On an eerie night, all the way in the ancient world of Greece, an impossible task was asked of Perseus, the son of Zeus. Perseus was asked to behead the dreadful monster of Medusa. He was asked to do this impossible task because everyone knew how dangerous and terrifying Medusa was. Therefore, Polydectes asked Perseus to carry out this mission because he wanted Perseus gone.1
There was no doubt about how dangerous the gorgon Medusa was, and all of Greece believed that whoever got close to her would turn to stone. Perseus’ mission was expected to be a failure due to these dangerous conditions. Medusa had a deadly power of turning those who looked into her eyes to stone. When Perseus was asked to behead her, Polydectes and the other gods didn’t believe Perseus could make it out with Medusa’s head and not be turned to stone. However, Perseus succeeded in his mission and beheaded the dreadful gorgon Medusa. The Greeks were ecstatic that this nightmare of a woman was dead and that the wonderful demi-god Perseus had Medusa’s fatal power in his hands. After this, Perseus used Medusa’s head to turn many into stone and it kept the people of Greece in fear of Medusa even after she was dead.2 However, Medusa was not always the feared monster that everyone knew her to be.
Before Medusa was known as a terrifying monster, she was a beautiful maiden who was very kind and pious. Medusa was the daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. Phorcys was a sea god and Ceto was the goddess of sea monsters. Ceto gave birth to all three of the gorgons; Sthenno, Euryale, and Medusa. Medusa was the only one of the gorgons who was mortal, while the other two were immortal. Medusa was a beautiful young woman who was a priestess for the goddess of wisdom and war, Athena. Medusa was a very good priestess, as she made a vow to the goddess that she would swear her life to celibacy and servitude. However, while Medusa was praising and serving Athena, she caught eye of the god Poseidon. What caught his attention most were the gorgeous, golden locks of hair Medusa had. Because Poseidon took such a liking to Medusa, he charmed her and swayed her off her feet. The two were caught having a love affair in Athena’s temple. Once Athena found out about this affair, her jealousy raged and she became furious! She then decided to put a nasty curse on Medusa for breaking her promise of celibacy. This curse turned Medusa’s beautiful locks into venomous snakes and made it so that whenever someone looked at Medusa, they would turn to stone.3
This curse completely turned Medusa’s life around. Once given this curse, Medusa fled her home, never to return. On her journeys, she was shunned, feared, and loathed by all she encountered. These awful experiences turned Medusa’s kind, pious personality into one that matched her new appearance. It’s a shame the goddess Athena had the power to turn Medusa’s entire life around; however, Medusa was not just a feared monster to the ancient Greeks. Medusa’s severed head eventually became a symbol that scared away evil. Many warriors used the symbol of Medusa’s head on shields and breastplates during battle to aid them in winning. Other than aiding in battle, the symbol of Medusa is also seen on ancient coins from Greece that are now ancient artifacts.4 Although Medusa came to be hated by all, she was still an important part of the culture and became a key symbol in ancient Greece.
- Stephen R. Wilk, Medusa: Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008): 20. ↵
- Carolyn Springer, “Medusa The Reader,” Women’s Art Journal 28, no. 1 (2007): 63-64. ↵
- Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender, 2007, s.v. “Medusa,” by Paolo Fasoli. ↵
- G. K. Jenkins, “Some ancient coins of Libya,” Libyan Studies 5, no. 1 (March 2015): 29-35. ↵
103 comments
Patricia Arechiga
I never really saw nor thought about the ‘background’ behind Medusa and her actions. I have always portrayed her as simply an evil woman, which too has been influenced by the way media and movies portray her. It is crazy how jealousy and fear of competition can lead to causing evil upon others, even if that means ruining someone else life for the rest of their lives. I found her story extremely interesting and makes me question other ‘evil’ monsters within Greek mythology.
Cynthia Perez
I almost feel bad for Medusa, her entire life changed because of one misfortune. However maybe Poseidon and Medusa were differently portrayed. There are others who will claim that Poseidon was the one in the wrong and he should’ve got punished. Maybe Medusa was the victim rather than the villain because she was treated in the most unjust way out of assumptions, but who can really say. Athena must’ve been really convinced or just irrationally sickened by the idea to do that to her, really great article and story in mythology that is always fun to reflect on.
Kimberly Parker
When I was a kid and my parents told me about Medusa and how she turned people to stone, I was so scared. But as a grew up, and now reading this article, it seems to me that everyone wanted to portray her as an evil person. But the article seems to give her more humanity, telling us about how kind and devout she was before being transformed by Athena because Athena felt the need to punish her instead of the man. And although the more common side of the story is that Athena “cursed” Medusa as a punishment, I believe the one where Athena turned Medusa’s hair into snakes on purpose to help protect her. Because on that side of the story, it is said that Poseidon raped Medusa but everyone believed his version where Medusa and he had an affair because she was beautiful to him, while Athena believed Medusa when she told her she’d been raped. In this version, Athena not only wanted to protect Medusa against Poseidon but those who believed his version of the story. What people fail to realize, is that there is always two sides to every story, so they shouldn’t be quick to pick a side when they haven’t heard both sides.
Jesus Parker
Always heard of Medussa but never knew much about her though, only that she can turn people into stone and had snakes for hair. A very informative read about Medussa’s origin. Many people know of Medussa but not nearly as many know about her story which I can now be apart of that specific group thanks to this article.
Analisa Cervantes
As a child, the Greek legends always seemed to make Medusa an evil person. Hearing this story gives her more humanity. It shows another side of her personality. I never knew she was a priestess to Athena before her curse. I also did not know she made a vow celibacy. This article gives me more insight to Medusa than most mythological books.
John Estrada
A common misconception was immediately cleared up at the beginning of the article. Most people believe Perseus was Poseidon’s son because of the Lightning Thief novel/movie; but the article clears up that in reality, Perseus is the son of Zeus. Kudos. I vaguely knew of Medus curse from Athena, not enough to recall that it was the cause of a love affair. Knowing now, it seems rather morbid to curse Medusa by creating a monster that would kill innocent onlookers, rather than harm her directly. Greek gods often have strange choices, it’s unfortunate Athena made that choice, leading to many harmless men and woman being turned to stone.
Trinity Casillas
I get that she was seen as bad and scary by many of the Greeks but to scare people after death seems pretty powerful and cool. Isn’t it strange how still today if a girl catches her significant other cheating she will more often than not get mad at the woman and not her partner like Athena did. It’s also funny how despite Athena’s attempt to ruin her that after death her character turned iconic.
Emmanuel Ewuzie
The power and status of the Greek mythical gods is unfair to everybody else because they are invincible. They face no consequences or judgment and only others suffer. Poseidon could have left Medusa alone and respected her celibacy but instead he pounced on her. He swooned her. But instead of him getting punished, Medusa did which was wrong in my eyes as I view her as a victim to the vices of Poseidon.
Kristina Tijerina
I like that this article portrays Medusa to be a woman who was not always bad. When we think of Medusa, we automatically think of her as a monstrous woman who turned people to stone, but we never think of how she was before she was cursed. Her curse from Athena was extremely cruel for a broken promise. I think that all the people who wanted her dead are crazy for wanting that, because she was a regular person beforehand. Medusa just had unfortunate luck. I think her promise for celibacy and servitude was not ideal, and she shouldn’t have made it. However, she made it and the curse from Athena led to her unfortunate decapitation. She did become a symbol that scares away evil though, so that’s interesting.
Roberto Rodriguez
I (like many others) have always had a liking toward ancient mythological stories and I suspect that it all derives from the amazing feats of heroes and the otherworldly monsters. Medusa is always a classic monster that has seen many variations in movies and literature. Through all of the different variations I have seen I do not think I have ever known her backstory and just exactly how she became a monster. I have always kind of just assumed that she was originally made as a monster, it never really occurred to me that she might have been transformed into one. This article is a great short summary of the tragic story of the monster Medusa as well as the innocent origins of the maiden Medusa.