An Interpretation of the Medusa

THE meaning of the medusa has both tempted and tantalized the interpreter because, in the first place, it appears as a decorative device on vases and architecture; the ambivalent character of the features has also presented a challenge while it seems to inspire fright, even terror at first sight, there is also a trace of ironic sadness which conveys another meaning somewhere below the grimacing surface. From another standpoint it mirrors a stratum of bitter melancholy mixed with the glowing elixir of happiness; much depends on the date of the particular image. The popularity of the face in the archaic period, when orientalizing devices appeared on vases, and the stark ugliness of the features suggest an eastern origin. In Greece a decided change was effected by the craftsman from the early, bizarre creature of the Corcyra pediment to the Rondanini version in Munich, which Furtwaengler' has associated with Kresilas. Since much of the frightful element had been eliminated by the fifth century, it follows that the meaning of the face should be sought in the older examples, especially on vases where more interesting details are revealed than in sculpture. For the mythological background the reader is referred to Roscher's Lexikon. What do we know about the medusa? Various theories have been

Aesthetics · Ambivalence · Art · Art history · Character (mathematics · Face (sociological concept · Interpretation (philosophy · Literature · Meaning (existential · Mythology · Psychoanalysis · Sadness · Sculpture · TRACE (psycholinguistics) · Visual arts · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Architecture · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical and Architectural Studies · Philosophy · Psychology

• Cultural Intercourse between the Orient and Ancient Greece

  Open Access•ChoiHaeYoung ChoiHaeYoung•Journal of Mediterranean Area…•2010

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