The series corrects the original’s Medusa omission, and even the creator has championed it

We get to see Medusa in the first episode of the new hit fantasy series Percy Jackson: The Series. For now, however, only as a sculpture in the museum: a heroic statue holds its severed head in its hand. Not everyone who looks like monsters is really a monster, Percy’s mother explains to her son. The Disney+ series picks up on this again in the third episode and emancipates itself from the template with an important change.

Percy Jackson’s original completely ignored Medusa’s tragic story

So far, four of the eight episodes of the first season of Percy Jackson: The Series have been released on Disney+. Medusa is the most impressive and saddest antagonist in the first half of the season. Sorry, Minotaur in underpants! Original author Rick Riordan personally advocated for her, reports Variety.

In the original novel, Medusa is just a monster: The first season of the series is based on the first book in his Percy Jackson novel series *, which started in 2005. It describes Percy’s quest from his perspective alone and he perceives Medusa as a monster who hoards petrified innocents in her basement.

The series finally shows that misunderstood and tragic beings like Medusa have more to say and that the Greek deities have a patriarchy problem. That was very important to Rick Riordan and his wife Rebecca Riordan, who co-produce the series. In Greek mythology, Medusa was more than just a monster.

Medusa’s original tragic story: She was once a human woman who wanted to serve the goddess Athena and even swore abstinence to do so. However, when she had a sexual encounter with the god Poseidon she Punished for this by Athena – and not Poseidon.

Some stories even say that the sex was non-consensual and that Poseidon raped her in Athene’s temple. From then on, Medusa turned everyone who looked into her eyes to stone because of Athene’s curse. In the end, in Greek mythology, she is beheaded by Perseus and her head is given to Athene.

The Percy Jackson series finally gives Medusa her own voice

The young adult series takes an important step and explains why Medusa is so bitter and vengeful and that a great injustice was originally done to her. This fits the progressive tone of the series, in which deities like Athena and Poseidon feel more like absent and selfish parents than glorious superhumans.

Medusa’s portrayal in the new series: In the new edition, the central trio of heroes around Percy Jackson meets Medusa at the same point as in the book. Instead of encountering a savage monster, she is a civilized and educated woman with a deep hat. Actress Jessica Parker Kennedy (The Flash) portrays Medusa as a woman who has become abandoned, misunderstood and, as a result, cruel. With a bitter tone she says that she, of all people, and not Poseidon, was punished for their relationship. And this despite the fact that Athena always portrays herself as righteous.

Medusa is also beheaded by Percy in the series – but this time it is a tragic death. This is reminiscent of Percy’s mother’s words at the beginning of the series: “Not everyone who looks like a hero is a hero. And not everyone who looks like a monster is a monster.” This more complex and sensitive perspective runs through the first four episodes and also provides exciting, new aspects for fans of the book series.

Percy Jackson: You can stream the series on Disney+ *. A new episode appears every Wednesday.

Podcast tip: The 15 best series starts in January on Disney+ and Co.

Do you need supplies until the new Percy Jackson episode comes out? We present the most exciting series in January, which start on Disney+ and other streaming services, in the monthly overview:

Among the 15 streaming highlights of the series at the beginning of the year you will not only find gripping crime thrillers, but also a hotly anticipated war series by Steven Spielberg, an amazing Marvel return and much more.

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