(background: The story of Medusa is a Greek myth that tells of a beautiful woman who was seduced and raped by Neptune ( Poseidon ) in Athena’s temple and Instead of blaming Neptune, Athena ( the goddess of wisdom) punished Medusa, for violating her temple by putting a curse on Medusa. As per the curse Medusa’s hair were turned into snakes and her skin greenish, and giving her the ability to turn men to stone with her gaze.
The story later goes on where Athena sent Perseus on a quest to kill Medusa by cutting off her head. Perseus fought Medusa's reflection in his polished shield to avoid being turned to stone, and then used her head as a weapon against his enemies.
The mythology states that from Medusa's severed neck sprang two of her sons with Poseidon, Pegasus and Chrysaor. Athena placed Medusa's severed head in her shield, or according to another account, Perseus buried it in Argos.)
In the temple of Athena,
a maiden fair
Seduced by Poseidon,
in an act so rare
But the goddess' wrath could not be contained
And Medusa's fate was forever ordained
Her hair turned to snakes,
a monstrous sight
A punishment for her sacrilegious delight
Men turned to stone with just one glance
A denial of their gaze, a feminist stance
She symbolizes female potential untamed
A counternarrative to patriarchy's claim
Unvarnished and undomesticated she stands
Exposing the contingency of the Law of the Fathers' demands
Medusa, a victim of her own existence
Her snakes represent unintimidatable self-possession
But she had to be killed, to maintain the status quo
For she challenged the power that men had bestowed
I write Medusa's tale for us to remember
Of strength and defiance beyond the veil
A dark poem for a woman scorned by fate
Medusa, forever free from patriarchal hate.
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