The Battle of the MythsAt first glance all myths might dish out fair punishment to everyone, but whenyou take a closer look at some of the myths you see that some of the gods are sexist. When King Midas offended Apollo the god made it so that everything he touched turnedto gold, but in the end he was forgiven.
Medusa was changed from a beautiful youwomen to a hideous one that turned people to stone just by looking at them all becauseshe offended Athena. When comparing these two myths we see the obvious sexisttreatments showed toward Medusa. In the myths, women were treated unjustly, but menlike Midas were forgiven for their wrongdoings. King Midas offend Apollo and then the god made him pay. At first, King Midasthought it as a gift when he found out that everything he touched turned to gold. ThenKing Midas begged for forgiveness and Apollo forgave King Midas him donkey ears.
Then when his hairdresser told everyone he had donkey ears King Midas showed mercyApollo forgave him for a second time. Apollo forgave King Midas twice, but Medusawould not be so lucky. When Athena turned Medusa into a horrid beast, she did not forgive her. Medusaoffended Athena by being with Poseidon in her temple and she was turned into creaturethat turns people into stone, which shows how Medusa never received any forgivenessfrom Athena. Then since gods decide fate they had Theseus kill her.
Then by having herhead roll along the bottom off the ocean for eternity, which does not show anyforgiveness but more punishment? Medusa was shown no forgiveness for her small deed,and the punishment is no only worse but it is also sexist, which can be seen when they arecompared. Sexism an idea not usually put together with myths is very evident whencomparing King Midas to Medusa. King Midas and Medusa both committed minorcrimes, but Medusa received a much harsher punishment. In the story of King Midas, hewas forgiven not once but twice while Medusa was not forgiven at all.
This is a blatantshow of sexism by the gods to Medusa, the women. Unfair treatment toward women isobvious when looking at these stories, but when comparing it to now it has not changedmuch. Since myths help explain what goes on it can be seen that even in ancient timeswomen were treated unjustly. In todays world it is hard to get a fair shot at a job oranything because of the sexist world we liven.
These stories display poor values, whichare handed down when they are read to young people. The stories make women seem haslesser people, who deserved to be punished more severely, which is no true. It isimportant to remember that when reading these two stories that even though gods backthen treated women unjustly does not give you the right to now.
