Comment on Medusa likely would have had tiny snakes growing from her upper lip and chin as she aged.
Vittelius@feddit.org 2 days agoBut only in the Roman version. In the original Greek version she was just a monster. That’s also the only way the other gorgons make sense (because they are explicitly Medusa’s sisters and have the same power set, except they are immortal on top).
Then a couple of centuries later comes the Roman author Ovid and adds a retelling of the story to his works. And just like Hollywood does today with their remakes he decides to add a tragic backstory to his new version.
And now a couple more centuries later a lot of people believe that’s the “real” version.
radiouser@crazypeople.online 2 days ago
It’s a bit like the ‘Batman effect’. Is he the campy hero from the 60’s or the dark, gritty vigilante?
Both versions are valid parts of the character’s history, but the one that resonates most with the current culture usually becomes the ‘definitive’ one for that era. It seems like we’ve just reached a point where we’re more drawn to nuanced tragic backstories than the ‘monster of the week’ tropes of the past.