Bourbon and Books: I, Medusa

My introduction to Medusa was not in 9th grade English class’s greek mythology curriculum but the 1981 version of Clash of The Titans. A retelling of the Perseus myth,  the movie has always left me wondering what was so heroic about Medusa’s murder. It even went so far as to color my impression of the various gods, Zeus and Athena in particular, who would help him on his journey to carry out her beheading.

So I greatly appreciate Ayana Gray’s telling of her origins taking aspects from Ovid’s version but centering Medusa fully in her sense of fairness and justice and the betrayal that, to me, makes her the greatest of vigilantes. 

Gray’s retelling also makes it hard to see Medusa’s transformation into a “monster” and ultimate death as anything more than the patriarchy at its finest. Here you have a young girl poised to be sold off to the highest bidder at her father’s behest, saved by a white woman (Athena)  perpetuating the limiting definition of purity, defiled by an adulterer and all around creep (Poseidon), and then punished by that same woman who claimed to value her so much. 

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Is there any shock that she is filled with rage? And that once she has been freed from societal constraints, forced to hide or be ostracized because of her deadly gaze, that she might use her new found power to exact justice? 

While the story might be familiar, Gray’s writing is captivating - creating a lush world where Medusa’s coming of age feels familiar to anyone who has wanted more empathy, understanding, and sense of justice out of the people around them. 

This rich story deserves and equally rich albeit bracing beverage. Enter the Desert Oasis featuring New Dawn bourbon laced with coconut, lime, and just a little bit of heat. Here’s hoping that imbibing will light a fire equal to the one burning in Medusa’s heart.