In June 1816, the Medusa, flagship of a French expedition to repossess the colony of Senegal from the British, set sail but ran aground off the desolate West African coast. The evacuation of the frigate was chaotic and cowardly - 146 men and one woman were herded aboard a makeshift raft which was then abandoned in mid-ocean, cut loose by the convoy of lifeboats which had pledged to tow it to safety. The drifting raft carried those who survived to the very frontiers of human experience. Crazed, parched and starving, the diminishing band slaughtered mutineers, ate their dead companions and organized a tactical extermination of the weakest among them. Among the handful of survivors from the raft were two men whose written account of the tragedy catalogued the trail of government incompetence, indifference, and cover-up. Their book became a best-seller which rocked Europe and inspired the promising artist, Theodore Gericault. Reeling from an illicit affair with his attractive young aunt, he threw himself into an exhaustive study of the Medusa tragedy.Set in the politically fragile world of Restoration France, the murk of Georgian London and along the dangerous West African coast where the French were covertly regenerating the outlawed slave trade, Medusawitnesses error and outrage turned into a bestseller, and that bestseller transformed into one of the masterpieces of Western art.
In this fascinating study of the legend of Medusa, Stephen R. Wilk begins by refamiliarizing readers with the story through ancient authors and classical artwork, then looks at the interpretations that have been given of the meaning of the ...
Anyone who looked at her was instantly turned to stone. But she wasn't born that way. Not even close. Athena was so jealous of Medusa's beauty that she cursed her. Zeus changed the story to make his son, Perseus, look good.
In this graphic retelling of the Greek myth, young Perseus is ordered to slay Medusa, a monster whose gaze turns men into solid stone.
The sexual question in connection with Medusa is treated in three major medieval works: the Roman de la rose, Dante's Inferno and Petrarch's lyric poems dealing with Laura. The Roman de la rose in its first incarnation was composed in ...
Seeking to become immortal like the other Goddess Girls, Medusa searches for a magical necklace, an effort that is compromised by her mean reputation, her snaky hair, and unexpected consequences.
This collection, with a critical introduction and striking illustrations, is the first major anthology of primary material and critical commentary on this most provocative and enigmatic of figures.
In these essays and others, Thomas once again conveys his observations of the scientific world in prose marked by wonder and wit.
Gorgon. Killer. Monster. Victim. Survivor. Protector. Medusa breathes new life into an ancient story and echoes the battle that women throughout millennia have continued to wage.
Medusa was born the only beautiful daughter to the ugliest sea witch ever to inhabit the depths of the ocean. Her looks were radiant enough to gain the adoration of...
After an undersea lab conducting research on a rare jellyfish known as the Blue Medusa mysteriously disappears and a bathysphere harboring Joe Zavala is attacked by an underwater vehicle and left helpless on the sea floor, Kurt Austin puts ...