Medusa, guardian of the caves, the Gorgon queen, reigning supreme not by might, nor
by power, but by wits, by wisdom, by charm and beauty.
The most famous gorgon in all of greek mythology, Medusa is seen in many different lights.
To some, she was a terror of nature, a hideous creature with glaring eyes, evil, dreadful
and terrifying, with hatred for mortal man.
And to some, she was a victim of ill fate, the one who was both a monster and a beauty,
the fairest of the gorgons.
Medusa was the daughter of Phorcys, the old man of the sea, and Ceto, the monster goddess
of the deep. and the sister to Stheno, Euryale, the graeae, the hesperides, scylla, Ladon,
and thoosa.
She was the youngest of the three gorgons.
According to early myths, Medusa was born a monster, deadly and hateful, hideous in
appearance, the most terrifying of her sisters, with hair of living snakes, hands and claws
of bronze, boar tusks as fangs, the lower body of a snake, and a gaze so piercing that
it turned people to stones.
While according to later poets like Ovid and Pindar, Medusa was not born a gorgon, but
was very different from her monstrous sisters, and family.
In these myths, She was born a fair maiden, and not a monster, lovely to behold, and not
frightful, greatly atttractive, and not repulsive.
With hair of golden locks, a face so charming, and eyes which sparkled like stars, she was
a ravishing beauty, the desire of many suitors.
A common detail shared by these various myths though, was that, Alas!
Medusa was a mere mortal, the only one amongst her sisters who was not gifted with immortality.
Thus, she could killed by the weapons of man.
The fair Medusa was once the servant of Athena, serving in the temple of the virgin goddess.
Wherever she went, she was admired for her beauty, praised for her pretty looks.
Soon, the showers of praises began to get to her head, and Medusa gradually became boastful,
likening herself to athena, comparing her beauty to that of the goddess.
She came believed her hair was prettier, and her face was lovelier.
One day, her golden locks, caught the attention of the sea god Poseidon, who immediately lusted
after her.
At the coming of dusk, Poseidon queitly crept into the temple and seduced Medusa, mating
with her in the sacred temple, defiling her in front of the virgin goddess's statue.
When dawn came, Athena appeared before Medusa, ready to unleash her wrath.
The lord of the seas was blameless, and could not be punished, so Athena directed her anger
towards her defiled servant, the mortal Medusa.
She turned Medusa's golden hair into poisonous snakes, and made her face so terrible to behold
that the mere sight of it would turn anyone into stones.
Medusa became uglier than her sisters, doomed to hide her ugliness, away from the world,
for the rest of her days.
While in some stories, even as a gorgon, Medusa remained beautiful.
Even as a monster, her charms could still not be resisted, tempting men to meet her
gaze, and luring them to their deaths.
In another version of the myth, Medusa's sisters, Stheno and Eutyale, were also once beautiful
maidens, and served alongside her in the temple of Athena.
After turning Medusa into a gorgon, as punishment for being defiled, and being boastful, the
goddess also turned Stheno and Euryale into Gorgons, for standing with their sister.
Medusa became pregnant with poseidon's children, after the incident at the temple.
The gorgon would later be slain by the the hero, Perseus, and from her headless body,
the winged Pegasus, and the giant, Chrysaor, would be born.