I come with a sickness insistent upon, root in my body, a sickness that may just be a frantic twist, from one life’s air to another. This though, makes me think of how this skinhead can make sure he can not become mixed up with any other race other than his. Comments about Medusa by Patricia Smith. Any man who gazed directly at her would turn to stone. The god of war, the copious amount of mythoi, and the relations between the Greek and Roman gods are only a few of the many comparisons between the two. After all the research that I have done, I feel that Medusa is not truly this hideous, evil, monster. But today, many women do feel the same as I about Medusa. A grand pause between the last line and claps show the audience’s shock at the intimate portrayal of Medusa, how much the mythological connects to the contemporary age, and the transformation of the infamous Gorgon from confident and strong to weak and victimized. Increasing volume and modulation, drawn-out syllables, and a tightened facial expression heighten the hard-hitting alliteration of “bend” and “back” and the powerful consonance of “made” and “bend,” emphasizing Medusa’s dominance over the Greek god Poseidon, rather than the other way around, as is in Ovid’s interpretation of the myth. to watch their warm bodies turn to rock Read three decades of essays, articles, interviews, profiles, and other select content from Poets & Writers Magazine. Her poetry collections include Incendiary Art and Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah, winner of the 2013 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. Search for jobs in education, publishing, the arts, and more within our free, frequently updated job listings for writers and poets. It was her personal punishment toward men after what Poseidon had done to her. It is apparent that the... Rate this post Although Roman and Greek mythology are classified in the same category, the two are tremendously diverse. I open my mouth, just to moan, but instead cluttered nouns, so unAmerican, spew from my throat and become steam, in the room. Here, he also saved and wed his wife, the princess Andromeda. Medusa was such a big part of Ancient history and the Greeks especially wanted to remember and use her as an important figure. Now my arms smoke and itch. Find information about more than two hundred full- and low-residency programs in creative writing in our MFA Programs database, which includes details about deadlines, funding, class size, core faculty, and more. Touching her face, while describing the action, also increases anticipation: the audience recognizes the next step will be touching her hair. Promise.” Medusa embodies her traditional character, again, as she defends her actions to Athena: Smith’s voice rises, her words quicken, her face scrunches, and she heavily stresses “your” and “hot” to evoke passion and accusation in her tone. This year, we’re piloting United States of Writing in Detroit, Houston, and New Orleans with plans to expand in the coming years. I’m partial to women writers, especially African women writers. I come to you America, scrubbed almost clean,but infected with memory and the bellow of broiling spicesin a long-ago kitchen. She wanted to protect women from the evil men out there. He is in his room, sitting on the edge of his bed, shaving his head. —Patricia Smith. The stronger persona gains just enough strength to defend herself once more; Smith increases her volume, stops swaying in place, scrunches her face, and accents her words. He accomplishes this, and decapitates Medusa with his crescent sword. 223) In this image of Medusa, snakes are tied around her waist in the sacred healing knot as they were used for medicinal purposes. Medusa, after being raped, was cursed for betraying her goddess. be able to gaze at my face, Entrusted with a box containing all the ills that could plague people, she opened it out of curiosity and thereby released all the evils of human life; wife of Epimetheus. She was known originally for being a beautiful young maiden, her loveliest feature being her long gorgeous hair. but our bodies were so hot and misaligned. Hera is understood for being the queen of all the Greek gods and being the primary better half of Zeus, who is king of all the gods. Our Top Topics for Writers addresses the most popular and pressing issues, including literary agents, copyright, MFA programs, and self-publishing. Like Medusa, she kills in sacred manner so that life may continue. I’ll scream when I see it, We defiled that temple the way it should be defiled, when their only sin was desiring me? He calls himself a god, but he fell beneath my fingers with more shaking than any mortal. Reply. The rest of the first stanza is setting up a background for the skinhead. Dammit, Athena, Here, the world was no longer born of a sacred mother deity but from a supreme father. Then Athena punishes her even more. Medusa is no longer some cruel Gorgon, but just like any other woman, who wants to be adored and cherished. Here, you'll find commentary on novels, short stories and poems. It is a paradise of flocks, a cornucopiaof wind and grass and dark, slow waters. Guided by Athena the entire time, Perseus flies over the ocean to Lake Tritonis in Libya where Medusa and her two gorgon sisters live. I feel that she was a very heartless and evil person. She stood up for herself and many other women after she had been hurt and raped. He … I ain’t that lucky,but I got my own beauty.It is in my steel-toed boots,in the hard corners of my shaved head.I look in the mirror and hold up my mangled hand, only the baby finger left, sticking straight up, I know it’s the wrong goddamned finger, but fuck you all anyway.I’m riding the top rung of the perfect race,my face scraped pink and brilliant.I’m your baby, America, your boy,drunk on my own spit, I am goddamned fuckin’ beautiful.And I was born and raised right here.Patricia Smith’s poetry touches me in a different spot than other poets. Volume and body expressions increase as the words move towards the final moment of epiphany. And I'm endlessly fascinated by the lost-ago voices that inhabit dusty, deserted structures such as the Immigrant Hospital on the south side of Ellis Island. "I constantly insist that my students search for the pictures they're not seeing, the voices they're not hearing. Why are you being so rough on me? Someone will help me find my clothes, and brush the salt from my hair. View the contents and read select essays, articles, interviews, and profiles from the current issue of the award-winning Poets & Writers Magazine. Their shaved heads would be the first thing we notice, and we would already be drawing conclusions. Instead, the narrator describes his face to the reader. The most common one being that Athena was angry that she had been sexual with Poseidon in her temple and also that she was especially jealous of Medusa’s beauty. The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill, 2001. Medusa was originally an aspect of the goddess Athene from Libya where she was the Serpent-Goddess of the Libyan Amazons. also offered here. I stinkof seawater and the oversea moonwash I conjured to restartand restart my migrant heart. In my point of you it is not her fault that she was this evil lady with snakes for hair. Her personas aren't isolated people delivering soliloquies, but characters immersed in the conflict of the everyday drama of their lives. Smith’s metamorphosis prepares the viewer for the loud, raspy, raging outcry of “C’mon Athena!” More than any part previously, the two words combine local lingo with mythological background; the loud, yet raspy voice displays the struggle between giving into pain, and therefore her human fragility, or rising as the stronger woman. The serpent is a totem of the cycles of life, death, and rebirth and the seasons. Smith adds “You know?” during the performance of “Medusa” to call attention to modern-day colloquialism; her address to the audience cannot occur on the page. I am asked to temporarily unbutton, the clawing children from my heavy skirt, to pull the rough. She hated all men and turned them all to stone if they were to gaze directly at her. Even after the degradation of Medusa Athenian culture after the 7th C. BC, her mask image continues to be used until the reign of Christianity. Her female wisdom, natural forces, powers of creativity, destruction and regeneration were demonized and made into something evil. Before the review, I provide the Youtube video of the discussed performance. ” (Medusa, Pg. Just as all the other outcries towards the goddess of wisdom bring out passionate words and delivery, “Dammit, Athena” (46) does the same, yet there is evidence that Medusa is hurt deeply by the discovery. take away my father’s gold. She took all of her beauty from her, and ruined her life. She had to have already been so effected from just that incident. Also, the way the stresses are falling, “ACRoss my BACK in SORE, JAGged LETters” is powerful. Many well known artists used Medusa in numerous works of art. ... Sign Up. Medusa, the daughter of Phorcys and Ceto is a famous gorgon in Greek Mythology. Yet the final words of the stanza transform into a tone not assumed on the page. This is a poem she didn’t get to read when I saw her last semester, but I wish that she had. And we didn’t mean to drop to our knees and run their fingers through my . Gantz, Timothy. View the covers and contents of every issue of Poets & Writers Magazine, from the current edition all the way back to the first black-and-white issue in 1987. Smith, with an established Medusa persona, can toy with humor and a larger-than-life personality when discussing potential punishments from Athena to challenge the persona’s universal connection with the modern audience at Hampshire College. (In Greek mythology, Hermes is one of the Olympian Gods. ) To me, I think she is somewhat of a hero. I ask for nothing but a home, with windows of circled arms, for a warm that overwhelms, the tangled sounds that say my name. Find details about every creative writing competition—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, grants for translators, and more—that we’ve published in the Grants & Awards section of Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. Copying content is not allowed on this website, Ask a professional writer to help you with your text, Give us your email and we'll send you the essay you need, Please indicate where to send you the sample. Research newspapers, magazines, websites, and other publications that consistently publish book reviews using the Review Outlets database, which includes information about publishing schedules, submission guidelines, fees, and more.

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