Mito among the most ancient and enigmatic, icon contemporary become a symbol of women's liberation struggle and, more recently, of the protest of the #metoo, Medusa is the protagonist of the Emilio Gabba Lecture 2026, proposed by the Collegio Nuovo on 20 April, at 21.
The beautiful priestess, Ovid tells in the Metamorphosis, raped by Poseidon in the temple of Athena, she was transformed into a monster by the goddess, to avenge the affront suffered: the only mortal among the Gorgons with a petrifying gaze who was then beheaded by Perseus with a stratagem.
At the heart of the fifth edition of the Emilio Gabba Lecture is all the complexity and the non-linear evolution of the Gorgon myth with snake-like hair – but from whose blood corals are also born – in a lesson held by Silvia Romani, an anthropologist of the ancient world, and a professor of Classical Religions at the University of Milan La Statale. A tale of antiquity that offers a contemporary perspective, as was the Professor's guiding principle. Emilio Gabba in his lectures offered to the public at the Collegio Nuovo, over a period of over twenty years.
From the Medusa of Homer, Hesiod, and Lucan, we will also arrive at the controversial sculpture by Luciano Garbati installed near the courthouse where the Harvey Weinstein trial was held.
Silvia Romani will be in conversation with Livia Capponi, professor of Ancient History of theUniversity of Pavia, Alumna of the Collegio Nuovo, and Representative of the Department of Humanistic Studies for Merged – Interdepartmental Research Center on Migration and Recognition of Gender Diversity, University of Pavia, author, among other things, of a successful monograph on Cleopatra published by Laterza.
The initiative is part of the recognized training activities, subject to possible confirmation by the individual College concerned and member of the CCUM.
