Pandora’s Jar by Natalie Haynes

Pandora’s Jar by Natalie Haynes (2020) 

« He who fights monsters, Nietzsche tells us, should take care that he himself does not become a monster » Natalie Haynes, Pandora’s Jar. 

It all depends on who tells the story, doesn’t it? Every tale shifts with its teller, one paints a monster, another a victim, some other a hero, but perhaps Medusa was never the villain at all. 

Let’s delve into the World of Pandora’s Jar by Natalie Haynes together, and explore how she breathes new life into the women of Greek mythology, women who have been misrepresented, silenced, vilified for centuries. Through her retellings figures like Medusa, Helen of Troy, the Amazons, Pandora, Penelope and many more are reimagined. Through this review dear readers, I will demonstrate how Haynes challenges the traditional male-driven perspective, portraying Medusa as a monster, to a tragic heroine. 

Natalie Haynes book is divided between sections, each one of them centered around a different woman of mythology. For my part, the one that captivated me the most was our silent sufferer: Medusa. 

Shall we start from the beginning? 

Medusa was originally one of the three Gorgon sisters, daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. Unlike her immortal sisters (Stheno and Euryale), Medusa was mortal. She was once a charming beauty with golden hair who attracted the attention of Poseidon who raped Medusa inside Athena’s temple. 

As a result Athena was so enraged her sacred temple had been violated that instead of punishing the God, she cursed our heroine into a Gorgon. Giving her snakes for hair and a gaze that turned anyone who looked at her into stone. This transformation made Medusa a feared and exiled figure, but above all, a monster. 

Later, the hero Perseus was sent on a quest to behead Medusa by King Polydectes and beheaded her as she slept. 

Natalie Haynes in her book, portrays how Medusa’s beauty was a crucial part of her identity before her curse, it’s a metaphor for how women in mythology are often punished for their beauty or victimized by the actions of powerful men. Her golden hair being replaced symbolizes her loss of humanity and tragic consequences of divine cruelty, she is demonized and objectified. Haynes writing explores Medusa’s myth with much deeper emotions and a feminist approach, not only she tells how men historically viewed Medusa but also explores how art, in museums and sculptures through centuries of portrayals have solidified her monstrous image. 

After Perseus decapitated her, her head continued to hold the power to petrify. Her head served as a tool going from hand to hand, as a weapon to defeat his enemies. This demonstrates that even after her death she is profane and unable to Rest In Peace. 

We are so deeply rooted to the version of her being a monster that as Haynes says « we barely notice the cruelty which underpins the story: it’s just a hero and his trophy».

Haynes writing is so insightful and compelling that it directly went through my heart, she allows readers to connect emotionally with the figures she reimagined, this is what led me to choose this book. After all, Medusa is just a victim of profound injustice, a woman whose suffering and transformation were shaped by the cruelty of the gods, rather than by any malice of her own. Haynes encapsulates how Medusa’s suffering and curse lingers as a symbol of the women who are often reduced to objects of power, even after they are being silenced. We are able to understand a story completely different, this more striking and painful to read as we understand Medusa’s silent suffering. 

Let’s not forget dear readers that Athena is the one who cursed Medusa. One one hand Haynes underscores this act as a deeper, cultural tendency to blame the victim, and how women are often punished for their beauty and the society's treatment of women. But on the other hand, she states that perhaps Athena’s transformation of Medusa in an hideous monster was in reality a way of protecting and preserving her from further sexual assault by making her undesirable to male gods who can and do force themselves on her. Which would render the story even more tragic than it was. Haynes forces us to think critically and confronts the reader with a no-holds-barred examination of this myth.  

To conclude Haynes highlights how our perception is blurred by a veil, where behind are tragedies hidden by the men refusing to accept their vile sins. Not only in fiction but also in the real world, she draws parallels between injustice faced by women in mythology and the injustice experienced by women in today’s society. This is what makes this book so captivating and real, this is Why I recommend it to you! 

This book is a poignant reminder that the truth often lies beneath the surface of the stories we hear, and it’s up to us to uncover it. 

“It is time, surely, to let the women speak for themselves.” Natalie Haynes