Unlike the book and film, the “Percy Jackson” series tells the original myth of Medusa

The third episode of the series “Percy Jackson and the olympians” was made available on Tuesday (26) on Disney+ and shows the character's first victory against one of the most famous mythological figures: Medusa.

The conflict is present both in the book of Rick Riodan As for the film, released in 2010, however, it presents the vision of Percy, son of Poseidon about the gorgon and does not address the original myth.

In the original myth, Medusa is a human woman who takes a vow of celibacy out of devotion to Athena, the goddess of wisdom. However, she begins a relationship with the sea god, Poseidon, which turns sexual one night. Many interpretations point out that the meeting, which took place in Athena's temple, was not consensual and that Poseidon raped Medusa.

Athena decides to punish Medusa by stealing her beauty by turning her into a gorgon that petrifies anyone she makes eye contact with. The story ends with the demigod Perseus – after whom Percy Jackson is named – decapitating Medusa and handing her head to Athena.

Rebecca Riordan , married to the book's author and executive producer of the TV series, told Variety that “the only reason Medusa isn't developed more in the books is that it was Percy's narrative and we don't get her perspective.” The books are written in the first person.

“As a 12-year-old boy in 2005, I don’t think he had the ability to deconstruct the patriarchy,” Rick added. “He was looking at it like, 'This is a scary woman who's trying to turn me to stone.'”

According to Rebecca, this “was one of the first things we talked about, like not having a patriarchal lens.”

In the series, the mythological figure is mentioned in the first episode, even though it only appears in the third, when Percy's mother takes him to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and shows Antonio Canova's statue from the early 1800s, in which Perseus holding Medusa's severed head.

“Not everyone who looks like a hero is a hero, and not everyone who looks like a monster is a monster,” says Percy's mom.

In the third episode, Percy, Annabeth and Grover, unlike the book, realize who the gorgon is immediately, but the demigod decides to stay with her, as it is the only option for refuge while they are pursued by one of the Furies sent by Hades.

Sensing Athena's daughter Annabeth's anger towards her, Medusa tells her side of the story.

The series' showrunner Jon Steinberg highlighted that he kept the speech appropriate for the characters' ages.

“If you know what she's talking about, you know what she's talking about. If you are too young to participate in this conversation, it won't bother you. You’re just in a scene about this woman who seems complicated,” she told “Variety.”

“Everyone has an opinion about what happened. There is no version The version. If Athena and Poseidon were in that room, you would have three different versions of this story,” she added.

The series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” arrived on Disney+ on December 20th. So far, three episodes are available. In total there will be eight.

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