I remember seeing Medusa for the first time. It was a Sunday afternoon and ‘Clash of the Titans‘ was on. In his quest to save Andromeda, Perseus had to face the vicious Medusa. She was brought so beautifully to ‘life’ by the highly talented Ray Harryhausen. With her snake hair and highly accurate archery skills, along with her ability to turn anyone who looked upon her to stone, I was transfixed.
I read all I could about Greek myths and whilst I was interested in the different gods and goddesses, it was the ‘monsters’ which always appealed to me – probably a precursor for my future as a writer (certainly, the Guardian from my short story in the Fox Pockets book ‘Guardians’ could be right out of mythology).
Medusa the Icon
As part of my celebration for Women in Horror Month, I wanted to celebrate my love of Medusa. With the current ‘Me Too’ movement she seemed a good embodiment of both a victim (one retelling of her story has her raped by Poisoiden) and as a protector, with her visage being placed on Gorgoneion amulets. Assorted myths suggest that once Perseus beheaded her, Pegasus was born and that the snakes in the Sahara were created from drops of her blood. Even in death, she created life. More contemporary writers have suggested she’s a feminist symbol and the idea of Medusa continues to spark debate and research, such as this piece from The Dangerous Woman Project. Plus, she looks pretty cool!
Method
To create my Medusa, I used my all-in-one dolls base to create her head and the top of her body. In ‘Clash of the Titans’ Medusa lives in a dark temple and I wanted to pay homage to that so I used overly large eyes, to allow her to see in the dark. Hubby bought me ‘Edwards Imaginarium‘ for Christmas and I’ve been desperate to create some of the monsters in it so I used the ‘horn’ pattern for her tail. I inserted a short piece of wire so that her tail can move, but also stay in position. Her snake hair was a simple chain followed by a slip stitch back and I added some red thread for the snake’s tongues. The finishing touch was a skull bead necklace – perhaps the head of one of her victims?
What do you think?
