When Perseus was born, Acrisius couldn't bring himself to kill him, so he had Perseus and Danae sent out to sea in a wooden chest. That wasn't enough to keep Zeus away, though, and he visited Danae as a shower of gold and impregnated her. Danae's father, King Acrisius of Argos, had heard from an oracle that any child she had would kill him, so he had Danae locked in a tower. Perseus was the son of Danae, a mortal princess, and Zeus (who really got around). In perhaps the most famous Medusa story, Medusa is killed by the ancient Greek hero and demigod Perseus. The powers of the Gorgons were well known, and people viewed them as terrifying monsters to be avoided at all costs. Between those two events, she retreated to an island called Sarpedon with her sisters, where they lived in a large cave. The two best-known stories of Medusa are her being cursed and how her death came about. Asclepius, the ancient Greek god of medicine, was the deity able to properly separate the blood after Medusa's death. In that story, the blood from the left side of her body has the power to kill, and the blood from the right side of her body has the power to return people from the dead. One Medusa story also states that her blood had additional powerful properties. The blood from Medusa's head seeped through the bag he was carrying it in and left many drops of blood across the country, which, legend has it, is why Libya has so many snakes. When the hero Perseus (we'll get to him later) carried Medusa's head after killing her, he traveled across much of Libya. After Medusa's head was severed, drops of her blood that fell to the ground were transformed into venomous snakes. According to most other stories, this was a power Medusa's two Gorgon sisters already had, so together the three became a terrifying trio (although Medusa remained the only Gorgon who was mortal). From then on, every person who looked at her face was turned to stone. In some stories Medusa incurred Athena's wrath by bragging about her beauty but, either way, it was a steep price for Medusa to pay. After her curse, Medusa is often described as having huge fanged teeth, a snake-like tongue, clawed hands, a hideous face, and hair made of writhing snakes. This unholy act in the temple of a virgin goddess so enraged Athena that she put a curse on Medusa to rid her of her beauty. Zeus impregnated Medusa in a temple of Athena, a powerful Greek goddess. But why was Medusa cursed, and who cursed Medusa?Īccording to ancient Greek mythology, in Medusa's early days, she was so beautiful she caught the interest of Zeus, the most powerful of all the Greek gods. Medusa began life as a beautiful human, albeit one with monstrous parents and sisters. Medusa is not mentioned by name in perhaps the most famous ancient Greek story, Homer's The Odyssey. In golden ringlets wav'd, and graceful shone." Yet above all, her length of hair, they own, They, who have seen her, own, they ne'er did trace Here's a quote from his Metamorphoses, written around 8 AD:
Ovid mentioned that, before she was cursed, Medusa's hair was particularly beautiful and she was very proud of it. Later on, Medusa was also written about by the ancient Roman poets Ovid and Virgil who expanded on her story and origins more. The earliest known mention of Medusa occurred in Theogony, an epic poem written by the ancient Greek poet Hesiod sometime around 700 BC. Medusa, the youngest of the Gorgon sisters, was the only one of them who wasn't immortal, as well as the only one who began life as a great beauty. The other two Gorgons were named Stheno and Euryale, and their parents were the sea gods Ceto and Phorcys. She was one of the Gorgons: three sisters with human bodies, large wings, and hair made of living snakes. Who is Medusa? Medusa was a character from ancient Greek mythology known for her terrifying ability to turn people to stone. But who is Medusa really? How did she come to be so terrifying, and who killed Medusa in the end? The Medusa story is one of the most popular and enduring of all ancient Greek myths, and here we explain Medusa's entire life (and after death) story.
You've probably heard of Medusa and know that she's the woman with snakes for hair.