What was Medusa's mistake?

Medusa was once a beautiful but vain girl. She made the mistake of boasting that she was the most beautiful girl in the land, better looking than any goddess. The gods heard this and as punishment they turned her in to a Gorgon – a monster with snakes for hair.

What mistake did Medusa make?

It is in the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses that her story is most deeply elaborated. 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.

What is the problem in Medusa?

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. Anyone who locked gaze with Medusa was turned into stone.

What is the tragic story of Medusa?

Men came to her island only to chase her while trying to kill her. Eventually, her fear of her powers turned to anger, and she cursed the gods for ruining her life. In turn, Medusa took her revenge on all of the men that came to kill her. The only way he could free them was if Perseus, the son of Zeus, beheaded her.

Why did Medusa get cursed and not Poseidon?

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.

The Story of Medusa - Betrayed Priestess of Greek Mythology

Who made Medusa pregnant?

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

How did Poseidon get Medusa pregnant?

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.

What are 3 facts about Medusa?

What happens if Medusa looks in a mirror?

In Greek mythology, Medusa was viewed as a monster, and gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers into stone. Inspired by this myth, the artists in Medusa's Mirror address the able-bodied gaze upon the disabled subject – often viewed with fear, curiosity or wonder – by turning the gaze upon the viewer.

Was Medusa a victim or villain?

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.

Why did Athena get mad at Medusa?

According to Apollodorus' version of the myth, Athena was angry with Medusa because she had claimed to be more beautiful than the goddess. In both cases, however, the result was the same. In the end, Athena turned Medusa into a figure of horror, a Gorgon with venomous snakes instead of hair.

Why was Athena jealous of Medusa?

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.

Can Medusa turn females to stone?

Yes. When Perseus decapitated her head, her head was still active, meaning that her head could be used as a weapon, and could still turn people (and other creatures) into stone. The Gorgon sisters were Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale. Their gaze could turn anyone who looked at them to stone, regardless of gender.

What did Medusa do before she was cursed?

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.

Who slept 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 ...

What does Medusa symbolize?

According to The Met Museum, Medusa is portrayed in most Greek art as an "apotropaic symbol used to protect and ward off the negative," representing a "dangerous threat meant to deter other dangerous threats, an image of evil to repel evil." In modern tales of Gorgon though, she is a symbol of female rage.

Why Medusa is a female?

In Ovid's telling, she was once a beautiful maiden. But after Poseidon, the god of the sea, raped her in the temple of Athena, the goddess sought revenge for what she viewed as an act of defilement. Rather than punishing Poseidon, Athena transformed his victim, Medusa, into a hideous monster.

What did Medusa originally look like?

The earliest portrayals of Medusa show a grotesque part human, part animal creature with wings and boar-like tusks. By the fifth century BCE, that figure from Greek myth began to morph into an alluring seductress, shaped by the idealization of the body in Greek art.

Who were Medusa's two children?

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.

Who killed Medusa and why?

Because the gaze of Medusa turned all who looked at her to stone, Perseus guided himself by her reflection in a shield given him by Athena and beheaded Medusa as she slept. He then returned to Seriphus and rescued his mother by turning Polydectes and his supporters to stone at the sight of Medusa's head.

Were Hercules and Medusa lovers?

Hercules loves Medusa so much that he gave his last remaining link to his father to Circe for exchange for Circe making Medusa love him. The magic worked but it made Medusa nearly die. Hercules and Medusa Hercules worked hard to save her and eventually did thanks to Jason and Pythagoras.

How did Medusa died?

Medusa was asleep and Perseus, using the reflection in Athena's bronze shield as a guide (so as to not look directly at the Gorgons and be turned into stone), managed to cut off her head with his sickle.

What did Medusa do to her sisters?

In most myths, the sisters were introduced as being very beautiful. However, Medusa's beauty attracted Poseidon, who raped her in the temple of Athena. Athena blamed Medusa for the act and turned her into a monstrous being. Stheno and Euryale stood by their sister, and they also ended up transformed.

Was Medusa still beautiful?

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.

What did Medusa do to men?

And in the Greek mythology, one of the least appealing story I found, was that of Medusa, the crazy snake lady who turned people into stone until she was stopped by Perseus. Later she turned people into stone because Perseus told her to (if you've watched 'The Clash Of The Titans' you'll remember).