Chapter 399: The Relationship Between Medusa and Athena
In Greek mythology, in the widely circulated folk tales, Medusa is a monster.
She is a symbol of evil, a snake demon.
Legend has it that anyone who meets her gaze will be turned to stone.
To be precise, it should be said that anyone who looks into Medusa's eyes will be petrified.
In the myths, Medusa's reign of terror was eventually ended by a hero.
This hero was Zeus's son—Perseus.
Of course, Perseus's quest was not smooth from the start; ultimately, with the assistance of the goddess Athena, he succeeded in beheading Medusa.
However, in the various woven myths about Medusa, there are several versions.
Medusa was not originally a fearsome snake-woman monster but a beautiful woman whose looks rivaled even the goddess Athena's, and it is said she was even a devotee of Athena.
Yet, this devotee developed a subtle relationship with Poseidon, and since Poseidon and Athena were at odds, it is said they engaged in relations within Athena's temple, deliberately to spite Athena.
This act enraged Athena, who then cursed Medusa, transforming her into a monstrous snake-woman.
Of course, on the surface, it appeared to be Athena punishing her devotee for betrayal, but there is also a version that claims Athena deliberately allowed or even schemed for Medusa and Poseidon to become involved, thus creating an excuse to deal with Medusa.
The reason for such scheming was simple: the goddess Athena was jealous, envious of Medusa's beauty, which was no less than her own.
So, why did Medusa's hair also turn into snakes?
That's because one version says Medusa's beautiful hair was even more splendid than Athena's, so it was turned into ugly snakes.
Returning to a question: is Medusa's true identity really that of a snake-woman?
According to mythology, since ancient times, snakes have been closely linked to the Earth Mother Goddess.
There is a belief that the snake is an embodiment of the Earth Mother Goddess.
Of course, this interpretation is often a way to demean or downgrade the status of the Earth Mother Goddess.
Additionally, there is another scenario: a goddess from one myth might be portrayed as an evil being in another, and such evil beings often have terrifying forms, with the snake being one of them.
So, in this world, among the ancient beings, this Medusa should also have been a goddess. What was her original form?
Renji couldn't figure it out with his current knowledge of mythology.
But he could make inferences from the figures related to Medusa.
First, trace it through Medusa's family relations.
Medusa's father is Phorcys, who in ancient Greek mythology is identified as a primordial sea god.
Her mother is Ceto, who can be considered a sea deity, described in some accounts as half-serpent and half-fish. So, could Medusa be this sea deity?
A mother and daughter at the same time? Such a strange relationship?
Yes, but this is a mother-daughter relationship formed by combining two different versions.
How so?
Take Athena, the deity currently associated with Medusa, as an example.
In earlier Greek times, the local goddess of wisdom was not Athena but Metis.
Moreover, in this mythology, Metis had no connection to Zeus. This was a matriarchal pantheon centered around Metis.
Later, as ethnic groups migrated and merged, the woven myths underwent changes.
Ancient myths were absorbed by newly crafted ones, and in the new Greek mythology, the goddess of wisdom became Athena, while Metis became Athena's mother.
Thus, one interpretation suggests that Athena, as the goddess of wisdom, was modeled after Metis. The ancient myths of Metis were reworked and attributed to Athena, causing the original myths about Metis to fade away.
This shift, in fact, reflects the transition from a matriarchal to a patriarchal society in human history.
So, could a similar relationship exist between Medusa and her mother, Ceto?
However, Renji could not find any dual-version myths in this world involving Medusa that resembled the relationship between Athena and Metis.
The information available depicted Medusa as the evil serpent woman of mythology.
Of course, it's possible that the knowledge stored in the minds of the Witches in this world includes another identity for Medusa.
After all, in this world, some hidden myths do not circulate publicly and are known only to the Witches.
Moreover, these traditions are passed down almost orally, making it even harder for others to learn the truth.
As for why the original identities or prototypes of certain deities are not widely disclosed, it is a way for humble, weak humans to limit the power of the gods.
Once widely known, a deity would become even more powerful.
By separating and concealing parts of the myth, the original power is effectively divided, split among two or three deities, and their Authority becomes fragmented rather than concentrated in a single entity.
So, does Erica know?
She does, which is why she is explaining Medusa's true identity to him.
However, relying solely on verbal explanation would take several days to fully clarify.
Then, why not use [Teach]?
With this ability, couldn't Renji understand immediately?
In reality, [Teach] has a drawback: the knowledge acquired through it only lasts for a limited time before fading away.
This so-called "teaching" is not a transfer of memories or allowing him to access Erica's knowledge.
To describe it more accurately, this [Teach] is more like a buff effect rather than knowledge being implanted into his mind. Once the buff expires, he no longer remembers the related content.
Therefore, to truly understand, he must rely on his ears and eyes—using sight and hearing to record all the deeds of this deity and commit them to his memory.
However, he had only just begun the story, mentioning that the other party was the Trinity Dark Mother, when Lucretia called Erica over to help.
They had found a monster suspected to have broken into this world from another dimension, and Lucretia wanted to investigate the situation. She needed Erica to draw attention while she secretly observed.
Hearing this information, Renji was also quite surprised.
Could it be that this world had also been targeted by some other dimension? Was it about to be invaded?