Medusa is truly ubiquitous—she is represented not only in architecture and pottery, but also in metalwork. Her head is a common ornament on the handles of bronze vessels The circular shape and protective qualities of her countenance also lend themselves to jewelry; she appears on earrings, pendants, and rings The Gorgon is also reproduced on armor. More commonly, the gorgoneion is the central motif on the aegis of Athena.
Depictions of the goddess in both vase painting The most renowned sculpture of Athena, the gold and ivory Athena Parthenos that once stood in the Parthenon, included two gorgoneia: one on her aegis and one on her shield. The presence of Medusa on armor reinforces the idea that her presence held significant power to protect the wearer against enemies.
The gorgoneion is not the only artistic representation of Medusa; she is also shown in scenes illustrating the adventures of Perseus. A monumental example of this type is the central decoration of the early sixth-century B. Temple of Artemis on Corfu, though interestingly this depiction leaves out Perseus and the beheading. Other scenes display the moment before the killing. A metope from Temple C at Selinunte depicts such a tableau and includes Athena, who stands by the hero to guide him.
In later illustrations from the fifth century B. Here is a rare instance of a nonfrontal, nonstaring Medusa; in sleep, the threat of her power is canceled. Indeed, she is portrayed as a peacefully sleeping human figure—only her wings suggest that she is a supernatural creature. Some scenes include the other Gorgons, Stheno and Euryale, pursuing Perseus after he has beheaded Medusa.
One example, on an early seventh-century B. The Gorgons are often represented in this running pose, known as knielauf , on pottery The legends of the Gorgons cast them as foreign others living outside of the known Greek world and horrific beings to be feared and ultimately vanquished.
Archaic depictions are monstrous and inexplicable—the Gorgon seems to be both male and female, both human and animal. The sixth-century B. Classical and Hellenistic images of Medusa are more human, but she retains a sense of the unknown through specific supernatural details such as wings and snakes.
These later images may have lost the gaping mouth, sharp teeth, and beard, but they preserve the most striking quality of the Gorgon: the piercing and unflinching outward gaze. Her very presence is foreign, dangerous, and potent, as are her specific characteristics.
In the Odyssey , her head was kept in Hades to drive the living from the world of the dead. The Perseus myth provides us with the phenomenon that her face and gaze could turn men to stone. One plausible explanation, according to Zimmerman, is that Zeus offers this as a small act of mercy toward Lamia, who is unable to stop envisioning her dead children. Zimmerman posits that Lamia represents a deep-seated fear about the threats women pose to children in their societally prescribed roles as primary caregivers.
If a woman rejects motherhood, expresses ambivalence about motherhood, loves her child too much or loves them too little, all of these acts are perceived as violations, albeit to varying degrees.
Like most mythical monsters, Medusa meets her end at the hands of a male hero. Perseus manages to kill her, but only with the aid of a slew of overpowered tools: winged sandals from messenger god Hermes; a cap of invisibility from the god of the underworld, Hades; and a mirror-like shield from the goddess of wisdom and war, Athena. He needed all the reinforcement he could muster.
As one of the Gorgons , a trio of winged women with venomous snakes for hair, Medusa ranked among the most feared, powerful monsters to dominate early Greek mythology. In some versions of their origin story, the sisters descended from Gaia , the personification of Earth herself. Anyone who looked them in the face would turn to stone. Of the three, Medusa was the only mortal Gorgon.
But after Poseidon, the god of the sea, raped her in the temple of Athena, the goddess sought revenge for what she viewed as an act of defilement. Rather than punishing Poseidon, Athena transformed his victim, Medusa, into a hideous monster. This curse consumed Medusa and fueled her hatred for mortals. Medusa is just one of the prominent figures of feminism whose backstory is often left in the dark.
For me, it was in my own home—at 5 years old. The trauma never left me and took me years to even accept it, but here I am, fearlessly writing about it because of all the other women who came forward when HijaAko trended on Twitter a few months ago. Teach people not to rape. Rape culture is real. She admired herself in her darkened window for an hour each evening as she got ready for bed. She even stopped to admire herself in the well each afternoon as she drew water for her father's horses -- often forgetting to fetch the water in her distraction.
On and on Medusa went about her beauty to anyone and everyone who stopped long enough to hear her -- until one day when she made her first visit to the Parthenon with her friends. The Parthenon was the largest temple to the goddess Athena in all the land. It was decorated with amazing sculptures and paintings. Everyone, that is, except Medusa. When Medusa saw the sculptures, she whispered that she would have made a much better subject for the sculptor than Athena had.
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