Medusa+the+Gorgon

Deadly Stare, and Snakes In Her Hair

Cursed from the very day that she set eyes on Poseidon, Medusa lead an evil fate. Medusa was one of the most beautiful women on earth. She was very famous for her complexion and her gorgeous locks. After sleeping with Poseidon in Athena's temple, Athena transformed Medusa into a repulsive gorgon with hair made of live snakes. She was so unsightly that her stare would change a man into hard stone. Her gruesome fate was to be beheaded by Perseus in order to save his mother. Medusa, a mythical monster from Ancient Greek Mythology was so hideous that anyone who dared to stare at her turned into stone.  

After failing at obtaining Danae’s (Perseus’s mom) hand in marriage, King Polydectes proposes to Hippodameia and demands that every man in the land present a horse as a wedding present. Unfortunately Perseus and his mother did not have a horse to give, so Perseus went to the King and asked if he could present a different gift. After their negotiation, the King decided that Perseus was to behead Medusa, and present her head as a marriage present. Perseus then ventures out to find Medusa with the help of Hermes, Athena, Oracles, and Nymphs from the North. He also encountered hideous monsters such as the Graeae who he tricks. After successfully murdering Medusa, Perseus arrived back at the palace of Polydectes in the city of Seriphos. Upon his arrival he discovers that the king has cancelled his marriage with Hippodameia and has begun to threaten his mother into marrying him. Enraged, Perseus pulls the head of Medusa out of his special pouch and turns everyone including the king into stone.

Before Medusa was a hideous gorgon, Medusa was a beautiful woman who all the men fancied. She was greatly admired especially for her gorgeous hair. Medusa was also betrothed, until one day while praying in the Temple of Athena she noticed Poseidon the god of the sea. They were so attracted to each other that they lay together once they had met. After discovering Poseidon and Medusa’s deeds, Athena was furious. Athena could not let their actions go unpunished, so Athena transformed Medusa into a monstrous gorgon. Lastly, Athena replaced Medusa’s hair with live snakes and placed the burden of turning any man into stone if they looked at her.  After her transformation, Medusa became a mortal gorgon. The other gorgons Stheno and Euryale are immortal, but all three of them have a snake like tale, tusks, and golden wings. Gorgons were very famous for their appearance. They were said to have been powerful demons that turned you to stone by just looking at their faces. Stheno and Euryale are real sisters, born gorgons unlike Medusa. Their parents were Phorycys and Ceto. It is said that in some Greek myths the Gorgon trio are portrayed as beautiful creatures that turn into hideous monsters when their beauty is compared to Athena’s. On ancient vases, the gorgons were painted as grotesque animals with beast like tusks, and ruggedly serpent like hair with terrifying expressions painted on their faces.  Medusa's human family is unknown, but her gorgon sisters were Stheno and Euryale who were immortal unlike her. Stheno and Euryale’s parents were Phorycys and Ceto (sea-deities). She also had three other sisters known as the Graeae. The Graeae all shared one eye between each other and live in a dark cave distant from the rest of the world. As often described in folklore, they looked like aged human birds that had no eyes. They all shared one treacherous thing in common; they were all fooled by Perseus. They were also distant cousins with the Harpies who were equally ugly. Also, after Medusa was beheaded Pegasus and Chrysaor were born from her spewing blood as the result of her love affair with Poseidon. According to Ancient Greek Legend, Pegasus was a magnificent horse with wings that assisted Zeus, and Chrysaor became King Iberia who married and had three sons joined together at the hip.

After traveling without any progress as to where to find Medusa, Hermes appears and tells Perseus that he will show him where Medusa lives, but first he must receive the gifts from the Nymphs of the North. Although, neither Perseus nor Hermes knew where to find them, but they did know that the Graeae knew where the Nymphs and Medusa were. The Graeae were stubborn and refused to tell them where the Nymphs and their sisters lived. Perseus then cleverly tricked the Graeae into telling them where the Nymphs and Medusa were located and was on his way. Once he received the Nymph’s gifts, he immediately flew straight to the island of the Gorgon trio and put the gifts to use. The gifts were a special bag that holds anything big or small, winged shoes, and a cap that made him invisible. Athena also gave Perseus a sword that was strong enough to cut through Medusa’s thick layers of hide and a shield to use as a mirror. He spotted Medusa in the night and carefully approached her. Medusa unexpectedly woke up because her snakes (on her hair) were able to detect danger. Luckily she was unable to see her fighter for Perseus was wearing the invisibility cap. Using the shield as a mirror, Perseus sliced Medusa’s head off and skillfully put her head in the special bag he was given. He then returned to the palace of King Polydectes and saved his mother from the king’s threats. 

Medusa the infamous gorgon lived a horrible, short life. Poseidon new it was wrong to lay with another woman in Athena's temple, and yet he did not warn Medusa. Medusa's crime did not fit her punishment. She should have had a trial or at least been given a second chance for her ignorance. Unfortunately, after her transformation, she was no longer famous for her beautiful hair, but for her deathly stare and her hair full of live snakes. Her life was nothing but a nuisance to Poseidon. A similar situation is happening today, many cases where men impregnate a woman than leave her without caring how she will end up. Medusa, an unsightly Gorgon was so repulsive that her stare would turn a man to stone. 

Work Cited: Marks, Tracy.”Medusa in Greek Mythology”2006.Electronically Accessed Dec. 7. 2009. . Nardo, Don. __Monsters, Discovering Mythology.__ San Diegio, California: Lucent Books Inc, 2002. Parada, Carlos.”Medusa.”__Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology__.1996.Electronically Accessed Dec. 6.2009. . Parada, Claros. “Perseus.”__Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology__.1997. Electronically Accessed Dec.6.2009..