Perseus

from Ovid’s Metamorphosis

“Along the way, in fields and by the roads,

I saw on all sides men and animals—

like statues—turned to flinty stone at sight

of dread Medusa's visage. Nevertheless

reflected on the brazen shield, I bore

upon my left, I saw her horrid face.

“When she was helpless in the power of sleep

and even her serpent-hair was slumber-bound,

I struck, and took her head sheer from the neck.—

To winged Pegasus the blood gave birth,

his brother also, twins of rapid wing.”

I’m fascinated by Greek myths because I think they take the formulaic structure of present-day modern fairytales but fill them with bitter tragedy. Whereas many modern-day fairytales begin with tragedy and end with a rise, Greek myths mostly do the opposite. They parallel each other in their larger-than-life ascents and quicker-than-life descents. While divine forces play a more direct, personified role in Greek myths, they are more abstracted and de-characterized, for example, with the fairy godmother in Cinderella. Individual characters are much more archetypical, whereas in old, classical myths, their jealousies and desires are more suited to the individual rather than in service to an overarching moral code. The gore seen here is equally as visible in modern-day fairytales – consider the ways that the princes of the romantic fairy tales are depicted as hunting, dining, and vanquishing foes that we never consider as human. They experience as much bloodshed; they have as much sin on their hands. It is erased from the screen via perspective. We see it through the eyes of a third-person observer, and the light is golden and glorious, surrounding them in a halo. In contrast, the classical myths place us within the viewpoint of the hero, allowing us to see the bitterness and guilt that erodes away at the narrator’s mind.

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