Random Notes on "The Medusa"

[bendk]

Quote Originally Posted by sundog

Quote Originally Posted by bendk "Medusa" was included in the recent anthology The Mammoth Book of Monsters edited by Stephen Jones and published by Carroll & Graf in 2007. In the introduction to this story Ligotti states: "The Medusa had two inspirations: Arthur Machen's legend-based horror tales, with their sinister glamour and doomed protagonists, and the pessimistic philosophical writings of E.M. Cioran." What else does Ligotti say in that introduction? Does he drop any hints as to the interpretation of the story? I'm quite confounded by it. Any help would be much appreciated.

Sundog, If I recall correctly, that is the only quote by Ligotti in the introduction. I will check again, though, when I am in the area of that library.

[sundog]

In the Wikipedia entry on 'Medusa' there's an interesting section about Nihilism:

"
Medusa has sometimes appeared as representing notions of scientific determinism and nihilism, especially in contrast with romantic idealism. In this interpretation of Medusa, attempts to avoid looking into her eyes represent avoiding the ostensibly depressing reality that the universe is meaningless. Jack London uses Medusa in this way in his novel The Mutiny of the Elsinore:

I cannot help remembering a remark of De Casseres. It was over the wine in Mouquin's. Said he: "The profoundest instinct in man is to war against the truth; that is, against the Real. He shuns facts from his infancy. His life is a perpetual evasion. Miracle, chimera and to-morrow keep him alive. He lives on fiction and myth. It is the Lie that makes him free. Animals alone are given the privilege of lifting the veil of Isis; men dare not. The animal, awake, has no fictional escape from the Real because he has no imagination. Man, awake, is compelled to seek a perpetual escape into Hope, Belief, Fable, Art, God, Socialism, Immortality, Alcohol, Love. From Medusa-Truth he makes an appeal to Maya-Lie."
"

This characterization of humanity bears a striking resemblance to the one Ligotti puts forth in TCATHR (via Zapffe) and elsewhere. Indeed, it is the very backbone of said Conspiracy.

	TCATHR The Conspiracy Against the Human Race

[sundog]

[MagnusTC]

Some more speculations and representations of medusa

Medusa in Myth and Literary History

[Dead as Dreams]

Apologies if this has already been posted somewhere, but those of you interested in this topic should check out The Medusa Reader (2003). It’s a massive compendium of essays and writings on the Medusa that starts with Homer and ends with Gianni Versace (?!?!). I recently pulled Sigmund Freud's and Sandor Ferenczi's essays on the Medusa's head from it. Anyway, it’s a great resource, and the kind of thing you’d surely expect to find in Lucian Dregler’s own personal collection.

The Medusa Reader (Culture Work): Marjorie Garber,Nancy J. Vickers: 9780415900997: Amazon.com: Books

The Medusa Reader (Culture Work): Marjorie Garber,Nancy J. Vickers: 9780415900997: Amazon.com: Books

The Medusa Reader (Culture Work): Marjorie Garber,Nancy J. Vickers: 9780415900997: Amazon.com: Books
The Medusa Reader (Culture Work): Marjorie Garber,Nancy J. Vickers: 9780415900997: Amazon.com: Books

[bendk]

A couple bits of Medusa-related trivia that I have stumbled across over the years:


Apparently Hitler was mesmerized by this painting of Medusa by Franz von Stuck. He used to tell people "Those are the eyes of my mother!"
Hitler placed a lot of weight on eye contact, and more than a few memoirs mention his piercing gaze, which is interesting given the Medusa legend.
















And this is a book that I used to bid on on eBay. I finally gave up as it always sold for over $100. The cheapest one that I can find on the net right now is around $150.






Mandrake Press Ltd., Oxford, England, 1991. Limited edition. Hardcover. 8vo. 216pp. Blue buckram with gilt title, etc. to spine. Edition limited to 350 numbered copies, this being number 92. (Copies 1 - 50 were specially bound, and signed by the author). A bizarre novel about Crowley set in Germany during the rise of the Nazis. John Symond's the best known of Crowley's early biographers, has borrowed the names of a number of Crowley associates of the time: Heinrich Traenker, Karl Germer, Albin Grau, Max Schneider, Martha Kuntzel, etc. and woven them into this truly odd fictional work.

[Dr. Bantham]

Quote Originally Posted by sundog

Just in case this TLO site style was overlooked:
New TLO Style - Medusa - THE NIGHTMARE NETWORK

	TLO THOMAS LIGOTTI ONLINE

[sundog]

Quote Originally Posted by bendk

Apparently Hitler was mesmerized by this painting of Medusa by Franz von Stuck. He used to tell people "Those are the eyes of my mother!"

You can say that again. Yikes!

Inside the Mind of Adolf Hitler - YouTube

Inside the Mind of Adolf Hitler - YouTube