The Historical Enigma of the Snake Woman from Antiquity to the 21st Century

The purpose of this study is to investigate the historical conditions that gradually defined subordinating symbols and conflictual values in social relations between the sexes. It describes how the snakes and paralyzing eyes of the Medusa, the most widely standardized snake woman, have held a strangely vivid place in the visual arts and written sources across the centuries, alongside largely negative emotions: fear, anger, scorn and shame. The text explores the outcomes and implications of the disturbing bond that has been woven into the Western gender imaginary among the dangerousness of the female gaze, the snake’s malignitas and the lethal power of menstruation. The history of female reptilian hybrids – from the pleasing Minoan snake Goddesses to depressing Gorgon, Echidna, Amazons, Eve, Melusine, Basilisk, Poisonous Maiden and Catoblepas through to Sadako/Samara – forces us to question what never happened but has always been.