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 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.
Medusa is generally described as a woman with living snakes in place of hair; her appearance was so hideous that anyone who looked upon her was turned to stone. Medusa and her Gorgon sisters Euryale and Stheno were usually described as daughters of Phorcys and Ceto; of the three, only Medusa was mortal.
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.
While many famous gorgons are female depictions, gorgons could be both genders, but could also be female only, since they are mythological creatures. However, https://allaboutdragons.com/dragons/Gorgon states that there was ONE male gorgon in the writings, said to be a guard of Zeus.
Medusa was a young priestess who served Athena, and had taken a vow of chastity to honour the maiden goddess she served. There was one more God, God of Sea, Poseidon. When he looked upon her, he fell in love with her beauty but medusa was very loyal to Athena and didn't saw at Poseidon in that way.
She is also the only virgin goddess. Part of the requirements of being a priestess to Athena would have included Medusa promising to remain chaste while in service.
A medusa tattoo is often interpreted as representing strength, power, and female empowerment. More specifically, some people get a medusa tattoo to indicate that they are a survivor of sexual violence and to symbolize their own empowerment. Content warning: This topic contains discussion of sexual assault.
Medusa then becomes an apotropaic symbol warding off evil, similar to the evil eye. She is imagined more often as an object or a monster than as a human.
When Medusa had an affair with the sea god Poseidon, Athena punished her. She turned Medusa into a hideous hag, making her hair into writhing snakes and her skin was turned a greenish hue.
Controversy persists over whether Medusa, in her transformed state, actively sought to harm others or was, in fact, attempting to shield them from her lethal power. Some interpretations depict her as a tragic figure doing her best to conceal her eyes, protecting others from the peril she poses.
She has the perfect smile that many women envy. The Goddess of wisdom, Athena, is jealous of Medusa's beauty. Because of this, she summons Perseus, the son of the god Zeus and the mortal Danae, for a mission. The mission seems simple enough: to behead the monster that is Medusa.
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.
In the myth of Medusa, she was punished by Athena for being raped by Poseidon in one of Athena's temples. Medusa was transformed into a Gorgon, a monster with snakes for hair, and her gaze could turn people to stone. However, Poseidon, who was the perpetrator of the act, was not punished for his role in the incident.
In Greek mythology, Medusa's original name before she was cursed was not explicitly mentioned in most classical texts. According to some interpretations and retellings, she was a beautiful mortal woman, sometimes referred to as Gorgo, who caught the eye of the sea god Poseidon.
Athena bested Poseidon by producing an olive tree on the Acropolis. Poseidon also raped Medusa—a mortal who had the reputation of being beautiful—in Athena's temple, desecrating it. Athena could not do anything to her uncle, so she took vengeance on Medusa by turning her into a woman with snakes on her head.
So says Homer in the Iliad. Throughout antiquity, there was a fascination with the tale of how Zeus, king of the gods, fell in love with a human boy. The scene of Zeus swooping down from Olympus to steal away Ganymede, known as 'The Rape of Ganymede', appeared on pottery, frescoes, statues and mosaics.
Nerites is said to have loved Poseidon and it's due to this mutual love that Anteros (reciprocated love) was born according to one version of their myth. They still had a significant age gap though with Nerites being called a youth. Similarily Apollo's male lovers all seemed to have returned his feelings.
Persephone doesn't exhibit the classic blind faith in Hades typical of Stockholm syndrome: when Hades cheats on her, she cruelly punishes his lover, turning her (Minthe) into a plant, hence the mint plant.
Medusa as an example of Female Sexuality in both Ancient and Present times. The myth of Medusa has been viewed through two distinct lenses from the classical period in Greece to present day; the lense of the male gaze and that of early feminism.
Using Athena's bronze shield as a mirror turns Medusa into a mirror image of Athena – the Looking Glass image, or the opposite. Athena is consciousness (the mind, thought); Medusa is the unconscious (instinct, feeling, body).
