--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Trump and Clinton, Perseus and Medusa…" description: "\"“Trump and Clinton, Perseus and Medusa, and rest my case.”\" — Mary Beard" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/mary-beard-3016_medusa_trump-and-clinton-perseus-and-medusa-and_1298919.png" --- # Trump and Clinton, Perseus and Medusa, and rest my case. ![“Trump and Clinton, Perseus and Medusa, and rest my case.” quote by Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/mary-beard-3016_medusa_trump-and-clinton-perseus-and-medusa-and_1298919.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/mary-beard-3016_medusa_trump-and-clinton-perseus-and-medusa-and_1298919.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/mary-beard-3016_medusa_trump-and-clinton-perseus-and-medusa-and_1298919.png) > ““Trump and Clinton, Perseus and Medusa, and rest my case.”” [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker likens political rivalry to mythic battles, framing it as a clear-cut conflict. **In simple terms:** Politics compared to mythic fights. Key Takeaway Recognize the drama in political narratives. Themes politics myth conflict Mood analytical critical Type opinion analysis When to use this quote - campaign analysis - public discourse - education Key Concepts symbolism historical analogy media rhetoric Questions to Reflect On - Do mythic frames help or hinder understanding? - What are the limits of such comparisons? A Different Perspective Such analogies can oversimplify nuanced issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clinton Perseus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clinton-perseus-4257941/) [Medusa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medusa/) [Perseus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perseus/) [Perseus Medusa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perseus-medusa-3551088/) [Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trump/) [Trump Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trump-clinton-2508195/) ## Related quotes > [“It is also true that one satiric stunt on US television featured a fake severed head of Trump himself, but in that case the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/it-is-also-true-that-one-satiric-stunt-on-us-television-featured-a/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“The decapitation of Medusa by the Greek hero Perseus, assisted by the patriarchalized Goddess Athena, was painted on pottery, carved as bas reliefs on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-marler/the-decapitation-of-medusa-by-the-greek-hero-perseus-assisted-by-the/) [Joan Marler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-marler/) > [“ In ancient times, the Gorgon Medusa lived on the far side of Oceanus in the land of Night. She was an awesome dragonlike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-ewing/in-ancient-times-the-gorgon-medusa-lived-on-the-far-side-of-oceanus/) [Lynne Ewing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-ewing/) > [Blame it on our short memories, the daily grind of the 24-hour-news cycle, or the endless barrage of information that comes at us on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaun-king/blame-it-on-our-short-memories-the-daily-grind-of-the-24-hour-news/) [Shaun King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaun-king/) > [“A close Trump friend who was also a good Bill Clinton friend found them eerily similar—except that Clinton had a respectable front and Trump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-wolff/a-close-trump-friend-who-was-also-a-good-bill-clinton-friend-found/) [Michael Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-wolff/) > [Bill Clinton is just as gross as Donald Trump - so much so that the Clinton campaign can't really back Trump into a corner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaun-king/bill-clinton-is-just-as-gross-as-donald-trump-so-much-so-that-the/) [Shaun King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaun-king/) > [I have never analyzed a presidential election as much as I did the Trump-Clinton race of 2016.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-beckel/i-have-never-analyzed-a-presidential-election-as-much-as-i-did-the/) [Bob Beckel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-beckel/) > [“And when we say also that the Word, who is the first-birth of God, was produced without sexual union, and that He, Jesus Christ,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-martyr/and-when-we-say-also-that-the-word-who-is-the-first-birth-of-god-was/) [Justin Martyr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-martyr/) > [And if we even affirm that He was born of a virgin, accept this in common with what you accept of Perseus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-martyr/and-if-we-even-affirm-that-he-was-born-of-a-virgin-accept-this-in/) [Justin Martyr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-martyr/) > [If you were a god, how would you like being called a myth, an old story to explain lightning? What if I told you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/if-you-were-a-god-how-would-you-like-being-called-a-myth-an-old-story/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [When I consider all the circumstances detailed above respecting the Pans, I cannot help believing that, under the mythos, a doctrine or history of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/godfrey-higgins/when-i-consider-all-the-circumstances-detailed-above-respecting-the/) [Godfrey Higgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/godfrey-higgins/) > [Perseus wore a magic cap that the monsters he hunted down might not see him. We draw the magic cap down over eyes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/perseus-wore-a-magic-cap-that-the-monsters-he-hunted-down-might-not/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [Earthshaker, Stormbreaker, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/earthshaker-stormbreaker-father-of-horses-hail-perseus-jackson-son-of/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [“What brings you here?”“Missed you, of course.”“Careful, Perseus. One of these days I might start believing you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anyta-sunday/what-brings-you-here-missed-you-of-course-careful-perseus-one-of/) [Anyta Sunday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anyta-sunday/) > [“He is Jason and Hercules and Perseus---a figure so strong and beautiful and heroic that the blood of the gods must flow through him,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-kenner/he-is-jason-and-hercules-and-perseus-a-figure-so-strong-and-beautiful/) [J. Kenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-kenner/) ## More by Mary Beard > [I receive something we might euphemistically call an 'inappropriately hostile' response - that is to say, more than fair criticism or even fair anger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-receive-something-we-might-euphemistically-call-an-inappropriately/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [We have never escaped a certain male cultural desire for women's silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/we-have-never-escaped-a-certain-male-cultural-desire-for-women-s/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“defend women’s right to be wrong, at least occasionally.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/defend-women-s-right-to-be-wrong-at-least-occasionally/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [You don't overturn x-thousand years of patriarchy in a generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/you-don-t-overturn-x-thousand-years-of-patriarchy-in-a-generation/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“we have no template for what a powerful woman looks like, except that she looks rather like a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/we-have-no-template-for-what-a-powerful-woman-looks-like-except-that/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“(In the Afghan parliament, apparently, they disconnect the mics when they don’t want to hear the women speak).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/in-the-afghan-parliament-apparently-they-disconnect-the-mics-when/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [I've chosen to be this way because that's how I feel comfortable with myself. That's how I am. It's about joining up the dots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-ve-chosen-to-be-this-way-because-that-s-how-i-feel-comfortable-with/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [People who exploit others come to spend an enormous amount of energy wondering about and justifying that exploitation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/people-who-exploit-others-come-to-spend-an-enormous-amount-of-energy/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [Wherever possible, I try to see things from the other side of the dividing line and to read civilisation 'against the grain.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/wherever-possible-i-try-to-see-things-from-the-other-side-of-the/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [I remember plastering the kitchen with Black Power pictures of Angela Davis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-remember-plastering-the-kitchen-with-black-power-pictures-of-angela/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“thinking about power as an attribute or even a verb (‘to power’), not as a possession.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/thinking-about-power-as-an-attribute-or-even-a-verb-to-power-not-as-a/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [If women are not perceived to be fully within the structures of power, surely it is power that we need to redefine rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/if-women-are-not-perceived-to-be-fully-within-the-structures-of-power/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [When it comes to silencing women, Western culture has had thousands of years of practice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/when-it-comes-to-silencing-women-western-culture-has-had-thousands-of/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [I think that what will help women get into positions of power - well, day nurseries, equal pay, family-friendly working hours. And I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-think-that-what-will-help-women-get-into-positions-of-power-well/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“One of its (civilisations) most powerful weapons has always been 'barbarity': 'we' know that 'we' are civilised by contrasting ourselves with those we deem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/one-of-its-civilisations-most-powerful-weapons-has-always-been/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) [Explore all 137 Mary Beard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) ## More Medusa quotes > [“You read any Greek myths, puppy? The one about the gorgon Medusa, particularly? I used to wonder what could be so terrible that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-carey-peter-gross/you-read-any-greek-myths-puppy-the-one-about-the-gorgon-medusa/) [Mike Carey & Peter Gross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-carey-peter-gross/) > [“According to Greek mythology, Medusa is a Triple Goddess, one of three gorgon sisters—Sthenno, Euryale, and Medusa—representing past, present, and future. Only Medusa exists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-marler/according-to-greek-mythology-medusa-is-a-triple-goddess-one-of-three/) [Joan Marler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-marler/) > [Let me explain: there are dragons, and then there are drakons. Drakons are several millennia older than dragons, andmuch larger. They look like giant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/let-me-explain-there-are-dragons-and-then-there-are-drakons-drakons/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [“Philologically, the name Medusa means the “ruling one.” But by the time of the earliest Greek texts which contain myth, those of Homer, Medusa…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miriam-robbins-dexter/philologically-the-name-medusa-means-the-ruling-one-but-by-the-time/) [Miriam Robbins Dexter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miriam-robbins-dexter/) > [“Medusa's lips split with that challenging smile, and for a second he recognized her somehow, he knew her on some primal level, the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-j-kincaid/medusa-s-lips-split-with-that-challenging-smile-and-for-a-second-he/) [S.J. Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-j-kincaid/) > [To be sane, he held, was either to be sedated by melancholy or activated by hysteria, two responses which were 'always and equally warranted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/to-be-sane-he-held-was-either-to-be-sedated-by-melancholy-or/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [Poetry is perhaps this: an Atemwende, a turning of our breath. Who knows, perhaps poetry goes its way—the way of art—for the sake of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/poetry-is-perhaps-this-an-atemwende-a-turning-of-our-breath-who-knows/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [Margaret Thatcher has shown that there is power and dignity to be won by defying the status quo and the majority rather than by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/margaret-thatcher-has-shown-that-there-is-power-and-dignity-to-be-won/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [The television, that insidious beast, that Medusa which freezes a billion people to stone every night, staring fixedly, that Siren which called and sang…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/the-television-that-insidious-beast-that-medusa-which-freezes-a/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“ In ancient times, the Gorgon Medusa lived on the far side of Oceanus in the land of Night. She was an awesome dragonlike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-ewing/in-ancient-times-the-gorgon-medusa-lived-on-the-far-side-of-oceanus/) [Lynne Ewing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-ewing/) > [“Medusa reminds us that we must not take the female “monster” at face value; that we must not only weigh her beneficent against her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miriam-robbins-dexter/medusa-reminds-us-that-we-must-not-take-the-female-monster-at-face/) [Miriam Robbins Dexter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miriam-robbins-dexter/) > [“Every part of her was still except her hair, which blew round her face in the damp night like Medusa's serpentine locks rearing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-pine/every-part-of-her-was-still-except-her-hair-which-blew-round-her-face/) [Katherine Pine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-pine/) > [In mythology, the Medusa can petrify people with a look - which is a good thing, I think. But the Medusa is a unique…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donatella-versace/in-mythology-the-medusa-can-petrify-people-with-a-look-which-is-a/) [Donatella Versace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donatella-versace/) > [If a woman shows too often the Medusa's head, she must not be astonished if her lover is turned into stone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/if-a-woman-shows-too-often-the-medusa-s-head-she-must-not-be/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [“Secreto medusas em você e você as desenvolve até pólipos.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/filipe-russo/secreto-medusas-em-voc-e-voc-as-desenvolve-at-p-lipos/) [Filipe Russo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/filipe-russo/) [Browse all 55 Medusa quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medusa/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Trump and Clinton, Perseus and Medusa, and rest my case.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Beard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/trump-and-clinton-perseus-and-medusa-and-rest-my-case/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Medusa" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/trump-and-clinton-perseus-and-medusa-and-rest-my-case/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/mary-beard-3016_medusa_trump-and-clinton-perseus-and-medusa-and_1298919.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/mary-beard-3016_medusa_trump-and-clinton-perseus-and-medusa-and_1298919.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/mary-beard-3016_medusa_trump-and-clinton-perseus-and-medusa-and_1298919.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Trump and Clinton, Perseus and Medusa, and rest my case.” — Mary Beard", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mary Beard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Trump and Clinton, Perseus and Medusa,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/trump-and-clinton-perseus-and-medusa-and-rest-my-case/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/trump-and-clinton-perseus-and-medusa-and-rest-my-case/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```