We explain who Medusa was in Greek mythology and how she was represented. Also, her myth and how it can be interpreted.
Who was Medusa?
In Greek mythology, Medusa was a monstrous female creature, capable of turning anyone she looked directly into the eyes into stone. Medusa was a chthonic being (that is, linked to the depths and the underworld) and the most famous of the Gorgons (Medusa, Stheno and Euryale), creatures engendered by Phorcys and Ceto in some versions, or by Typhon and Echidna in others. Of the Gorgons, Medusa was the only mortal.
Medusa was described and represented in Ancient Greece as a monster with a woman’s face (often appearing with her tongue out) and snakes for hair, sometimes winged and with other animal features. You must read about Fear once.
According to the mythological story, the monster was decapitated by the mythical hero Perseus, who then used her head to defeat his enemies. For this reason, the image of her severed head was used as a symbol of protection and defense against evil (called gorgoneion), at the entrance to temples and palaces, on banners and flags.
The myth of Medusa is perhaps one of the most popular and most widely interpreted and represented myths in Greek mythology, as well as being studied from a symbolic and psychoanalytic point of view.
According to scholars of classical Greek culture, such as Robert Graves, the origin of this myth could be located in the confrontation between the Greeks and the Carians in the Mediterranean, since in the colonies of the latter there was a lunar cult whose priestesses used masks similar to the description of the appearance of the gorgons. Other theories point to the encounter with the matriarchal religion of the Berbers in the north of present-day Libya.
Myth of Medusa
The origin of Medusa in Greek mythology is uncertain. The poet Hesiod (c. 700 BC) mentions her for the first time in his Theogony, where he explains the origin of the cosmos and the gods of the Greeks, and there he says that Poseidon lay with her “in a soft meadow, among spring flowers.” She is also described by Pindar (around 490 BC) as “she of beautiful cheeks.”
In any case, the best-known version of the myth comes from the Roman Ovid and his famous narrative poem The Metamorphoses (completed in 8 AD), where she is described as a beautiful maiden and priestess of the temple of Athena, whose beauty won her numerous suitors. Among them was the terrible god of the seas, Poseidon, who abducted and raped her, and left her pregnant.
Thus stripped of her purity, Medusa was then punished by Athena, furious at the desecration of her temple. The goddess transformed her hair into snakes and made those who looked at her face turn to stone. Maybe you should definitely read about Epicureanism once.
Medusa and Perseus
Medusa lived with her sisters in a cave in the last place where the night went. There the hero Perseus, grandson of Zeus and son of Danae, went to look for her on the orders of King Polydectes. The latter wanted Perseus’ mother as a wife, but the hero did not approve of the union, so the king sent him to bring him the head of Medusa as a wedding gift, in order to get rid of him.
Perseus, however, received help from various gods. Among them, Athena gave him a bronze mirror so perfectly polished that it served as a mirror, so that he could observe Medusa’s reflection and thus not turn into stone; and also the famous helmet of invisibility of Hades, with which he could later escape.
In this way, the hero infiltrated the monster’s cave and with a well-aimed blow he cut off Medusa’s head, put it in a sack and, turning invisible, quickly escaped the Gorgons’ vengeance. From the blood shed by Medusa were born the giant Chrysaor and the winged horse, Pegasus.
Armed with the monster’s head, Perseus undertook various adventures: he turned the Titan Atlas, who held up the celestial vault, into stone, rescued the princess Andromeda from the sea monster Cetis, and finally took revenge on King Polydectes. Finally, the hero gave Medusa’s severed head to Athena herself, who from then on placed it on her shield, as a protective emblem.
Interpretations of the myth
The myth of Medusa has received numerous interpretations and readings over the centuries. Some see the myth as a narrative representation of female punishment and the dominance of the patriarchal order, since Medusa is a woman raped and then punished by a virginal goddess, as if it were her fault for having been outraged.
In other senses, the myth is understood from the severed head of the monster, which serves the hero to fulfill his destiny, which means that in the difficulties and challenges of life lie the keys to the future success of the individual.
References
All the information we offer is supported by authorized and updated bibliographic sources, which ensure reliable content in line with our editorial principles.
- “Medusa (mythology)” in Wikipedia.
- “Perseus” in Wikipedia.
- “Medusa” in World History Encyclopedia.
- “Medusa (Greek Mythology)” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
