Medusa was the only one of the Gorgons who was mortal. She was killed by
As a Gorgon, Medusa has several magical powers, including the ability to turn anyone who looks into her eyes into stone. Medusa lived on an island called Sarpedon, hiding in a cave. Any mortals who entered the cave were doomed to be turned to stone when they looked upon Medusa's face.
Medusa was a beautiful woman who was raped, killed and beheaded by various gods. However even in the face of tragedy and disgrace, the Medusa was portrayed as meaningful. Following the moment her head was removed, a Pegasus flew out of her body, representing the birth of beauty.
Medusa is best known for having hair made of snakes and for her ability to turn anyone she looked at to stone, literally to petrify.
Discover. Meet Perseus, a demigod of Greek mythology who was famous for killing Medusa by cutting off her head, which he displays in one hand. Medusa had live, hissing snakes for hair, and anyone who looked at her face instantly turned to stone.
Medusa was the only one of the Gorgons who was mortal. She was killed by Perseus, who cut off her head. From the blood that spurted from her neck sprang Chrysaor and Pegasus (the winged horse), her two sons by the sea god Poseidon. The severed head was just as deadly and could turn anyone who looked at it into stone.
Why is Medusa killed? Medusa is killed because Perseus was ordered to bring King Polydectes her head. The hero had shown up to a party without a gift and was sent on the quest as a result.
As one of the Gorgon sisters, she was originally a golden-haired, fair maiden, beautiful and kind-natured. Medusa devoted herself to a life of celibacy in the name of her goddess, Athena. However, despite her origins of beauty, Medusa's name quickly became synonymous with malevolence, hatred, and monstrosity.
She was lovely, according to the poem—until she was raped in Athena's temple by Poseidon. Athena then punished her for this violation, by turning her into the monstrous, stony-glanced creature that we know. Yes: punished for being raped.
'guardian, protectress'), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair.
After a rebel militia led by Somali warlord and clan leader Mohamed Farrah Aidid ambushed a Pakistani peacekeeping team in June 1993, the UN representative in Somalia ordered Aidid's arrest. The U.S. Marines were assigned the job of capturing Aidid and his top lieutenants, leading to the ill-fated Battle of Mogadishu.
The Moral of Medusa
This myth is actually a warning to mortals. Don't believe yourself to be equal to the gods. Who was Medusa to reject the advances of Poseidon? A mortal should never do this.
Throughout history, Medusa got the bad reputation as a scornful, evil woman who turns people into stone with a mere glance. However, much like most women of ancient mythology, she was a victim of patriarchal societal norms.
In Ovid, Poseidon rapes Medusa in Athena's temple. In McMullan, Poseidon lures her there under false pretences with the end goal of making romantic advances. In both, Medusa is an innocent victim, and in both Athena is unconcerned with Medusa's lack of complicity and punishes her, not Poseidon.
As a Gorgon, Medusa has several magical powers, including the ability to turn anyone who looks into her eyes into stone. Medusa lived on an island called Sarpedon, hiding in a cave. Any mortals who entered the cave were doomed to be turned to stone when they looked upon Medusa's face.
Yet rather than blame Poseidon, Athena took out her wrath on Medusa and turned her into a creature so hideous that all those who gaze upon her turn to stone. Thus her story has come to be viewed as a classic tale of victim blaming.
In the end, Athena turned Medusa into a figure of horror, a Gorgon with venomous snakes instead of hair. Her face was so ugly that whoever looked at her turned into stone. Even after this cruel punishment, Athena was still not satisfied and decided to help Perseus in his quest for Medusa's head.
A famous Greek story tells the tale of a beautiful golden-haired lady called Medusa. Medusa was vain and selfish, which eventually got her into trouble with the powerful goddess Athena. As a punishment for her bad behaviour, Athena turned each of Medusa's beautiful golden locks of hair into a poisonous snake.
Poseidon was enamored by Medusa's beauty, and Medusa returned the same feelings. Medusa and Poseidon engaged in a love affair and would have two children together, but not before Athena discovered the illicit affair.
Medusa, in Greek mythology, the most famous of the monster figures known as Gorgons. She was usually represented as a winged female creature having a head of hair consisting of snakes; unlike the Gorgons, she was sometimes represented as very beautiful.
The Medusa we know was raped by Poseidon in the goddess Athena's temple. Athena then punished her for desecrating her sacred space by cursing Medusa with a head full of snakes and a gaze that turns men to stone.
Just as a person who has extra-acute hearing can be more easily overwhelmed by very loud noises, so too is Medusa particularly prone to psychic attacks. Her openness to others also leaves her open to attack. Medusa refers to this as a 'weakness.
From Renaissance times, Medusa's power and femininity has made her an enticing subject for Western artists. Her beheading is portrayed as an act of heroism, as in Alexander Runciman's Perseus and the Sleeping Medusa (1774).
The Tale of Medusa
Medusa knew she was beautiful and spent her days walking around her hometown of Athens, Greece talking about her beauty to anyone who would listen and admiring her reflection whenever she came upon it.