Osvarhele Guerrero November 26, 2011

The Great Medusa

Overview
Medusa was one of the most well known feminine figures of Greek mythology. As the daughter of Phorcys and Ceto, she represents many things, including death, the maternal sexuality, femininity, and nihilism. The views of Medusa changed over the ages, and transformed from a more basic concept to something that's much more modern and identifies to today's society, and the problems we face, especially the problems that women often are confronted by. While her appearance hasn't changed much, her meaning and life story has, and what she represents can be interpreted in many different ways, depending on one's point of view. Medusa was both a mystery and a powerful figure. Despite living in a rather confined space, Medusa was the master of her own domain. Anyone who dared defy her or even stare at her, would be met with an instant death. Her body was that of a Gorgon, a mythical female creature of dreadful appearance. The name itself can be roughly translated to mean "dreadful", and these creatures have appeared many times before, including in early Homer texts. They were used both as terrifying figures to represent evil deeds, and as protectors, to keep out bad influences, and as such many buildings had gorgons painted or sculpted on the side. Gorgons had real, venomous snakes as hair, and they could turn onlookers to stone. Medusa herself came in one of the later legends, and her name can mean "guardian". She was one of three sisters, along with Stheno and Euryale, children of gods, and while monsters they were nevertheless beautiful female figures, with horrifying

faces for those they considered enemies. Medusa was also the only mortal Gorgon out of the three sisters. Some later scholars say that actually Medusa was born as a normal human being, and was later transformed into a Gorgon, with a face so terrible no one could look at her without being turned to stone.

Life and Death

Little is known about her life, instead most of the writings focus on her birth and death. Some say she was in love with Poseidon, the God of the sea, and that's why she was turned into a Gorgon by Athena. Others, such as African mythology, say she was a figure of female wisdom, providing healing and help to women all across the land. Overall, her image is used more as a symbol than anything else, and instead of focusing on her life story, most scholars focus on what she represents. Many think she's the image of castration, with Sigmund Freud writing that she was "the supreme talisman who provides the image of castration (associated in the child's mind with the discovery of maternal sexuality) and its denial." More recently, many associate her image with the concept of feminism, as a powerful, strong woman who can make others bend down to her will. She can also represent the inner terrors that a woman can have, and the demons everyone must face. Romantic nihilism is also associated with her, where looking straight at Medusa can turn you into stone, just like facing reality can be meaningless. De Casseres wrote that "the profoundest instinct in man is to war against the truth; that is, against the Real." Regardless of how her image is interpreted, her death is fairly well known at the hand of Perseus, who beheaded her by order of King Polydectes. As ruler of Seriphos, the legend says that he wanted to marry Danae, the mother of Perseus. However, Perseus was very protective of his mother, and did not want her to marry Polydectes. The King then came up with a plot to get rid of Perseus, by claiming he wanted to instead marry Hippodamia, and ordered every man in

the land to bring him gifts. Since Perseus was poor, he could not bring anything, and instead the King told him that the best gift of all would be the head of Medusa. Perseus agreed and went off to face the monster. He survived her gaze thanks to his shield, which he used as a mirror so he would not be turned into stone. Before defeating her, a great battle between the two took place. As she was well familiar with her own home, she often possessed great confidence. It is said that this is mainly how many past soldiers had died at her hands. Medusa would often attempt to trick her victims by catching them off guard. Thankfully, however, Perseus was much more agile; not necessarily from a physical stand point, but rather mentally. Of course, having the blood of a warrior also helped in his victory as well. When he returned, the King wouldn't believe that he accomplished the deed, so Perseus lay down the head, and by looking into the Gorgon's eyes, the King and all the nobles turned to stone. In one of the most surprising twists of the story, apparently Medusa was pregnant from Poseidon, and when she was killed, the winged horse Pegasus sprang from her body. Some African texts say that Perseus tricked the titan Atlas and got Medusa to turn him into stone, by flying past him with his shield when fighting Medusa. After the deed was done, he gave the head of the Gorgon to Athena. The Goddess then placed the head on her shield, as a warning to all who would oppose her. Some say she was behind the whole plot, by initially having witnessed her relation with Poseidon. However, to this day this information cannot be entirely confirmed. While Medusa's life was shrouded with secrets, her death was the subject of many different interpretations, but always came back to being beheaded and having her head be an instrument of vengeance against King Polydectes. In a way, she proved useful both in life and death, in different ways.

Impact
Overall, the story of Medusa is one of the central female myth of Ancient Greek, and is riped with deceit, murder and revenge. It's a story of mythical proportion, where even the strongest could be brought down to nothing but a stone statue by a simple look, which can tell much about the hidden power of women. It's no surprise that her appearance and powers were used by so many societies and for different purposes. Both a beautiful figure and a horrific, unspeakable monster, Medusa provided food for thought to many of the world's greatest philosophers, along with the basis for many other stories that came out of it. Without her, few would know of Gorgons, and her story reached every part of the world, although in slightly different ways. Today, the story of Medusa is well known throughout the world. Ever since televisions and film came to be, endless stories have been told through many visual styles. For those who are not particularly fond of reading or Greek mythology in general, such films have been able to capture their minds and heart nevertheless. The future of Medusas life will forever remain uncertain, as new developments (or myths) continue to develop all across the globe. This enables everyone to interpret their own versions of the story, and as a result even bring to life new chapters. All in all, Medusa will forever live thanks to the never-ending theories and speculations surrounding her life and eventual death.