Medusa With the Head of Perseus Will Shame Men Outside NYC Courthouse

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Luciano Garbati’s Medusa With the Head of Perseus is an amazing sculpture that has become nearly legendary on the internet in recent years. And if you look at the work, it’s easy to see why. Medusa, the monstrous gorgon of Greek myth, stands defiant, staring down the observer, holding the severed head of Perseus, one of the many men who sought to abuse and entrap her. It’s an incredibly powerful work, and now a 7-foot bronze version is coming to the streets of New York to shame men entering the New York County Criminal Court.

Yes, a 7-foot tall bronze rendition of the statue will be unveiled Monday in Collect Pond Park, putting what’s been called a “narrative of justice, re-imaging the story of Medusa from the perspective of the woman behind the myth” right across from a court where the sort of men Medusa is aligned against will come and go.

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Garbati’s 2008 sculpture Medusa with the Head of Perseus is a direct response to Benvenuto Cellini’s Perseus with the Head of Medusa (1545-1554), which still sits in the Piazza Della Signora in Florence, Italy. It is a modern, feminist take on the classical myth. In Ovid’s Metamorphosis, Medusa was a maiden in the temple of Athena, who was stalked and raped by Poseidon. Athena, in a rage, banishes and curses Medusa with a monstrous head of snakes and a gaze which turns men to stone. Medusa is herself blamed and punished for the crime of which she was the victim- she is cast away as a monster and then with the cruel assistance of Athena and Poseidon, eventually is hunted-down and beheaded by the epic hero Perseus, who displays her head as a trophy on his shield.Through this work, Garbati asks “how can a triumph be possible if you are defeating a victim”. The sculpture is installed directly across from the New York County Criminal Court, the location of high profile abuse cases including the recent Harvey Weinstein trial. Garbati’s Medusa stands facing the courthouse, as an icon of justice and the power of narrative.

I can’t say enough how much I love this statute. I love that it takes the myth of Medusa, a victim of sexual assault who was then cursed as a result, but became ferocious in her own right. (The Ancient Greeks viewed her as cursed; there is a growing modern movement to reclaim this “monstrous woman” as the powerful figure she was.) This posture and Medusa’s cold defiance in the face of males abusers and rapists is so powerful and beautiful.

The bronze version of Medusa will be unveiled Tuesday at 1:30, and will be on display until April of 2021.
 
Additionally, Medusa was cursed by Poseidon. If the theme is revenge she should be holding his head.
Poseidon was the one who raped her and Athena was the one who fucked her life up.
Wouldn't it be better to have her carrying around the head of Poseidon? You know, the god that raped her in Athena's temple?
What's feminist about killing powerful rapists and the women who slander their victims?
 
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You don't find anything thematically odd about a monster holding the severed head of a hero?

Even if you divorce the implications of a woman holding a man's head outside of a courthouse (especially in our current legal environment of "even the accusation of sexual offense will ruin your life"), Perseus was a sympathetic character. He didn't slay Medusa for no reason; he was sent to do so by Polydectes, who believed it was a suicide mission and would thus allow him to marry Perseus' mother. It's poetic irony that, later, Medusa's head (particularly its ability to turn men to stone) in the hands of Perseus was used to slay Polydectes.

Additionally, Medusa was cursed by Poseidon. If the theme is revenge she should be holding his head.
you actually expect sjws to do basic fucking research into lore? ahaha Also kek sjws proving they wholly believe the "woman can't do wrong by other women" thing.
 
Additionally, Medusa was cursed by Poseidon. If the theme is revenge she should be holding his head.
That part depends on the version of the myth. Some stories she is cursed, some she was a born a monster and I even read a version where the monster form was a gift to prevent furter victimization (although that might have been modern reimagining but not sure, read it years ago). Also some versions there was only the one medusa, others there were three sisters. How exactly she was killed, mirrors of some short are usually involved, and what happened afterwards also changes. Still one thing always stayed the same is that she was a dangerous monster that had already claimed many men and showed no signs of stopping, so Perseus has put stop to it and had to be clever about it.
 
That statue's got a great ass though, can't get mad at a statue with a nice body like that.

But of course it says it all that it was created in 2008, not "current year"

Indeed

Really, it's more of the implications of the statue and having it placed in front of a major city's courthouse.

If I had the money, I'd commission a a large mural in response to this.

Specifically, it'd be an image of Mordred (depicted as a clean-shaven and handsome White male) holding the severed heads of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, both depicted as black Kangz and the words Sic Semper Tyrannis written in large text at the bottom of the mural

Bonus points if you include heroic depictions of Morgan LaFey as a White Becky and Lucius Tiberius as a Trump figure. Maybe even have Mordred standing atop the corpses of Lancelot and Galahad depicted as gangbanger types with uncanny resemblance to George Floyd and Trayvon Martin while Merlin (depicted as a Wiccan soy beardo or a Native American shaman) is in the background burning at the stake.

If we're going to deconstruct European mythology and folklore to push a political agenda while also getting it completely wrong, why not respond in kind and enjoy the autistic meltdowns on all sides?
 
Honestly that is a really cool statue. Not even mad. Fuck rapists.
It's a nice statue, but it in no way should be in front of a courthouse.

Plus Perseus didn't even rape her!! She was raped by Poseidon in Artenis's temple (as she was one of her priestesses.). Artemis was disgusted by such an act occurring in her temple, and so cursed her.
Perseus was just a dude on a task from a king to get a girl, who used her ability to turn people into stone when they looked at her directly. He fought her only looking at her reflection in his shield.
 
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