Cellini’s 1554 bronze statue depicts a triumphant Perseus standing on top of her body, her severed head held aloft. It’s through this male-centered hero narrative that Medusa became shorthand for monstrosity.īy the Renaissance, that mystique gave way to fearsome difference. After using the petrifying gaze to defeat his enemies in battle, Perseus gives the Gorgon’s head to Athena, who displays it on the aegis of her shield. Using a reflective bronze shield to protect his eyes, Perseus decapitates Medusa, releasing a winged horse, Pegasus, from her severed neck. The demigod is sent by Polydectes, the king of Seriphos, on a quest to bring back the head of Medusa. Popular retellings of the myth, however, focus on what happens next-and Perseus the starring role. Furious at the desecration of her temple, Athena transformed Medusa into a monster with the deadly capacity to turn whoever looked upon her face to stone. Her beauty caught the eye of the sea god Poseidon, who proceeded to rape her in the sacred temple of Athena. According to Ovid, Medusa was once a beautiful young maiden, the only mortal of three sisters known as the Gorgons. The first to properly explore her origin story in literature was the Roman poet Ovid, who detailed her transformation in the Metamorphoses circa 8 A.D. Early vases and carvings depict her as having been born a Gorgon, but that slowly changed. In the ancient world, Medusa was equally multidimensional. There she sits, long-locked, encircled by a ring of Greek keys. Even the House of Versace found inspiration in the Gorgon, placing the beautiful (pre-curse) version at the heart of its iconic logo. For the past two decades, the character has continually resurfaced in cinema mostly in an alluring form: Natalia Vodianova lent serious supermodel power to the 2010 remake of Clash of the Titans, while Uma Thurman cut a particularly seductive figure in Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. No female character, however, is perhaps as popular as Medusa, the monster who could turn men to stone with a single glance.įrom a tight-suited villain in The Powerpuff Girls to a scathing metaphor for UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in UB40’s hit song “Madam Medusa,” the myth of Medusa endures in contemporary pop culture. Tales of gods, Titans, and giants fill children’s fairy tales, while a variety of mythological monsters have captivated viewers on the big screen. Together, they might have the strength to overcome, and to embrace the divine.Since the days of early Western civilization, when myths were forged in fire and stone, society has been fascinated with the ancient Greek imagination.
The other woman's deity won't allow her to become her true self.
One woman's deity cursed her for being true to herself. What she doesn't know is that a creature from legend, a myth come to life - Medusa herself - has been hiding in plain sight, and they are about to come face-to-face. Her religiously-conservative husband, however, is not, and Chloe flees the abuse that quickly follows. In modern New York City, Chloe finally embraces her true self: After years of repressing it, she's willing to admit her own bisexual nature.
He intends her for Himself, and His obsession will change the course of her life for millennia. Little does she know that a sex-crazed God has been lusting after her for decades. Fascinated by the newly-created humans, she leaves home to see it all for herself, the farms, the cities, and the temples. At the dawn of creation, the girl Medusa lives with her family on the Eastern Edge of the World, but she yearns for more. Cursed by Athena for the crime of being raped, she was destined to be slain by Perseus. Medusa: The monster from legend, with snakes for hair and a gaze that turns humans to stone.
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