Medusa

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For other uses, see Medusa (disambiguation).

In Greek mythology, Medusa (Greek: Μέδουσα, Médousa, "guardian, protectress"<ref>The verb medein "to protect, rule over", has given the name of another dangerous protectress, Medea.</ref>), was a monstrous chthonic female character, essentially deduced from an apotropaic mask, whose gaze could turn onlookers to stone.

1 Medusa in classical mythology
2 Medusa in art and legend
3 Medusa as a sexual image
4 Medusa in popular culture
5 Notes
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Medusa in classical mythology

Some classical references multiply her<ref>"The triple form is not primitive, it is merely an instance of a general tendency... which makes of each woman goddess a trinity, which has given us the Horae, the Charites, the Semnai, and a host of other triple groups. It is immediately obvious that the Gorgons are not really three but one + two. The two unslain sisters are mere appendages due to custom; the real Gorgon is Medusa " (Harrison 1903:187).</ref> into three Gorgon sisters: Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale, monsters with goggling eyes, sharp protruding fangs and lolling tongues, brass hands, and hair of living, venomous snakes. The Gorgons were children of Phorcys and Ceto, or sometimes, Typhon and Echidna, in each case chthonic monsters from an archaic world. Their genealogy is shared with other sisters, the Graiae, as in Aeschylus' Prometheus Unbound, who places both trinities of sisters far off "on Kisthene's dreadful plain":

"Near them their sisters three, the Gorgons, winged

With snakes for hair— hated of mortal man—" Image:PerseusSignoriaStatue.jpg

While ancient Greek vase-painters and relief carvers imagined Medusa and her sisters as beings born of monstrous form, sculptors and vase-painters of the later fifth century began to envisage her as a being beautiful as well as terrifying. In a late version of the Medusa myth, related by the Roman poet Ovid, Medusa was originally a beautiful nymph, but while sleeping in the arms of her lover, the god Poseidon, the goddess Athena became insanely jealous and cursed her with terrible deformities. Athena changed Medusa's form to match that of her sister Gorgons as punishment. Medusa's hair turned into snakes, and meeting her gaze would turn all living creatures to stone.

In older versions, while Medusa was pregnant by Poseidon, she was beheaded in her sleep by the hero Perseus who was sent to fetch her head by King Polydectes of Seriphus. With help from Athena and Hermes, who supplied him with winged sandals, Hades' cap of invisibility, a sickle, and a mirrored shield, he accomplished his quest. The hero slew Medusa by looking at her reflection in the mirror instead of directly at her to prevent being turned into stone. When the hero severed Medusa's head, from her neck two offspring sprang forth: the winged horse Pegasus and the giant Chrysaor who later became the hero wielding the golden sword. Jane Ellen Harrison notes that "her potency only begins when her head is severed, and that potency resides in the head; she is in a word a mask with a body later appended ... the basis of the Gorgoneion is a cultus object, a ritual mask misunderstood." (Harrison 1922:187). In Odyssey xi, Homer does not specifically mention the Gorgon Medusa,

"lest for my daring Persephone the dread

From Hades should send up an awful monster's grizzly head"

in the translation of Jane Ellen Harrison, who notes "the Gorgon was made out of the terror, not the terror out of the Gorgon (Harrison 1922: 187, note 3).

Perseus then flew to the island of Atlas where he danced with the nymphs there. When Atlas awoke, he was angry at perseus, who forced the giant's gaze upon the head of Medusa. He turned into stone, freeing the nymphs who protect the golden apples. He then flew to his mother's island where she was about to wed the king. He cried out "Mother, shield your eyes," and everyone but his mother was turned into stone by the gaze of Medusa's head.

Then he gave the Gorgon's head to Athena, who placed it on her shield, the Aegis. Some say the goddess gave Medusa's magical blood to the physician Asclepius, some of which was a deadly poison and the other had the power to raise the dead.

[edit] Medusa in art and legend

Image:Rubens Medusa.jpeg

Medusa is a well-known mythological icon throughout the world, having been portrayed in works of art as well as popular media over the ages.

Examples of Medusa and the Perseus legend in the arts:

Medusa (oil on canvas) by Leonardo da Vinci;
Perseus with the Head of Medusa (bronze sculpture) by Benvenuto Cellini (1554);
Perseus with the Head of Medusa (marble sculpture) by Antonio Canova (1801);
Perseus (bronze sculpture) by Salvador Dalí;
Medusa (oil on canvas) by Arnold Böcklin
Medusa (oil on canvas) by Caravaggio.

[edit] Medusa as a sexual image

Camille Paglia, in Sexual Personae, has characterized Medusa as a sexual image. Paglia writes, "It is against the mother that men have erected their towering edifice of politics and sky-cult. She is Medusa, in whom Freud sees the castrating and castrated female pubes. But Medusa's snaky hair is also the writhing vegetable growth of nature. Her hideous grimace is men's fear of the laughter of women."

Others, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, have said that Medusa and her sisters were "at once ugly and beautiful"; that Medusa's face was "the fiercest and most horrible face that was ever seen or imagined, and yet with a strange, fearful, and savage kind of beauty in it".

The image of the salacious, voluptuous, wanton woman is common in literature, particularly in patriarchal societies. Examples include the Eris described in the film Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas; the Brides of Dracula; and Hidimbi of the Mahabharata.

[edit] Medusa in popular culture

Image:Medusa-ClashofTitans.jpg

Perseus encounters Medusa in a climactic sequence of the 1981 film Clash of the Titans.
Medusa is used as one of the many symbols of the haute couture house Versace.
Medusa is the name of a Marvel comics fictional character.
"Medusa" is a song by the thrash metal band Anthrax from their classic 1985 album Spreading the Disease.
"Medusa" is the name of the second solo album by Annie Lennox, released in 1995.
"Medusa" is a song by the American indie rock band Helium, from their 1995 album The Dirt of Luck.
"Medusa's Path" is a song by The Prodigy.
Medusa features in the title and lyrics of a song by black metal band Cradle of Filth called "Medusa and Hemlock".
Medusa is referenced in the song "The Eyes of Medusa" by the progressive metal band Symphony X; it is the sixth track on their third album, The Divine Wings of Tragedy.
Medusa appears as a character in numerous computer games, among them Heroes of Might and Magic II, Heroes of Might and Magic III, Phantasy Star I and the Castlevania series. In Castlevania, oddly, creatures known as Medusa Heads are extremely common.
The myth was updated and used as the basis of the Hammer horror film The Gorgon released in 1964. The character Magaera is clearly based on Medusa.
Medusa is the main antagonist in the Kid Icarus series of video games.
The name of the villainess from Disney's popular animated film, The Rescuers, is Madame Medusa.
Medusa is a new "Harbinger" in the Nightmare/Atmosfear series. She replaced Khufu in his version of the DVD Board Game, and it's presumed she will replace all other characters when they host.
Medusa is one of the villains in Airos Adventures, and recently, Medusa is the "Ex-nemisis" of Airos.