and a direct breech of the emperor’s moral reform. This poem was Ovid’s way of speaking out directly against Augustus, Livia, and the Inner Court. He took stories and inspiration from the Greeks, replacing their deities with ones of Rome, and applying Roman beliefs that he wanted to speak out against and bring to a harsher light. In essence, Ovid’s most famous work is a Roman Political Piece. Ovid’s works were banned from all Roman public libraries by Augustus. They were never seen or treated as mythological or religious pieces nor was it an effort to preserve Hellenic stories. Rather it was purely political and generated as a piece for Romans and against Augustus.
So, what is the story of Medusa in Metamorphosis? Well, in Book IV we have Perseus telling the story of Medusa. Perseus speaks of his clever tricking of the Graeae, and how he found tracks leading to the place of the Gorgons. He speaks of how he killed Medusa in her sleep and from her came Pegasus and his brother Chrysaor. A man then asked why Medusa was the only one with snakes for hair. It was said that she was once the most beautiful of them and had many jealous suitors. Of her beauty, her hair was the most beautiful part of her. It was said by another person that Neptune, lord of the seas, violated her in the temple of Minerva. Minerva, Jupiter’s daughter, hide behind an aegis and turned her eyes away to keep them chaste. To keep the act from going unpunished, Minerva changed the Gorgon’s hair to foul snakes. Now Minerva wears the snakes that she created as a breastplate to terrify her enemies and numb them with fear.
Ovid’s tale has been debated as being misogynistic but has also taken a different side as being a take on women’s power and expectations in Roman Society. This becomes more apparent when added with the fact that Ovid often tried to write works that were to empower women and challenge the beliefs that were set within society at the time.
However, overtime this version as well has taken on a much darker and more horrifying tale. Even Ovid has been accused of changing more than he did. Modern society however has done the following: Minerva is replaced with Athena. Medusa is made into a Priestess of Athena. Medusa wasn’t a Mortal Gorgon but a Mortal Woman. All of which has then been defended using Ovid. These takes have all been used to erase parts of history and drastically change two different religions.
Part Four – Similar Not the Same: Greek v. Roman Gods & Goddesses
Modern Eras have commonly mistaken Greek and Roman deities as being the exact same. That perhaps comes from the similarities between the two and perhaps even the overlapping of the cultures. While they are similar in some ways, they are also very different. Roman Italic Deities are more related to Etruscan (indigenous Italians) than to Hellenic ones.
Athena is often called Minerva. Both are regarded as goddesses of war, victory, and intelligence but that’s about it.
1. Greek: Athena – Regarded as Greek and a Goddess of War she was more closely associated with War Intelligence, and Civilized War Tactics that promoted Peace and Prosperity. Athena Nike was regarded as Victory and often depicted with wings until eventually Nike would be worshiped as a separate god. Athena Polias was the Goddess of the Acropolis. Athena was also regarded as Protector of Greek Cities and prayed to during times of war or crisis.
2. Roman: Minerva – was labeled a Foreign Goddess and often depicted as such in mythology. She was prayed to during times of War but it wasn’t until 60 BCE that she took the mantel Goddess of War and temple would be built for her. Minerva Victrix was known as Minerva Victory and did not separate as Nike did from Athena. Minerva Victrix was also not depicted with wings. Minerva was not regarded by Romans until the Capitolan Triad came to be. This triad consisted of Juno, Jupitar, and Minerva and together they all 3 protected Rome.
3. Etruscan: Menrva – Goddess of War and Weather. Daughter to Tin and Uni.
Neptune and Poseidon are a bit closer making their distinguishing factors a bit harder. However, both are still different.
1. Greek: Poseidon – Major God of the Sea and Horses. Consort – Amphitrite, a Nereid. Heavily important to Athens and maintained vast cults and major temples across the Greek world.
2. Roman: Neptune – Minor God of Fresh Waters, later promoted to Major God of Fresh Waters and the Sea. Neptune Equester is the God of Horses. But he is often compared to Consus an Agricultural God associated with Horses. Romans often attributed sea victories to Fortuna until Neptune was deemed a more major deity and given the sea. Consort – Salacia the Goddess of Salt Water and Ocean Depths. Neptune would not see influence to challenge that of Poseidon’s until the turn of modern western civilization.
3. Etruscan: Nethun – God of Wells later movies to God of All Bodies of Water.
4. NOTE: Consus as mentioned above with Neptune was opposite him. While Neptune was promoted, Consus was demoted.
The important piece here in this long rant is that while Gray did an AMAZING job with her story, there is still this constant conflation of Greek and Roman culture, as well as the misunderstanding of Roman Mythology and Ovid’s Political works.
I enjoyed this coming of age making of the Greek mythology who was Medusa. I can understand this was being told from Medusa’s teenage perspective and that perspective was told so well it actually pissed me off. The impulsive, reckless decisions she continuously made was wearing me out. So, I definitely have to give the author points for pulling that irritation out of me while reading (as a mother of teenagers, the similar emotions aligned, lol). Story provided great segways as to how one or several impulsive decisions can change the trajectory of one’s path.
I am not sure how I feel about how it was told of her death, that felt rushed and didn’t provide any context on if she was killed while still a teenager, young adult, or older. I guess we all know the story of how she died, so it’s fitting that the focus of the story is about how she lived and the events leading up to her becoming the Greek legend we know today.
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