PLEASE NOTE: Classes will be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time
Medusa has been revered as both monster and goddess, protector and destroyer for over two thousand years, but what does she mean to us today? That sensuous snaky hair, that grimacing mouth, and that stone-cold stare still hold power and continue to be reinterpreted for purposes both good and ill. This 5-week Medusa Manifesting workshop will provide an opportunity for deep exploration of Medusa and her Gorgon sisters, bringing her to life and highlighting her insistent and persistent relevance across the millennia.
Each session will begin by calling in Medusa through reflection and conversation around key artworks from antiquity through the 21st century. Resident mythologist Liz Andres will guide participants through richly illustrated lectures and discussions delving into different aspects of Medusa and her Gorgon sisters, providing suggested readings and additional resources for those who want to dive even deeper. Participants will have the opportunity to explore their personal relationship with Medusa and/or consider their relationship with other mythological hybrid creatures who speak to them. For a final project, participants will be invited to create artwork, poetry, or a mini-research project inspired by Medusa or another mythological hybrid creature to share with the class.
Week One: Monster
Mythological hybrid creatures
Gorgons around the world
The grimace and the mask of death
Snakes and the phallic threat
Decapitation and the cult of the severed head
Week Two: Goddess
Artemis and Athena
Triple goddesses and sisterhood
Medusa and the Sea
Medusa and the Underworld
Ancient queen
Week Three: Protector
The evil eye
Battlefield and household
Grave monuments
Snakes and healing
Feminist icon
Week Four: Destroyer
The power of the gaze
Turned to stone
Death spirits
Silencing women
Petrify the patriarchy
Week Five: Presentations
Liz Andres is a museum professional and scholar based in Los Angeles. She holds degrees in Art History, Classical Archaeology, and Museum Studies from U.C. Berkeley and the University of Leicester and specializes in museum education. She is pursuing her PhD in Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute, and is a resident mythologist and frequent presenter with Morbid Anatomy, as well as a regular Death Café host. Her current research interests include hybrid and liminal creatures in ancient Greek art and mythology, museum taxidermy, and representations of death, myth, and nature in western art. Follow her on Instagram.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Medusa, 1595 (Uffizi Gallery, Florence), Jean Delville, La Meduse, 1893 (Chicago Art Institute), Bronze Mirror, Greek, 500-480 BCE (J. Paul Getty Museum), Medusa mosaic, 2nd century CE (Archaeological Museum of Palencia), Gustav Klimt, Pallas Athena, 1898 (Vienna Historisches Museum)
PLEASE NOTE: Classes will be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time
Medusa has been revered as both monster and goddess, protector and destroyer for over two thousand years, but what does she mean to us today? That sensuous snaky hair, that grimacing mouth, and that stone-cold stare still hold power and continue to be reinterpreted for purposes both good and ill. This 5-week Medusa Manifesting workshop will provide an opportunity for deep exploration of Medusa and her Gorgon sisters, bringing her to life and highlighting her insistent and persistent relevance across the millennia.
Each session will begin by calling in Medusa through reflection and conversation around key artworks from antiquity through the 21st century. Resident mythologist Liz Andres will guide participants through richly illustrated lectures and discussions delving into different aspects of Medusa and her Gorgon sisters, providing suggested readings and additional resources for those who want to dive even deeper. Participants will have the opportunity to explore their personal relationship with Medusa and/or consider their relationship with other mythological hybrid creatures who speak to them. For a final project, participants will be invited to create artwork, poetry, or a mini-research project inspired by Medusa or another mythological hybrid creature to share with the class.
Week One: Monster
Mythological hybrid creatures
Gorgons around the world
The grimace and the mask of death
Snakes and the phallic threat
Decapitation and the cult of the severed head
Week Two: Goddess
Artemis and Athena
Triple goddesses and sisterhood
Medusa and the Sea
Medusa and the Underworld
Ancient queen
Week Three: Protector
The evil eye
Battlefield and household
Grave monuments
Snakes and healing
Feminist icon
Week Four: Destroyer
The power of the gaze
Turned to stone
Death spirits
Silencing women
Petrify the patriarchy
Week Five: Presentations
Liz Andres is a museum professional and scholar based in Los Angeles. She holds degrees in Art History, Classical Archaeology, and Museum Studies from U.C. Berkeley and the University of Leicester and specializes in museum education. She is pursuing her PhD in Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute, and is a resident mythologist and frequent presenter with Morbid Anatomy, as well as a regular Death Café host. Her current research interests include hybrid and liminal creatures in ancient Greek art and mythology, museum taxidermy, and representations of death, myth, and nature in western art. Follow her on Instagram.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Medusa, 1595 (Uffizi Gallery, Florence), Jean Delville, La Meduse, 1893 (Chicago Art Institute), Bronze Mirror, Greek, 500-480 BCE (J. Paul Getty Museum), Medusa mosaic, 2nd century CE (Archaeological Museum of Palencia), Gustav Klimt, Pallas Athena, 1898 (Vienna Historisches Museum)
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