This week’s mythological figures are monstrous creatures called Gorgons. The Gorgons were so ugly that anyone who looked at them would turn to stone. Medusa and her two sisters made up the Gorgons of Greekmythology. Gorgons had hair that was a mass of writhing snakes, and they had terrifying faces with wicked eyes and hideous grins that revealed protruding fangs. The three sisters were also said to have golden wings and bronze hands.
According to most ancient sources, the Gorgons were daughters of the sea god Phorcys and his sister Ceto, a sea monster. The daughters were given the names Medusa (meaning queen or ruler), Stheno (strength), and Euryale (wide-leaping). Medusa was the most famous of the Gorgons. But, unlike her sisters, Medusa did not always have a frightening appearance. She was beautiful in her youth, and she boasted about her good looks and beautiful hair to the goddess Athena. In a fit of rage, the jealous Athena changed Medusa into a horrible-looking creature with a terrible curse: all who gazed upon Medusa (and her sisters) faced certain death.
Medusa’s sisters were immortal, but she was not. Medusa could be killed by an assailant who managed to avoid looking directly at her creepy face. With Athena’s help, the hero Perseus killed Medusa. He cut off her head while gazing at her reflection in his shield. It is said that upon her death, the blood dripping from Medusa’s head turned to slithering, poisonous snakes, and the mythical winged horse Pegasus sprang from Medusa’s bloated body. Athena took some of Medusa’s blood and gave it to Asclepius, the god of healing. Blood from the right side of Medusa’s body had the power to revive the dead. But blood from her left side was poisonous and killed instantly. One had to choose wisely.
During battles, the ancient Greeks often displayed images of a Gorgon’s head on their armor to frighten their enemies. They also wore charms with images of Gorgon heads to protect them from evil spells.
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No, the traditional depiction of Medusa does not associate her with being a black gorgon/goddess or a queen in the Libyan Empire. In Greek mythology, Medusa is one of the three Gorgon sisters, creatures with snakes for hair and the ability to turn people to stone with their gaze.
With Athena's help, the hero Perseus killed Medusa. He cut off her head while gazing at her reflection in his shield. It is said that upon her death, the blood dripping from Medusa's head turned to slithering, poisonous snakes, and the mythical winged horse Pegasus sprang from Medusa's bloated body.
Stheno and her sisters were not born Gorgons. Poseidon had raped Medusa in the temple of Athena, which made Athena jealous because she was a virgin goddess. Athena turned Medusa into a Gorgon and Stheno and Euryale, who were with Medusa, also got transformed into Gorgons.
Perseus, in Greek mythology, the slayer of the Gorgon Medusa and the rescuer of Andromeda from a sea monster. Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danaë, the daughter of Acrisius of Argos.
As the waves lapped at the bag, Medusa's blood seeped into the water, turning soft green seaweed into hard, blood-red coral whose shape echoed its snake-haired mother. Born of the blood of a monster, coral is said to protect against evil influences.
In classical Greek mythology, Perseus killed the snake-headed Medusa to save the princess Andromeda from a nasty sea monster. A few drops of Medusa's blood fell into the sea. When it mixed with the foam, it gave birth to Pegasus, who later played a part in the story of another hero, Bellerophon.
Appearance. Euryale is a morbidly obese Gorgon with green scales and wrinkles (caused by her large stomach). She has bright yellow eyes and razor sharp teeth. She is about 18ft tall, making her the second biggest gorgon in the God of War series, after Stheno.
The sisters of Medusa were and are immortal. They could not be killed, which is the only reason they could live with her without being turned to stone. In legend, they had wings, talons, and and venomous snakes for hair, and they didn't sleep, like Medusa, which was how she was killed.
In a late version of the Medusa myth, by the Roman poet Ovid, Medusa was originally a beautiful maiden, but when Neptune (the Roman equivalent of the Greek Poseidon) mated with her in Minerva's temple (Minerva being the Roman equivalent of the Greek Athena), Minerva punished Medusa by transforming her beautiful hair ...
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. Pegasus is also one of the most famous characters in Greek mythology, the winged white horse.
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.
Curiously, in many Greek myths Medusa is described as being mortal, while her two sisters Stheno and Euryale are immortal and entirely indestructible. Stheno, in particular was said to be the deadliest of the three, killing more men alone than the other two sisters combined.
The earliest version of Medusa's death is from Hesiod's Theogony, which details her decapitation and describes her children Pegasus, the winged horse, and the great Chrysaor, who sprung from her neck.
While they were checking on the Gods, their younger sister Medusa was raped by Poseidon, and was then cursed Athena. Enraged, Stheno and Euryale went after Athena, but with their weaker magic, it was easy for Athena to curse them as well.
Introduction: My name is Dr. Pierre Goyette, I am a enchanting, powerful, jolly, rich, graceful, colorful, zany person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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