Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths

by Natalie Haynes

The crucial difference is one of perspective. We are encouraged to imagine Midas’ story from his point of view. What must it be like, we imagine, as we follow his experiences in the Metamorphoses, to have everything we touch turn to gold? How would it feel to crack our teeth on golden bread? How would it taste to have liquid gold in our throats? We imagine the experience from the inside out. But with Medusa, we’re encouraged to see her from the outside: how do we attack her? How do we avoid her gaze? How can we use her decapitated head? We never stop to ask ourselves what it must be like to be her, possessed of a deadly gaze just as Midas is possessed of a deadly touch. And yet, just as Midas discovers with his temporary power, it must be incredibly isolating. Medusa cannot look at a friend, a person, even an animal without killing them.