I don't think there's a more iconic figure in Greek mythology than Medusa and in most cases it's not because of her story or her character but because of her appearance if you ask someone who knows next to nothing about mythology who Medusa is it's likely they'll tell you it's that snake haired woman who can turn people into stone the most viewed video on this channel is the story of Medusa as told by the Roman poet Ovid looking back now it's not a video I'm particularly pleased with because it doesn't really tell the whole story and
it also gives the wrong impression to those not willing to look any deeper so today I'll combine everything I've discussed in the past regarding Medusa hopefully into one coherent video as we take a look at the many faces behind Greek mythology's most iconic monster [Music] [Music] before we begin you need to forget everything you think you know Medusa was not a woman transformed into a Gorgon at least not to begin with what's important to note is that the Gorgon has appeared all throughout Greek mythology potentially stretching as far back as 6,000 BC so their appearance
and meaning has gone through several changes the first mention of snake head women comes from the Erinyes or the Furies these three were in charge of punishing men who had committed the unspeakable crimes on earth they were depicted as ugly winged the women who had poisonous serpents entwined around their arms their waist and more importantly their hair the renews may not have been considered Gorgon but they were very similar in terms of appearance to the very first Gorgon the very first Gorgon is referred to as the elder Gorgon who by some was considered Medusa's father
whilst others equated this image to another figure known as Gorgo the daughter of the Titan the Helios just by looking at Gorgo it is pretty hard to tell if it's a male or a female these early depictions aren't seductive women with snake hair they had beards tasks and curly hair which may have been where the transition into snakes started from Gorgo would eventually be killed by Zeus during the Titanomachy at this point in time the Gorgons had no real paribus and medusa certainly wasn't mentioned by name these bearded women continued appearing until they were established
as the protectors of Oracle's their appearance slightly changed however they now had scales for skin sharp claws wings and locks of hair entwined with snakes a mix between the arenas and a harpy we then begin to hear about the Gorgons and literature around the 8th century BC with Homer's Iliad here Homer refers to the aegis which was a shield commonly associated with Zeus and Athena in crusted of the head of a Gorgon the protective figure of the auricles now also featured in myths around Zeus and Athena it's also not that strange for many cultures to
ward off evil of something even more terrifying before Homer's Iliad that all we had recorded about Gorgons came from pottery and sculptures so the eighth century BC onwards marks when the Gorgons began to develop as characters and in terms of story in homers next piece the Odyssey the Gorgon is mentioned once again but this time as an awful monster by the way it's written it appears Homer believed there was only one Gorgon the 7th century BC is where the story starts to become more familiar in his Theogony Hesiod states that there are three Gorgons the
daughters of the primordial sea deities Seto and four seas this is also one of the first times they're mentioned by name steno the mighty uhreally of the wide sea and medusa the queen of these three sisters Medusa is the only one described as mortal but it's unclear if she was mortal as in she looked different from her sisters or mortal as in she would age sculptures and vases of this time would suggest all three were seen having a monstrous form in 490 BC the poet pindarus referred to medusa as fair-cheeked Medusa several hundred years on
from homer and hesiod 'he's work medusa unlike her sisters began to be shown as beautiful as well as terrifying as more poets mentioned medusa and the Gorgons they were established as not only having serpents for hair but also a stare that could turn anyone into stone now I'm sure what most people have been waiting for is the story that involves Medusa Poseidon and Athena because that's the most dramatized version Hesiod does briefly mentioned some kind of seduction between Poseidon and Medusa when he says they laid together in a field of spring flowers but most of
the time this is pretty much just ignored when overed published his metamorphosis in the 8th century AD he spoke about over 200 different myths and stories one of the most popular of course being the story of Medusa there are 3 things that are important to note about Ovid 1 many of these stories are much more dramatized than the poets and historians who came before him - he wasn't the gods biggest fan and so whenever he had the chance to paint them in a negative light he took it and three he was Roman this is important
because the Romans did view some gods in a different light - the Greeks Athena and Ares been good examples unlike those who came before him over it was one of the first to describe Medusa as completely human a young maiden without the physical traits of her sisters in this interpretation Poseidon attempts to seduce Medusa and when she rejects his advances she flees into one of Athena's temples he follows her inside and then has his way with her anyway which is probably the best way I can describe it without being demonetised Athena see in these events
unfold was angered that her temple had been defiled in this manner she then punished Medusa by transforming her into a snake head monster any man who looked at her from that day on would be turned into stone and if that wasn't enough she was then sent into exile the next time she appears as in the story of Perseus who needed to retrieve her head in order to defeat the sea monster Cetus with help from the gods Perseus decapitate smih deucey and from her neck sprung her to children the winged steed Pegasus and the golden giant
cry saw Athena's curse prevented her from having these children and the father was of course Poseidon the main issue of OVAs version is it's the only one that claims of this interaction between Medusa and person it also paints Athena in a light that we never see from any other Greek poet Poseidon or Neptune's actions are not out of the norm for him but here there are mentions of Athena being jealous of Medusa's beauty as well as being Petty and fairly irrational which is something we see again in Ovid story involving Athena and Arachne it's pretty
clear over doesn't like Athena or in this case Minerva which does make sense considering the Romans valued Mars or Ares over Minerva and Athena everything prior to Ovid story points towards Athena being one of if not the most level-headed rational and respected deities in the Greek pantheon which honestly at times isn't very difficult but she still was I guess you could say as somewhat of a retaliation to Ovid story the Greeks adapted the ending athena instead transformers Medusa into a Gorgon as a way of protecting herself she couldn't continuously watch over her so as a
Gorgon no man could ever harm her again there are some stories from Greek sources where Athena did punish Medusa in one of these Medusa compared her beauty to the gods and we all know how hubris goes in this case the transformation was to teach her a lesson if you're going to disrespect others based on your own beauty especially the gods they can easily take it away you also have variations of this story where Medusa slept with Poseidon in Athena's temple for her own personal gain so again the punishment here makes more sense it's no coincidence
that the original Medusa video blew up shortly after high-profile cases of sexual assault were thrust into the mainstream media I honestly don't know if people genuinely believed Medusa's case was more than a fictional story or whether the idea of a woman being sexually assaulted and then blamed is something that resonated all those who had been through a similar experience either way I'm not here to tell you that you're wrong if Ovid version is the story that you most relate to but if the only thing you take away is that Medusa was a victim treated unfairly
then you miss out on so much if you go by Ovid version then even in her own story Medusa has no importance there's nothing really positive to take away from this story and that does belittle what she in the gorgon have symbolized throughout history the Gorgon born Medusa we mentioned earlier was a symbol of protection her face appeared on amulets known as the gorgonian which kept away evil spirits in later years her face was even painted on the front of women's shelters to let them know these were places where they could feel safe even in
death her head was used by Perseus to defeat Cetus and save Andromeda after Medusa's death Athena took her head and placed it on the ages the ultimate sign of protection and power the reason I wanted to title this video within many phases of Medusa is not only because her change in appearance literally means she has many different faces but because there are many different science to her she isn't just a victim she's a monster a villain a maiden a mother a symbol of protection and a source of hope all rolled into one there aren't many
characters in Greek mythology that can be interpreted in so many different ways and elicits so many different emotions and none of them are wrong it just comes down to which one you prefer and what you choose to take from it if you have enjoyed the opening artwork and animation for this video they were created by the very talented mando Teresa if you would like to see the process behind creating these Gorgon paintings I'll leave a link to her video and YouTube channel along with her other socials so you guys can head over there and show
her the appreciation she deserves as always I've been your host mythology and fiction explained you you
