Review Article


DOI :10.26650/iukad.2023.1315621   IUP :10.26650/iukad.2023.1315621    Full Text (PDF)

Demonizing Woman: The Myth of Medusa and Its Depiction on Works of Art

Tuba Meltem PekolGillian M.e. Alban

This compilation article interprets how the Myth of Medusa, which has ancient roots and which portrays a creature that turns those who look directly into her eyes into stone, has inspired various fields of art since ancient times, and how it is handled in different works of art, stories and images. Within the content of the compilation, this article claims that while the Medusa myth is interpreted in terms of gender inequality, social judgement and female identity, it is reflected in works of art as an indicator based on the prejudiced preferences of a patriarchal society. The main purpose of this article is to present the narratives of Medusa , who is often seen only as a symbol of evil, danger, or a simple object that men can have, and to show how the manifestation of these narratives indicates this in works of art. This article incorporates the following texts and graphics: the book of Metamorphoses, Ovid’s epic poem, Hesiod’s Theogony, Judgement of Paris Myth, the Epic poem The Iliad by Homer, the Statue of Perseus with the head of Medusa by Benvenuto Cellini, the book of “Paragone Delle Arti” by Leonardo Da Vinci, Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio Shield, the logo of Versace brand, the poem Aspecta Medusa by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Holding Our Own: The Selected Poems of Ann Stanford. The basic principle of the article accepts that Medusa is a myth of social and cultural identity but claims that this myth is based on the prejudiced preferences of a patriarchal society. Medusa is a woman sentenced to death because of her identity and her actions against patriarchal norms. Such a situation caused Medusa’s transforming gaze to become a source of threat and danger.

DOI :10.26650/iukad.2023.1315621   IUP :10.26650/iukad.2023.1315621    Full Text (PDF)

Kadının Şeytanlaştırılması: Medusa Miti ve Sanat Eserlerine Yansıması

Tuba Meltem PekolGillian M.e. Alban

Bu derleme makale, antik zamandan beri çeşitli sanat alanlarına ilham olmuş, doğrudan gözlerine bakmaya maruz kalanları taşa çeviren yaratık olarak da bilinen ve kökleri çok eskiye dayanan Medusa Miti’nin farklı sanat eserlerinde, hikayelerde ve imajlarda nasıl ele alındığını yorumlamaktadır. Derleme kapsamında, Medusa miti, toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsiziği, toplumsal yargılar, kadın kimliği açısından yorumlanırken, ataerkil toplumun önyargılı tercihlerine dayanan bir gösterge olarak sanat eserlerine yansıdığı iddia edilmektedir. Makalenin temel amacı, sadece kötülüğün, tehlikenin sembolü ya da erkeklerin sahip olabileceği basit bir nesne olarak görülen Medusa miti anlatıları ve bu anlatıların bir gösterge olarak sanat eserlerindeki tezahürünü örneklemler üzerinden sunmaktır. Bu hedefe uygun olarak makale kapsamında, the book of Metamorphoses Ovid’s epic poem, Hesiod’s “Theogony”, Judgement of Paris Myth, the poem Iliad by Homer, art work Perseus with the head of Medusa by Benvenuto Cellini, the book of Paragone Delle Arti by Leonardo Da Vinci, Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio Shield, the logo of Versace brand, the poem Aspecta Medusa by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the Poem Holding Our Own: the Selected Poems, örnekleriyle farklı alanlarda Medusa miti yansımaları tartışılmaktadır. Makalenin temel prensibi, Medusa’nın bir toplumsal ve kültürel kimlik efsanesi olduğunu kabul etmekle birlikte bu mitin ataerkil toplumun önyargılı tercihlerine dayandığını iddia eder. Çünkü Medusa, kimliği ve ataerkil normlara karşı olan eylemleri nedeniyle ölüme mahkum edilen bir kadındır. Böylesi bir durum, Medusa’nın dönüşen bakışlarının tehdit ve tehlike kaynağı haline gelmesine yol açmıştır. 


PDF View

References

  • Alban, G., M., E. (2017). The Medusa Gaze in Contemporary Women’s Literature: Petrifying, Maternal and Redemptive. Newcastle-upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. google scholar
  • Alban, G., M., E. (2023). “The Ferocious Medusa: The Petrifying, Apotropaic Gaze and Matrixial Vulva of Medusa, alongside Genital Display Figures,”Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Vol. 39/1, pp. 49-67. google scholar
  • Beauvoir, S., de. (1989). The Second Sex. New York: Vintage Books, c1952. google scholar
  • Bhabha, H., K., (1994). The Location of Culture.London, New York: Routledge. google scholar
  • Campbell, J., and B., Moyers, (1988). The Power of Myth. New York: Doubleday. google scholar
  • Cixous, H., (1975). “The Laugh of the Medusa,” Petroleuse Press, University of Vincennes. google scholar
  • Da Vinci, L., (1989). Paragone Delle Arti, New Haven; London: Yale University Press. google scholar
  • Figure, Perseus with the head of Medusa, marble sculpture, Loggia Dei Florence, Lanzi, Italy. google scholar
  • Figure, (1597). The head of Medusa, Oil on canvas mounted on wood by Caravaggio, Uffizi, Florence. google scholar
  • Grosz, E., Volatile Bodies: toward a Corporeal Feminism. Bloomington: Indiana. google scholar
  • Güney, A. and Güney, K., (1994) “A Brief Description of Jacques Derrida’s Deconstruction and Hermeneutics.” (2020). [online] Dergipark.org.tr. google scholar
  • Available at: <https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/186848> [Accessed 31 March 2020]. University Press. google scholar
  • Hall, S., & Du Gay, P. (Eds.). (1996), Questions of cultural identity. Sage Publications, Inc. google scholar
  • Hesiod, M L. West, and Hesiod., (1988) Theogony; and, Works and Days. Oxford University Press. google scholar
  • Homer, (1955), The Iliad. London: New York: Dent; Dutton. google scholar
  • Lamberton, R., (1988), Hesiod. New Haven & London: Yale U.P. google scholar
  • Leitch, V., B., (2001), The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. New York, United States. google scholar
  • Ovid, and A D. Melville., (1717), Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books, translated by the most eminent hands. London: printed for Jacob Tonson. google scholar
  • Pekol, T., M., (2020), “Different perspectives on Mythic Representations or Myths of the Demonized Female Figure, Medusa: The Powerful Glance of the Innocent Fallen Angel in Greek Mythology, Literature and Art,” Istanbul: Kultur University. google scholar
  • Rich, A., (Oct, 1972), “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision,”College English Vol. 34, No. 1, Women, Writing and Teaching, pp. 18-30. google scholar
  • Rosetti, D., G., “Aspecta Medusa” (For a Drawing) Poetry.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2020. Web. 9 Mar. 2020. <https://www.poetry.net/poem/7496/aspecta-medusa-(-for-a-drawing)>. google scholar
  • Stanford, A., (2001), Holding Our Own: The Selected Poems of Ann Stanford. Washington: Copper Canyon Press, pp. 114-115. google scholar
  • Stone, M., (1976), When God was a Woman. New York: Dorset Press. google scholar
  • The logo of Versace brand. google scholar

Citations

Copy and paste a formatted citation or use one of the options to export in your chosen format


EXPORT



APA

Pekol, T.M., & Alban, G.M. (2023). Demonizing Woman: The Myth of Medusa and Its Depiction on Works of Art. Istanbul University Journal of Women’s Studies, 0(27), 103-109. https://doi.org/10.26650/iukad.2023.1315621


AMA

Pekol T M, Alban G M. Demonizing Woman: The Myth of Medusa and Its Depiction on Works of Art. Istanbul University Journal of Women’s Studies. 2023;0(27):103-109. https://doi.org/10.26650/iukad.2023.1315621


ABNT

Pekol, T.M.; Alban, G.M. Demonizing Woman: The Myth of Medusa and Its Depiction on Works of Art. Istanbul University Journal of Women’s Studies, [Publisher Location], v. 0, n. 27, p. 103-109, 2023.


Chicago: Author-Date Style

Pekol, Tuba Meltem, and Gillian M.e. Alban. 2023. “Demonizing Woman: The Myth of Medusa and Its Depiction on Works of Art.” Istanbul University Journal of Women’s Studies 0, no. 27: 103-109. https://doi.org/10.26650/iukad.2023.1315621


Chicago: Humanities Style

Pekol, Tuba Meltem, and Gillian M.e. Alban. Demonizing Woman: The Myth of Medusa and Its Depiction on Works of Art.” Istanbul University Journal of Women’s Studies 0, no. 27 (May. 2024): 103-109. https://doi.org/10.26650/iukad.2023.1315621


Harvard: Australian Style

Pekol, TM & Alban, GM 2023, 'Demonizing Woman: The Myth of Medusa and Its Depiction on Works of Art', Istanbul University Journal of Women’s Studies, vol. 0, no. 27, pp. 103-109, viewed 5 May. 2024, https://doi.org/10.26650/iukad.2023.1315621


Harvard: Author-Date Style

Pekol, T.M. and Alban, G.M. (2023) ‘Demonizing Woman: The Myth of Medusa and Its Depiction on Works of Art’, Istanbul University Journal of Women’s Studies, 0(27), pp. 103-109. https://doi.org/10.26650/iukad.2023.1315621 (5 May. 2024).


MLA

Pekol, Tuba Meltem, and Gillian M.e. Alban. Demonizing Woman: The Myth of Medusa and Its Depiction on Works of Art.” Istanbul University Journal of Women’s Studies, vol. 0, no. 27, 2023, pp. 103-109. [Database Container], https://doi.org/10.26650/iukad.2023.1315621


Vancouver

Pekol TM, Alban GM. Demonizing Woman: The Myth of Medusa and Its Depiction on Works of Art. Istanbul University Journal of Women’s Studies [Internet]. 5 May. 2024 [cited 5 May. 2024];0(27):103-109. Available from: https://doi.org/10.26650/iukad.2023.1315621 doi: 10.26650/iukad.2023.1315621


ISNAD

Pekol, TubaMeltem - Alban, GillianM.e.. Demonizing Woman: The Myth of Medusa and Its Depiction on Works of Art”. Istanbul University Journal of Women’s Studies 0/27 (May. 2024): 103-109. https://doi.org/10.26650/iukad.2023.1315621



TIMELINE


Submitted20.06.2023
Accepted29.09.2023
Published Online31.10.2023

LICENCE


Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)

This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.


SHARE




Istanbul University Press aims to contribute to the dissemination of ever growing scientific knowledge through publication of high quality scientific journals and books in accordance with the international publishing standards and ethics. Istanbul University Press follows an open access, non-commercial, scholarly publishing.