Medusa’s head, sculpted into a wall in Didyma, Turkey. |
Medusa
Snake-haired gorgon who turned men to stone
Medusa was a Gorgon – a terrifyingly ugly snake-haired monster. She was the only one of the three sisters who was mortal.
Whilst early painters and sculptors represented Medusa as wholly frightening, later artists portrayed her as both beautiful and horrific. The mythic combination of allure and repulsion have psychosexual connotations that subsequent authors and artists have found compelling.
According to Ovid, Medusa was once a beautiful nymph, but she had sex with/ was raped by Poseidon in Athena’s temple. The virgin goddess, furious at the desecration, made Medusa as ugly as her sisters, and gave her the power of petrification to ensure that she would never again be intimate with a man.
The beheading
The hero Perseus was sent on a quest to behead Medusa. Helped by Hermes and Athena, Perseus acquired a pair of winged sandals, the cape of Hades, a mirrored shield, a sickle and a satchel. The sandals enabled him to fly and the cape conferred invisibility on its wearer. Looking only at Medusa’s reflection in the mirrored shield, the invisible Perseus flew to Medusa, severed her head with the sickle, and placed it in the satchel.
Medusa had been pregnant by Poseidon, and when her head was cut off her sons – Pegasus, the winged horse and the giant Crysaor – flew forth from her body.
Still powerful after death
Medusa’s head continued to petrify (turn to stone) those who looked upon it, even after the Gorgon’s death.
Returning from his quest, Perseus sought shelter with Atlas. When the giant refused, Perseus turned him into stone by showing him Medusa’s head. This explains why the range of mountains in north-west Africa are known as the Atlas mountains.
As Athena had helped Perseus to kill the gorgon, he presented her with Medusa’s head. She wore the severed head upon her aegis (breastplate) for protection.