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Medusa is poem written by Patricia Smith (poet) . The piece is included her collection Big Towns, Big Talk: Poem, which was published in 1992. Smith takes the mythological tale of Medusa , a Gorgon cursed with the ability to turn people to stone, and creates a narrative where Medusa reminisces on her sexual experience with Poseidon. This narrative poem revises the original tale of Medusa, including themes of female sexual agency and sex-positivity.

Influence
The myth of Medusa has many different versions, the most common is one written by the poet, Ovid. Ovid’s story describes Medusa as one who “once had charms; to gain her love/A rival crowd of envious lovers strove.” Those that saw her never seen such “moving features” on a face and she was said to be the most beautiful girl in the world [omg citiation]. Medusa’s hair is given particularly attention, as it is described in being attractive in both length and color. Her appearance captured the attention of many: “Her Neptune saw, and with such beauties fir’d/Resolved to compass, what his soul desired” [citation]. The attention and attraction to her appearance quickly turns violent and Medusa is raped within Athena’s temple by Poseidon. Athena turned her eyes away as Poseidon raped Medusa and in a jealous rage blames Medusa for the act. Athena has always been jealous of Medusa’ looks, particularly her hair which, in turn becomes the object cursed. Athena turns Medusa’s hair turns into snakes and makes it so whoever gazes upon her will turn to stone [citiation].

Differences in Adaptation
Smith removes the element of rape from Medusa story within her poem. Though Medusa is no longer a victim of rape she still struggles with patriarchal privilege, limiting her sexual agency and pitting her against another woman [book citation]. In the first stanza Medusa is shown as a woman in complete control and “actively pursues and seduces Poseidon” [book citiation]: “He calls himself a god/but he fell beneath my fingers […] I made him bend his back for me/listened to his screams break like waves” [poem citation]. Medusa uses the descriptor “easy” in reference to Poseidon, a derogatory word usually reserved for sexually active women. [bc]. This behavior can be categorized as a role reversal, Smith’s way of communicating to her readers that her version of Medusa is given the freedom to embrace and “celebrate her sexuality as something powerful” [bc]. Ovid’s characterization Medusa never had a vocal say in the events happening to her, but instead was silent as things happened to her: “In chaste Minerva's fane, he, lustful, stay'd,/And seiz'd, and rifled the young, blushing maid/The bashful Goddess turn'd her eyes away” [pc] Readers learn in the fourth stanza that Medusa is hoping to plead her case to Athena: “C’mon Athena, he was only another lay/and not a particularly good one at that/even though he can spit steam from his fingers/Won’t touch him again. Promise/And we didn’t mean to drop to our knees/in your temple/and not a particularly good one at that” [pc]. The original myth does not include a lengthy exchange between the women. Instead, the character of Medusa is not provided any lines indicating her desire for mercy.

Links to Feminist Thought
Smith’s writes Medusa as a character who freely expresses her sexuality, an element used in sex-positive feminism, a movement beginning to the early 1980s, which focuses on sexual freedom and how it is “an essential component of women’s freedom” [wc] Smith’s appropriation of Medusa is a celebration of female sexual agency, placing her in a community of people who “don’t denigrate, medicalize, or demonize any form of sexual expression except that which is not consensual” [ipc]. By exhibiting a sense of control over her sex life, Medusa breaks away from the social constructs that label which gender can and cannot freely express sexual enjoyment [ipc]. The plea Medusa presents to Athena is reminiscent of the original poem’s attempt to pit the two women against one another. It is a common trope within fiction and in actual reality that women are often expected to compete for male attention, compare themselves under the male gaze, and undercut one another in order to obtain male attention [artc].