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Before, her hair was a
writhing nest of snakes
and her eyes had the power to petrify,
Medusa was a young woman who
worshipped at the temple of Athena,
the goddess of wisdom and war.
But all the while, as Medusa tended
to Athena’s shrine,
Poseidon, god of the seas and horses,
was watching her.
And one night, he crept into the temple
as Medusa prayed,
and assaulted her.
Athena reacted swiftly
to the desecration of her shrine.
But instead of punishing Poseidon,
she focused her wrath on Medusa.
The young woman felt her body transform
until she was a monstrous Gorgon,
her face framed by coils
of hissing snakes.
No man could freely look upon her again,
for if they met her eyes,
they'd instantly turn to stone.
Medusa sought refuge in a hidden cave
inhabited by the world’s two other
Gorgons, Stheno and Euryale.
However, unlike Stheno and Euryale,
who could never die,
Medusa remained mortal.
Time passed and would-be heroes
journeyed to the cave
to make their names by murdering Medusa—
but fell to her gaze every time.
This was the way of things until another
young man, named Perseus,
began his quest for glory—
Medusa his intended trophy.
Perseus was born of the mortal
princess Danae
after Zeus impregnated her
in the form of golden rain.
However, Danae’s father had
received a prophecy
foretelling that her son would kill him,
so he locked Danae and Perseus
in a chest and threw it into the sea.
Safeguarded by the gods, they survived.
But the king of their new land,
Polydektes, lusted after Danae.
She tried turning King Polydektes
away to no avail,
and Perseus grew protective.
To distract Perseus, Polydektes feigned
that he’d finally given up on Danae
and would be wedding another.
When Perseus offered Polydektes
whatever wedding gift he desired,
Polydektes saw the opportunity
to be rid of Perseus,
and suggested that he prove his manhood
by fetching a Gorgon's head.
Perseus accepted the foolhardy mission,
gathered a crew,
and set sail towards Graeae,
three ancient sisters.
They shared a single eye and tooth
and harbored numerous secrets.
As one sister passed their eye to another,
Perseus grabbed it and forced them
to reveal the locations
of the nymphs of the River Styx
and the cave of the Gorgons.
With the nymphs’ help,
he obtained Hermes’ winged sandals,
Hades’ cap of invisibility,
and a special satchel.
And he accepted a gleaming sickle
from Hermes,
and a shield that shone like a mirror
from Athena herself,
the goddess who'd cursed Medusa
with her monstrous form to begin with.
Then, one night, Perseus approached
and Medusa fell asleep.
Perseus entered, crept towards
the Gorgons’ slumbering forms,
guiding his way with the reflections
on Athena’s shield.
When he came upon Medusa
resting peacefully,
he bore his sword down upon her neck.
From the wound sprung Medusa
and Poseidon’s hybrid offspring:
a winged horse named Pegasus
and a warrior called Chrysaor.
As Perseus stuffed
Medusa's head in his satchel,
Stheno and Euryale awoke
to the horrific scene and attacked.
But donning the cap of invisibility
and winged sandals,
Perseus escaped unscathed,
reached only by Euryale’s pained cry
of despair echoing through the cave.
Perseus was met by his crew’s adulation.
And because death had failed to dim
the power of Medusa’s gaze,
Perseus used her severed head
to kill Polydektes,
then gave it to Athena,
who placed it on her shield.
But Athena’s wasn’t the only shield
emblazoned with Medusa’s face.
Ancient Greek and Roman artists
committed Medusa’s image to everything
from armor and paintings
to ceramics and mosaic floors.
And while it was customary for ancient
Greek subjects to appear in profile,
Medusa was almost always facing
directly outwards.
She was an apotropaic symbol, one that
imbued both fear and protection at once.
Her story reverberated through time.
In many versions, including the earliest,
she was always a Gorgon;
in others, like the ancient Roman
poet Ovid’s,
she had a sympathetic, human backstory—
as a woman who’d experienced
cruelty and injustice,
not just a simple monster to slay.
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