1922
18
273-274
Medusa's Head1
Sigmund Freud
We have not often attempted to interpret individual mythological themes, but an interpretation suggests itself easily in the case of the horrifying decapitated head of Medusa.
The hair upon Medusa's head is frequently represented in works of art in the form of snakes, and these once again are derived from the castration complex.
2
The sight of Medusa's head makes the spectator stiff with terror, turns him to stone.
If Medusa's head takes the place of a representation of the female genitals, or rather if it isolates their horrifying effects from their pleasure-giving ones, it may be recalled that displaying the genitals is familiar in other connections as an apotropaic act.