Medusa (mythology) (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain who Medusa was in Greek mythology and how she was represented. Also, its myth and how it can be interpreted.

Who was Medusa?

In Greek mythology, Medusa It was a monstrous female creature, capable of turning into stone anyone who looked directly into its eyes. It was a chthonic being (that is, linked to the depths and the underworld) and the most famous of the gorgons (Medusa, Stheno and Euryale), creatures fathered by Phorcis and Ceto in some versions, or by Typhon and Echidna in others. Of the gorgons, Medusa was the only mortal one.

Medusa was described and represented in Ancient Greece as a monster with a woman's face (often shown sticking out her tongue) and snakes for hair sometimes winged and with other animal features.

According to the mythological story, the monster was beheaded by the mythical hero Perseus, who then used his head to defeat his enemies. For this reason, the image of His severed head was used as a symbol of protection and defense against evil (called gorgoneion), at the entrance to temples and palaces, on banners and flags.

The myth of Medusa is perhaps one of the most popular and has been most versioned and represented in Greek mythology, in addition to being studied from a symbolic and psychoanalytic point of view.

According to scholars of classical Greek culture, such as Robert Graves, The origin of this myth could be located in the confrontation between the Greeks and the Carians in the Mediterranean since in the colonies of the latter there was a lunar cult whose priestesses wore masks similar to the description of the appearance of the gorgons. Other theories point to an encounter with the matriarchal religion of the Berbers in the north of present-day Libya.

The myth of Medusa

The origin of Medusa in Greek mythology is uncertain. The poet Hesiod (c. 700 BC) mentions it for the first time in his Theogonywhere she explains the origin of the cosmos and the gods of the Greeks, and there she says that Poseidon slept with her “in a soft meadow, among spring flowers.” She is also described by Pindar (around 490 BC) as “she with beautiful cheeks.”

In any case, the best-known version of the myth comes from the Roman Ovid and his famous narrative poem The metamorphoses (culminated in 8 AD), where it is described as a beautiful maiden and priestess of the temple of Athena whose beauty won her numerous suitors. Among them was the terrible god of the seas, Poseidon, who kidnapped and raped her, and left her pregnant.

Thus stripped of its purity, Medusa was then punished by Athena furious at the desecration of her temple. The goddess He transformed her hair into snakes and made those who looked at her face turn into stone.

Medusa and Perseus

Medusa lived with her sisters in a cave in the last place where the night went. Over there The hero Perseus, grandson of Zeus and son of Danae, went to look for her by order of King Polydectes. The latter wanted Perseus's mother as his wife, but the hero did not approve of the union, so the king sent him to bring him the head of Medusa as a wedding gift, in order to get him off his back.

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Perseus, however, received help from different gods. Among them, Athena gave him a bronze mirror so perfectly polished that it served as a mirror, so he could observe Medusa's reflection and thus not turn into stone; and also Hades' famous invisibility helmet, with which he could later escape.

In this way, the hero infiltrated the monster's cave and with an accurate slash He cut off Medusa's head he kept it in a sack and, becoming invisible, he hurriedly escaped the revenge of the gorgons. From the blood spilled by Medusa were born the giant Chrysaor and the winged horse, Pegasus.

Armed with the head of the monster, Perseus undertook different adventures: He turned the titan Atlas, who supported the celestial vault, into stone, rescued Princess Andromeda from the sea monster Cetis, and finally took revenge on King Polydectes. Finally, the hero gave the severed head of Medusa to Athena herself, who thereafter placed it on her shield, as a protective emblem.

Interpretations of the myth

medusa myth-mythology — Medusa was unjustly punished, as she had been a victim of Poseidon.

The myth of Medusa has received numerous interpretations and readings over the centuries. Some see the myth the narrative representation of female punishment and the dominance of the patriarchal order since Medusa is a woman raped and then punished by a virginal goddess, as if it were her fault for having been violated.

In other senses, the myth is understood from the severed head of the monster, which serves the hero to fulfill his destiny, which means that The keys to future success lie in life's difficulties and challenges of the individual.