Why did Poseidon sleep with Medusa?

Before turning into the monster that she was, Medusa was a beautiful young woman. To her bad luck, she was beautiful enough to become Poseidon's object of desire. The god of the sea raped Medusa inside the temple of Athena, according to the Roman poet Ovid.

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Did Medusa sleep with Poseidon willingly?

In the origin as a Greek myth, Medusa is yet another simple monster, and was not raped by Poseidon, but willingly had an affair, and her becoming a gorgon was punishment for choosing to do this, defiling the Athenian temple by having sex in a blessed place, and defying her chastity vows.

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Why did Poseidon impregnate Medusa?

Ovid especially praises the glory of her hair, “most wonderful of all her charms.” The great sea god Poseidon seems to have shared this admiration, for once he couldn't resist the temptation and impregnated Medusa in a temple of Athena.

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Did Medusa get pregnant by Poseidon?

So, when Poseidon raped Medusa she became pregnant. When her head was chopped off by Perseus, her children came to be. Pegasus and Chrysaor sprung from the severed neck of Medusa. Pegasus is also one of the most famous characters in Greek mythology, the winged white horse.

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How did Poseidon impregnate Medusa?

Fact #1: Poseidon had Children with Medusa

Medusa was once a beautiful woman. Medusa was a maiden who served Athena in her temple. As Medusa was in Athena's temple, Poseidon raped her and impregnated her with two children.

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Medusa and Poseidon: The Curse of Athena - Greek Mythology - See U in History

39 related questions found

Did Poseidon cheat on Athena with Medusa?

Medusa and Poseidon engaged in a love affair and would have two children together, but not before Athena discovered the illicit affair. When Athena discovered the affair, she was enraged and immediately cursed Medusa by taking away her beauty.

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Was Medusa pregnant when she died?

Once he found her, Perseus went up and cut off Medusa's head while she was sleeping. However, when she was killed, Medusa was still pregnant from her liaison with Zeus.

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Who was Medusa pregnant with?

Since Medusa was the only one of the three Gorgons who was mortal, Perseus was able to slay her; he did so while looking at the reflection from the mirrored shield he received from Athena. During that time, Medusa was pregnant by Poseidon.

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How many kids did Medusa have with Poseidon?

Medusa was the only Gorgon who was mortal; hence her slayer, Perseus, was able to kill her by cutting off her head. From the blood that spurted from her neck sprang Chrysaor and Pegasus, her two sons by Poseidon.

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Did Zeus get Medusa pregnant?

According to ancient Greek mythology, in Medusa's early days, she was so beautiful she caught the interest of Zeus, the most powerful of all the Greek gods. Zeus impregnated Medusa in a temple of Athena, a powerful Greek goddess.

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Who is the goddess of virginity?

Greek goddesses virgin in the sense of sexual abstinence by an adult woman were Hestia, Artemis, and Athena.

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Why did Athena choose to be a virgin?

One of the reasons she became a virgin was to avoid having a fate similar to her mother, Metis. Even though she is a virgin goddess, Athena has demigod children, who are born from her own thoughts combined with the thoughts of mortal men she loves. These children are "gifts" to the men she favors.

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Why was Athena jealous of Medusa and Poseidon?

In fact, Athena was jealous of Medusa's beauty and lustrous hair. Poseidon ravaged her and took what she held dearly, her purity. Athena, outraged by this incident, cursed Medusa and turned her wonderful hair into venomous snakes, her beautiful face turned so ugly that any man who gazed upon would turn to stone.

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Is Medusa a victim or villain?

The myth of Medusa carries with it a plethora of issues. Yes, she was a monster, but she was also a victim. Garbati's work is a reminder that monsters are not always villains, and that the characterisation of good or evil is often complex.

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Is Athena in love with Poseidon?

Athena's feelings about Poseidon are not really discussed, though they are clearly rivals. Athena and Poseidon entered into a contest to be the patron of Athens. Poseidon produces a spring of water but it was salty. Athena bested Poseidon by producing an olive tree on the Acropolis.

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Who tried to seduce Medusa?

The snake-haired Medusa does not become widespread until the first century B.C. The Roman author Ovid describes the mortal Medusa as a beautiful maiden seduced by Poseidon in a temple of Athena. Such a sacrilege attracted the goddess' wrath, and she punished Medusa by turning her hair to snakes.

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Was Medusa assaulted by Poseidon?

Medusa had to swear to an eternal vow of chastity and be recognized as a symbol of purity. Along comes the god of the sea – Poseidon who rapes Medusa in Athena's temple – the Parthenon. In doing this Medusa is no longer eligible to serve the goddess or legitimately marry.

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How many girlfriends did Poseidon have?

Some estimates put the count at well over a hundred, with the lovers being mostly but not exclusively female. In some cases, ancient authorities differ, so the exact lineage and relationships remain open to debate.

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What is the sad story of Medusa?

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.

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Was Medusa forced to marry Poseidon?

He also happened to be an enemy of Athena. So, to spite his foe, he decided to rape her priestess right inside her temple – humiliating the priestess, and breaking the vow of celibacy she had taken in service to Athena. The Gods took their lovers as life partners, and that's how Medusa came to be Poseidon's wife.

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Why did Athena punish Medusa?

Medusa. 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. Then, a heroic Perseus severed the serpent-headed Medusa, turning her into a trophy.

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Why did Medusa give birth to a horse?

In classical Greek mythology, Perseus killed the snake-headed Medusa to save the princess Andromeda from a nasty sea monster. A few drops of Medusa's blood fell into the sea. When it mixed with the foam, it gave birth to Pegasus, who later played a part in the story of another hero, Bellerophon.

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What did Poseidon do after seeing Medusa?

Poseidon (Neptune), god of the sea, also noticed the girl – Medusa – and decided she would be his. Fleeing from him, Medusa came to the temple of Athena (Minerva), goddess of wisdom. Poseidon captured Medusa in the temple and violated her.

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Who sleeps with Medusa?

The 8th-century BCE poet Hesiod describes how Poseidon had sex with Medusa in a soft spring meadow, and Ovid (43 BCE to 17 CE), the Roman poet some 700 years later, relates how Medusa was violated in a shrine to Minerva (the Roman equivalent of Athena) by Neptune (the Roman equivalent of Poseidon), and how, in ...

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Was Aphrodite jealous of Medusa?

Years before the original film, Aphrodite grew jealous of her priestess Medusa, fearing her to be more beautiful than her. Further infuriated when Medusa and Poseidon did away in her own temple, Aphrodite cursed Medusa into becoming a hideous Gorgan while also turning her beautiful hair locks into snakes.

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