Discuss the role of Medusa. From the story that Ariadne's handmaiden tells her as a girl, to Ariadne's final encounter with the head of Medusa, how do the themes in Medusa's story parallel Ariadne's?

Discuss the role of Medusa in this book. From the story that Ariadne's handmaiden tells her as a girl, to Ariadne's final encounter with the head of Medusa, how do the themes in Medusa's story parallel Ariadne's? 
 

Medusa is an inspiration for Ariadne, a model of challenging the injustice of both gods and men who use women as their weapons of war—punishing “his” woman as revenge on an offending foe. Ariadne is not as openly defiant as Phaedra, but she is defiant in a strategic way, in betraying her cruel father and the Minotaur for the sake of others. Medusa, to Ariadne, represents the noble ideal of resistance even if you are doomed to fail, as an inspiration for others who may one day succeed. It is a big part of her motivation to help Theseus rescue the Athenian youths, and later to intervene in her husband’s fight with Perseus, where ultimately she suffers a fate similar to Medusa’s—-leaving her story to inspire others.

Like Ariadne, Medusa was a pawn in her own story. She was blamed for her beauty and a god's actions. She was then turned into a monster, lost her head and was wielded as a weapon to scare others away.

Ariadne, was a pawn for Theseus. Then she fell prey to Dionysus and his promise to be unlike the other gods--a promise he could not keep. In the end, she was stopped by Medusa and turned to stone.

Both women were robbed of their lives because of a god's actions. Both ended up as inanimate objects. Both were denied a natural death.

It was interesting to see this kind of positive portrayal of Medusa. We’re so used to thinking of her with her snake hair that we forget that she wasn’t always like that. She was as much a pawn of the gods as many other women.

I absolutely agree with ScribblingScribe's discussion. Medusa has always been portrayed as a horrible monster in literature and film. Her backstory has never been presented; it was nice to see for what she suffered and why.

Until this question, I did not think about how Medusa's story could be a parallel Ariadne's.

But as stated above - I can see how they were both used by men (as I guess women could expect during this time).