Gorgon Medusa
Another one of those mythical creatures again!
The Gorgon sisters were said to be three very pretty women who lived at the ends of the world beyond the oceans. Gorgon Medusa was a beautiful nymph, with rosy cheeks and lovely hair. She was wooed by many men and envied by many women, including some goddesses. The sea god Poseidon desired her so much it drove him into raping her in the Goddess Athena’s temple. Athena so upset to find this, she turned Gorgon Medusa into the monster she later was, as revenge.
Instead of hair on the head, she later had snakes and her pretty face look so awful that any man who looks at her is turned to stone.
She was turned into a monster because she was raped by the god Poseidon. Isn’t it unfair? And she was later killed by Perseus who was ordered to take back Medusa’s head in order to save his mother. She was beheaded with the help of goddess Athena. At the time of her death, she was pregnant to Poseidon, and from the blood that spilt from her sprang her offspring, the flying horse known as Pegasus.
September 15, 2007 at 12:22 pm
ey… thats soo sad… n unfair……. ekam greek myths varah reethi dho? 😀
September 15, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Hmmmm, didnt know abt the rape part before. oooooooh. so thats how she changed into the medusa that we all knew
September 15, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Greeks myths dhoa, its very nice……keep up!
September 15, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Medusa..my favourite charater in DOTA!! (WarCraft) 😉
September 15, 2007 at 2:55 pm
yeah i like all of this
i always had interest in these stuff but never got to read them
nice post
September 16, 2007 at 1:41 am
salhi!
September 16, 2007 at 3:43 pm
i love greek myths..
n its salhi dho
n sooo unfair
humpphhh
nways kewl 1
September 17, 2007 at 1:48 am
R u sure about the rape. From what i heard they made love there and that got the curse on them. Might be wrong, but thats how i heard the story to be. Yeah, it is fascinating.
September 17, 2007 at 1:24 pm
greek mythology…one of my favourites…*sigh*
September 17, 2007 at 4:27 pm
haadha roadha gelley kalala foto ekeyy.. ehhe happy ramadhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan
September 17, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Nice!!!
September 17, 2007 at 8:49 pm
white flower – yea v luring dho stories
kaiza shozey – yeap yeap
[mode] – asluves.. my fav stories
nass – she sure is a gr8 character
.mini – u shud.. they’re really interesting
DarkAngel – 🙂
lil girl – heheh… true true… thnx
hinithun – yea i read one abt them makin luv.. but most ppl write it as rape… 😀 it is fascinating
odium – mine too *sighs*
eythimeethi – baila baila.. pis pis.. happy ramadhan to u too
clone-x – thanks 🙂
September 18, 2007 at 2:30 pm
check out my last 2 posts. im sure ull find it really interesting. 😉
September 19, 2007 at 11:02 am
good one finifenma!! i wish i had snake hair!! 😀 it’ll be so kewl!! 😀 i can picture it noW!! 😀
September 19, 2007 at 4:18 pm
wow..!!o_O what great locks Gorgon Medusa has..!! Creepy.. like the Davy Jones beard ..!!
September 25, 2007 at 7:20 pm
elooo!!! =P i m a fan of these myths.. they are kewl arent they? =D
btw… wat was that you also got a chick? ^o) i didnt quite get that… anyways… nice blog and i LOVE this post (Y)
happy posting and fasting =P
January 26, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I LOVE this image of Gorgon Medusa! It’s beautiful. Do you know the artist or image source or where I may be able to find more of their artwork? Thanks!
March 17, 2008 at 2:24 pm
what i have read is that she was raped but also from another source that the just made love in spite of athena beating poseidon in a fight for the people of athens. athena made an olive tree poseidon made water spurt out (unfortunately it was salt) so many atories many sides we may never know
ash
March 17, 2008 at 2:25 pm
i love greek myths and the pic is kwl
and to think a creature like pegasus came out of that…….
March 20, 2008 at 10:31 pm
She wasn’t raped, stupid. They were supposedly having an affair.
May 11, 2008 at 3:16 am
Man, medusa was the mortal gorgon yeah anw….
but really she wasn’t raped
August 5, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Different translations of the Greek Myth (I would say original, but of course the original Medusa is far older…and nicer LOL) have led to differnet interpretations. It could be that a Classical Greek word could mean both ‘made Love’ or ‘rape’
original tale from Ovid, Metamorphoses book 4:1181-95
from Thomas More translation
Beyond all others she
was famed for beauty, and the envious hope
of many suitors. Words would fail to tell
the glory of her hair, most wonderful
of all her charms–A friend declared to me
he saw its lovely splendour. Fame declares
the Sovereign of the Sea attained her love
in chaste Minerva’s temple. While enraged
she turned her head away and held her shield
before her eyes. To punish that great crime
Minerva changed the Gorgon’s splendid hair
to serpents horrible. And now to strike
her foes with fear, she wears upon her breast
those awful vipers–creatures of her rage.
from Dryden translation
Medusa once had charms; to gain her love
A rival crowd of envious lovers strove.
They, who have seen her, own, they ne’er did trace
More moving features in a sweeter face.
Yet above all, her length of hair, they own,
In golden ringlets wav’d, and graceful shone.
Her Neptune saw, and with such beauties fir’d,
Resolv’d to compass, what his soul desir’d.
In chaste Minerva’s fane, he, lustful, stay’d,
And seiz’d, and rifled the young, blushing maid.
The bashful Goddess turn’d her eyes away,
Nor durst such bold impurity survey;
But on the ravish’d virgin vengeance takes,
Her shining hair is chang’d to hissing snakes.
These in her Aegis Pallas joys to bear,
The hissing snakes her foes more sure ensnare,
Than they did lovers once, when shining hair.
from Mandelbaum translation
Medusa was astonishingly fair;
she was desired and contended for –
so many jealous suitors hoped to win her.
Her form was graced by many splendors, yet
there was no other beauty she possessed
that cold surpass the splendor of her hair –
and this I learned from one who said he’d seen her.
Her beauty led the Ruler of the Sea
To rape her in Minerva’s sanctuary
(so goes the tale). Jove’s daughter turned aside
chaste eyes: the goddess hid her face behind
her aegis – but she made Medusa pay:
she changed that Gorgon’s hair to horrid snakes.
And to this day, Minerva, to dismay
and terrify her foes, wears on her breast
the very snakes that she herself had set –
as punishment – upon Medusa’s head.
from Humphries translation
She was a very lovely one, the hope of many
An envious suitor, and of all her beauties
Her hair most beautiful – at least I heard so
From one who claimed he had seen her. One day Neptune
Found her and raped her, in Minerva’s temple,
And the goddess turned away, and hid her eyes
Behind her shield, and punishing the outrage
As it deserved, she changed her hair to serpents,
And even now, to frighten evil doers,
She carries on her breastplate metal vipers
To serve as awful warning of her vengeance.
I hope this helps in clearing up whether she was raped or not
All the best
L
August 12, 2008 at 11:34 pm
Yes, according to Greek myth, Medusa was punished for being raped. However, most of the “Classical” Greek myths we learn were written after patriarchal cultures tried to take over those cultures who revered goddesses and treated women with respect. In short, no original myth would ever have pitted two women against each other (Athena vs. Medusa) or punished someone for not being strong enough to fight off an attacker.
In direct opposition to the unfairness of the Medusa myth, Helene Cixous wrote a brilliant essay entitled “Laugh of the Medusa” which you might find interesting.
Love the blog!