Serifos
Cutting off the heads of rape victims ain't pretty but this sunrise sure as hell was
This morning I rose before dawn to climb the hill up to the Castle of Chora on Serifos island.
I chose to come to Serifos because of its connection to the myth of Medusa. Medusa was a Gorgon in Greek mythology. You’ve probably heard of her because of her snake hair, and her gaze that turns people to stone.
For hundreds of years, people have put Medusa on the front of their boats as a protective shield because she’s so ugly it keeps the evil away.
Medusa wasn’t always ugly. She was once a beautiful young maiden; a priestess of Athena, committed to a life of chastity. That is, until Poseidon (god of the sea) got a look at her and had his way with her in Athena’s temple.
When Athena found out the holy vibes of her chaste temple had been fucked with, she was furious. At Poseidon? No.
Athena punished Medusa by making her ugly as hell, turning her into a monster, installing the stone-turning glare and banishing her.
Not satisfied, Athena later eggs on the demigod Perseus (son of Zeus and slayer of monsters) to kill Medusa, equipping him with a shield and a mirror so he can’t get stonefied.
He takes the bait and chops Medusa’s head off, bringing it here to the island to Serifos to show it off and use it for protective reasons. Such a jerk.
The good news is her spurting neck blood gave birth to Pegasus, the winged horse, and we all love him.
Anyway, Medusa is the OG of victim-blaming and an early example of women turning on each other under patriarchy and that sucks.
Three years ago I got a cool tattoo of her when she was still hot cos we all deserved to be remembered at our best.
The sunrise was magnificent.
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