Stone Blind

Sthenno and Euryale are the Gorgon sisters of Medusa, immortals who feel no pain or fear until young Medusa arrives at their cave. Despite Medusa’s physical differences, they come to care for the new addition to their family. Sthenno recognizes this care as love but cares not for other mortals, while Euryale cares for both mortals and sheep as curiosities. Upon learning Medusa was sexually assaulted by Poseidon, Euryale pushes away the shore of Ethiopia with her foot. Despite her previous fondness for mortals, she is the sister who tries to kill Perseus following Medusa’s murder, while Sthenno, the more reserved sister, embraces Medusa’s body and weeps. Despite their monstrous appearance, Sthenno and Euryale prove more humane than the Olympians.

Poseidon is Medusa’s first antagonist, the Olympian god of the sea who inadvertently connects her and Athene as a shared abuser. He is Zeus’s jealous brother who sexually assaults Medusa in Athene’s temple under the guise of courtesy and often complains to his wife, the Nereid Amphitrite, about losing land to Euryale, who pushed away the shore of Ethiopia. Despite Amphitrite having been relentlessly pursued by Poseidon, which led to their marriage, she and her fellow Nereids push him—a man whom they know is dangerous—to punish Queen Cassiope of Ethiopia through an innocent woman—Cassiope’s daughter, Princess Andromeda. Poseidon destroys Ethiopia at the Nereids’ goading but ultimately does so out of pride. Later, he goads Hephaestus to assault Athene and orders Medusa’s mother, Ceto, to attack Andromeda, without Ceto knowing that he assaulted Medusa and seeks vengeance against Euryale. Like Zeus, he embodies toxic masculinity and the need to dominate others for self-satisfaction.

Athene is Medusa’s second antagonist, the Olympian goddess of war and wisdom and patron goddess of Athens. Birthed from Zeus’s head, she is the daughter of his first wife, the Titaness Metis. Early on, Metis tries to escape Zeus by transforming into different animals but is caught and sexually assaulted; Hera then goads Zeus to destroy Metis by absorbing her. Not long after being born, Athene participates in a war with Gaia’s children, the Giants, and develops bloodlust. Noting Gaia’s absence, she dismisses mothers altogether, finding them incapable of protecting their children. She goes so far as to blame and punish women for “what men do to them” (138), as Zeus’s sister-wife Hera does. Despite resenting Poseidon for sexually assaulting Medusa in her temple, Athene targets Medusa first, cursing her with her signature gaze and snake hair. However, she later experiences her own sexual assault by Hephaestus, who masturbates and ejaculates on her tunic at Poseidon’s goading—his spilled semen producing a son, Erichthonius. Weary of her loveless existence—as she fails to connect with her father, Zeus; half-brother Perseus; and son Erichthonius—she eventually meets Medusa’s petrifying gaze herself.

Perseus is Medusa’s third antagonist, the demigod son of Zeus and Princess Danaë. He grows up in Seriphos after he and his mother are exiled by the paranoid King Acrisius and saved by Zeus. When King Polydectes of Seriphos demands Danaë become his wife, Perseus is issued a challenge to spare her: He must bring a Gorgon’s head. Understandably biased, the Medusa-Narrator frames Perseus as biased himself, a helpless hero who judges monstrosity by appearance due to Danaë’s spoiling. However, his love for his mother is genuine. Nevertheless, his learned helplessness becomes toxic once he severs Medusa’s head and weaponizes it against enemies and innocents alike. Perseus further mirrors his divine father, Zeus—rather than his father figure, King Polydectes’ brother Dictys—in claiming Princess Andromeda after saving her, rather than doing so out of selflessness. When he wields Medusa’s head at his wedding, Zeus finally instructs Athene to take it from him.

Zeus is the Olympian god of the sky, having become ruler of the gods after deposing his father, the Titan Chronos. As such, he fears being overthrown himself. He is married to his sister-wife Hera, the Olympian goddess of marriage, the two “ideally matched, at least in terms of their capacity to antagonize one another” (28): Following Zeus’s many infidelities, Hera punishes “every goddess, woman or nymph he molested” (28). Despite Zeus’s absence from Athene’s and Perseus’ lives, they reflect his selfishness. He frees Princess Danaë from imprisonment as an afterthought, as he initially sought her for sex. Likewise, it is only after being reminded by Athene that he saves Danaë and Perseus from exile. From this point on, Zeus pushes Athene to help Perseus in his quest, as he doesn’t want Danaë to marry. He later helps Athene win patronage of Athens by summoning her son Erichthonius to break a tie, offering him protection that he denies other victims of divine cruelty. Speaking of victims, he only disarms Perseus of Medusa’s head when Hera reminds him that Perseus could rebel against him. Like Poseidon, Zeus embodies toxic masculinity and the need to dominate others for self-satisfaction.

Princess Danaë is the daughter of King Acrisius, who imprisons her after the Oracle of Delphi prophesizes her future child will kill him. She is eventually visited and impregnated by Zeus: Unlike Metis, she doesn’t fear or feel repulsed by him, as she is confident that he will save her—which he only does at Athene’s goading. While freed from her father, Danaë simply changes hands from one toxic man to another, from Zeus to King Polydectes of Seriphos—the latter of whom also exhibits sexual interest in her and demands that she become his wife. As her wedding to King Polydectes approaches, she “trie[s] not feel anxious because Zeus had always looked after her before” (342). While naïve, she proves to be a protective mother and survivor, prioritizing her son above all else. Perseus’ entitlement could reflect Danaë’s spoiling but could equally be the result of Zeus’s favoritism from afar. Aside from Perseus, the only man with her well-being in mind is King Polydectes’ gay brother Dictys. The fact that these two men are Danaë’s son and a man who lacks sexual interest in her reinforces the novel’s somber tone, as if no other man would help her without a selfish motive.