Gorgon Medusa - Know The Dark Truth Behind Medusa Of Greek Mythology.

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‘One Look In Her Eyes and You Will Be Petrified’

As someone who grew up listening to various mythologies, I was always amazed by the way they carry out each story. Greek Mythology has been one of my favourites since childhood. One of my all-time favourite anti-heroes is Medusa, the lady with snakes for hair. One look at her eyes and you’ll be petrified, that's how she is. She was portrayed as a crazy snake lady who was turning people into stones and was later stopped by Perseus. Later even after the head is cut off the body, Medusa’s eyes could still turn into stone but at Perseus’s will. 

While most of us know of this side of medusa and the story we knew about how cruel and a scary a woman she was, I stumbled across a video on how Medusa became the one we know and speak of today. By the end of that video, I felt really bad for Medusa and how such an important part of the story was left out while being passed down to us.

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We’ve all heard about what sort of a scary monster Medusa is, with all the snake for hair thing, and eyes that turn you to stone with just one look. We have been told countless times about the tale of Medusa and Perseus during our childhood fairytales and others, who defeated the Gorgon by severing her head and later kept her head in his possession. It sounds so heroic and a nice bedtime story.

But what we never think about is what history doesn’t teach us about Medusa and what if, instead of interpreting her as a monster who tormented people, we think about her in a new light and a new perspective. What we are rarely taught about is how Medusa was made to be the “Medusa” we know of today, the monster that was slain by Perseus. 

Priestess To The Goddess Of Athena

Medusa was one of the Gorgon sisters with unparalleled beauty. She was a blond-haired maiden, a beautiful, kind and sweet-natured woman. Being a woman of unrivalled beauty, all men and other beings wanted her to be theirs but she didn't bat an eye. She devoted her life to serving the Greek Goddess of Wisdom and war strategy, Athena. Despite her origins of beauty and being a kind-hearted woman, Medusa’s name quickly became a meaning of malevolence, hatred, monstrosity and a lot more.

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One requirement to be a priestess for Athena is that the young women should be a virgin and give their life to the goddess and never look for mortal pleasures. One day, Poseidon, the God of the Sea and rival to Athena, saw Medusa and was mesmerised by her beauty.

But Medusa being a loyal priestess to the Goddess rejected him politely saying that She was a priestess and is devoted to Athena. And what happened after that? She was brutally raped on the steps of Athena’s temple. She prayed and prayed and begged for forgiveness and guidance.

But what did she get in return? Cursed and abandoned by the goddess she loved and served. Medusa was sent to a faraway island and was cursed so that no man would want her or to even look at her. She was given cracked skin and madness. Her beautiful hair turned into her signature snake hair and stone-cold eyes. Medusa was now a monster woman who was feared and detested.

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Being cast out by her beloved goddess and cursed for something which she had no control over. Do you think anyone can be sane even after this kind of treatment?. After seeing this side of the story don’t you think that She was nothing but a broken pitiful woman whose life was misery?

It’s truly a tragic story. What's even more tragic is that history remembers Medusa as a cruel monster who killed people out of madness and not the victim that she was. Maybe this is fitting though, we don’t listen to victims now, much fewer hundreds of years ago, I don’t think so. Instead, people turn the victims into something or someone they’re not both physically and psychologically. And Medusa is One such Example.

Written By: _CB_Ryuu_