{"title":"Was Medusa a Priestess of Athena?","authors":"John Henry","doi":"10.1163/1568525x-bja10182","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In Book 4 of Ovid’s Metamorphoses , the famous backstory of the Gorgon Medusa is related by her slayer Perseus: Neptune raped her in the temple of Minerva, and the goddess turned her hair into snakes out of divine vengeance for the desecration of her sanctuary. With few exceptions, most Ovid scholars are hesitant to posit any explanation for Medusa’s appearance at the temple, which does not appear to be justified in Ovid’s poem as it stands. In this article, the possibilities will be further explored: was Medusa (1) a priestess, (2) a suppliant or (3) simply a young woman of otherwise unspecified status? On further examination of the Book 4 passage, it will be argued that Ovid presents the metamorphosis myth of Medusa as an allusion, and that earlier sources were more likely to be forthcoming in their identification of the character.","PeriodicalId":46134,"journal":{"name":"MNEMOSYNE","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"MNEMOSYNE","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1163/1568525x-bja10182","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"CLASSICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
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Abstract
Abstract In Book 4 of Ovid’s Metamorphoses , the famous backstory of the Gorgon Medusa is related by her slayer Perseus: Neptune raped her in the temple of Minerva, and the goddess turned her hair into snakes out of divine vengeance for the desecration of her sanctuary. With few exceptions, most Ovid scholars are hesitant to posit any explanation for Medusa’s appearance at the temple, which does not appear to be justified in Ovid’s poem as it stands. In this article, the possibilities will be further explored: was Medusa (1) a priestess, (2) a suppliant or (3) simply a young woman of otherwise unspecified status? On further examination of the Book 4 passage, it will be argued that Ovid presents the metamorphosis myth of Medusa as an allusion, and that earlier sources were more likely to be forthcoming in their identification of the character.
期刊介绍：
Since its first appearance as a journal of textual criticism in 1852, Mnemosyne has secured a position as one of the leading journals in its field worldwide. Its reputation is built on the Dutch academic tradition, famous for its rigour and thoroughness. It attracts contributions from all over the world, with the result that Mnemosyne is distinctive for a combination of scholarly approaches from both sides of the Atlantic and the Equator. Its presence in libraries around the globe is a sign of its continued reputation as an invaluable resource for scholarship in Classical studies.
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