Trigger warning for grooming and rape
NTE was kind enough to send this requested book to me as part of the holiday book exchange. I was very interested in reading it because first of all, I love a retelling of a classic story from a different perspective, and second of all, I am VERY interested in the story of Medusa. If you are familiar with Medusa, perhaps it is from the story of the “hero” Perseus who killed her with help from the gods/goddesses. Medusa in that telling is a monster who has snakes for hair and whose glance can turn men to stone. She and her sisters Stheno and Euryale are collectively known as the Gorgons. I have read a few retellings of Medusa’s story from her perspective (Medusa, Wake Siren) and I have been impressed with them, as I am with Ayana Gray’s novel. In I, Medusa, Gray spends most of the novel giving us Medusa’s story up to the point at which Athena turns her into a “monster.” The last few chapters deal with her life after that traumatic event and intentionally do not mention Perseus at all. In the Author’s Note at the end, Gray writes that her intentions in writing this story were to “to engage with the often-complicated nuances of rape culture, particularly when it involved perpetrators who exploit their victims using a power imbalance” and “to help new communities find personal connections with Medusa, and with her story.” In my opinion, Gray is successful on both counts. She writes accurately and with specific detail about classical Greece and its culture, and she handles the traumatic tale of Medusa’s rape with sensitivity and nuance. This is an ancient tale that feels modern, particularly given the stories we are reading in the news these days about powerful, wealthy men and women sex trafficking girls.
The story begins with 17-year-old Medusa living on a remote island with her parents Ceto and Phorcys, who are minor deities; they had once been great and powerful, but the ascendancy of the new gods (Zeus, et al) has relegated them to minor status. They feel resentment over this but they also accept the new reality and try to work within this new system to maintain status for themselves. The goddess Ceto, however, harbors a particular animosity toward the new gods for reasons revealed later in the story. Medusa’s older sisters Stheno and Euryale are immortal like their parents, but Medusa is mortal. Her sisters are protective of her but since they are immortal, they do not understand Medusa’s urgent need to get off the island and see some of the world before the end of her life. This family lives isolated —although with a palace, servants and all their needs met — on an island that no one except other immortals ever visits. Phorcys’ goal is to marry his daughters off advantageously to himself. Phorcys is a nasty piece of work, abusive to his wife and only concerned about his daughters insofar as they can be of use to him. In order to curry favor with the greater immortals and get his girls married off, he hosts a party on his island to which the gods, goddesses and their offspring are invited. A number of important events are set off due to this gathering: a potential suitor for Euryale comes forth and the sea god Poseidon attends, noticing Medusa for the first time. The reader can see that Poseidon is a cad who cheats on his wife and seduces women and girls, but Medusa, because she is young and knows nothing of the world, does not understand what she is seeing. What Medusa does understand is feeling powerless and enraged. Her father’s treatment of her mother and Euryale’s suitor’s behavior unleash Medusa’s rage, which is formidable. Her actions attract the attention of Athena, who invites Medusa to become one of her acolytes in Athens with the hope that she would one day serve as a priestess. Phorcys is thrilled, Ceto is angry and horrified, and Medusa is honored and excited to finally get to leave the island and see Athens.
Once Medusa arrives in Athens, Gray shows the variety and the excitement of life in a major world city. Athens is full of people from all over the known world. Medusa and her family are brown-skinned, and while this is not unusual in Athens, it does mark Medusa as an outsider among the other acolytes. The other girls are native Athenians, lighter skinned, and from wealthy families. Medusa is not allowed to reveal her background to the others and so they assume she is from a poor family. One girl, Kallisto, is a real bully toward Medusa while Apollonia becomes her friend. Gray describes life in Athena’s temple and the types of tasks the acolytes and priestesses perform, including providing food to the poor of Athens. But in order to stay at the temple and become a priestess, the acolytes must pass a series of tests. With each test, girls are weeded out and we learn that to fail and be sent home is almost a fate worse than death. The shame of being kicked out reflects poorly on the girls’ families, who might not take them back.
Medusa’s life in Athens and her training to become a priestess reveal the power dynamics of a culture that relegates women of all classes to lower status than men and makes them beholden to men for everything. This is true even amongst the wealthy and amongst gods and goddesses. Athena is extraordinarily powerful, but her relationship with Poseidon reveals the limits of her power, and it also shows that the quest for power outweighs any sense of “sisterhood.” A woman’s “honor” is her greatest asset and can be taken from her far too easily, making her an object of scorn. Gray also uses Medusa’s time in Athens to show Poseidon’s perfidy; he is one of the most powerful men in the world and Medusa is flattered by his attention (even admitting that she is attracted to him) but she does not see the danger he represents to her, even when others try to point it out. The rape and its aftermath could be very triggering to anyone who has been in a situation where someone in authority abuses their power and then gaslights you.
The final chapters of the novel could lead to some interesting discussions about righteous rage and revenge. I, Medusa feels like a very contemporary story despite its classical roots. I recommend it but, as mentioned, it could be very triggering for anyone who has been through the trauma of rape and abuse.
