Who is Medusa?
Medusa is the youngest of the three Gorgon sisters, monsters of Greek mythology. Instead of hair, countless living snakes grow from her head, and anyone gazed at by her terrible eyes is instantly turned to stone. Of the three sisters, the elder two, Stheno and Euryale, were immortal, but only Medusa was mortal.
Was she once a beautiful maiden?
In the version told later by the Roman poet Ovid, Medusa was originally a maiden with beautiful hair, but after uniting with the sea god Poseidon in the temple of the goddess Athena, she incurred the goddess’s wrath, and her hair was turned into snakes.
Perseus slays the monster
The hero Perseus used gifts from the gods, winged sandals, a helmet of invisibility and a highly polished shield, and to avoid looking directly into Medusa’s eyes, approached her by watching her reflection in the shield and cut off her head. From Medusa’s blood, the winged horse Pegasus and Chrysaor, a giant with a golden sword, are said to have been born.
Perseus later used Medusa’s head to turn a sea monster to stone and rescue Princess Andromeda. Finally, the head was given to the goddess Athena and placed on her shield (the aegis).
Medusa as a charm against evil
In ancient Greece, Medusa’s face, the “gorgoneion,” was depicted on shields, buildings, coins and more as a charm to keep evil away. Today it is even used in the logo of an Italian luxury brand. The power to “turn whoever sees it to stone” is, along with the Chimera, a staple of game monsters.
