Medusa The Goddess

Medusa The Goddess

 Young Medusa

Medusa was a beautiful young maiden who had a magnificent head of long enticing Blondie hair, in her time. She was desired and courted by many suitors.
Yet before she could be betrothed to a husband, Poseidon the God of the Seas, found her worshiping in the temple of Athena and ravished her in the sacred temple-
Basically soon say she was raped inside the temple well praying.

The Goddess Athena was so outraged at the fact that her sacred temple had been violated, so she punished poor Medusa who was actually the one who was violated inside the sacred temple. So when the Goddesses Athena punished Medusa by turning her beautiful blonde tresses into snakes and giving her the destructive power to turn anyone who would look upon her directly in the eyes to stone. One wonders why Athena did punish Medusa so harshly when it was the God Poseidon of the Seas, that was the one that did the violation on her sacred temple.
There are many different views to this story in the Greek mythology of the Gods.

In both Greek and Roman Mythology -The God Perseus attempts to rescue his mother Danae from the

Coercive King Polydectes, who was the dangerous venture of retrieving Medusa's head. With the help of Athena and Hermes magic winged sandals, a cap, a poach and a mirror like shield. Perseus fought Medusa's off with these items and help of Athena. He was able to behead Medusa by viewing her image in the mirror of his shield  rather than looking at her directly. From her decapitated head Perseus sprang with the winged horsed Pegasus and the giant Chrysaor who became King of Iberia.
Medusa sisters, the Gorgons chased after him but were unable to catch him because of his magic cap, that made him invisible too.

Perus was then able to use the Medusa's head as a weapon

during other battles but he eventually, returned the Medusas head to the Goddess Athena who then placed it at the center of her Aegis as a symbol of her power and her own capacity to turn her enemies into stone.
Historically before ancient Greece, Medusa was worshipped by the Libyan Amazons as a Serpent-Goddess and associated with the destroyer Anath of the Triple Goddess in the North Africa Crete. The name Medusa means "Sovereign Femalewisdom".
Medusa is also a Triple Goddess in the Northern  Africa and Crete Greece.
Some scholars believe that the Greeks and the Romans, Medusa Myth, expresses the vanquishing of the great Goddess Medusa religions as the Male Gods Zeus - Jupiter and Poseidon. And Neptune gained the power over her faith.

Others view it as an expression of the subjugation of women's bodies and enslavement of their spirit by a violent  and oppressive male-
Oriental culture which Medusa's life giving creative primal energy as threatening...
"Beyond all others she was in the beauty and the envious hope of many suitors. Words would fail to tell the glory of her hair, most wonderful of all her charms - A friend declared to me he saw its lovely splendor."

Mythology of Medusa in Greek Mythology-
The stories of Medusa are often contradictory. Was Medusa a victim or a villain? Was she always ugly or was once beautiful? How did someone with the body of a dragon and a head of a snake become known as the "Guardian or Protectorates"? Just what was her role in the early Greek Myths? These are some of the questions that I will try to answer...

The Name Medusa-
First appeared in the early religious history when the goddesses represented birth and earth. It was a time before the advent of Male Gods. There are references to a Medusa among the Libyan Amazon. She was known then as the "Serpent Goddess".  Those who study Greek Mythology believes the goddess was transplanted into Greek tales at a later  date. All tales seem to agree that she was a Gorgon-a-terrible-monster.

Other Stories of the Goddess Medusa- 
The story of Medusa as a world renowned is beauty says she offended Athena, the beautiful Goddess. One myth says that Medusa lived in the far north and had never seen the sun. She asked permission of Athena to come south. When Athena denied Medusa's request, she angrily accused Athena of being jealous of her beauty. Enraged, Athena the Goddess not only removed her beauty,but even worst made her so ugly that all people, but mostly especially men would turn to stone just by looking upon her face-
A different story also reports that Medusa's beauty was so stunning that many men would court her, but she became a priestess in Athena sacred Temple.[which I never understood if she really did enjoy the attentions of men] Her golden hair and her beauty attracted the lustful eyes of the great God Poseidon. They coupled in Athena's Temple, a terrible violation of a sacred place. Stories differ as to whether he raped Medusa or she enticed him first. Either way she got pregnant. And when The goddess Athena learned of what happened she flew into a rage and cursed the poor beautiful Medusa, even though it was not all her fault. The curse was snakes for hair, a body of a dragon and a face so ugly that no man would dare look upon her ever again  and if they did those who did would turn to stone.
Eventually a greed hero named Perseus promised to kill her. He borrowed Hermes winged sandals and Hade's cap of invisibity. He carried a powerful scythe and a mirror shield. His speed and invisibity allowed him to get close to Medusa . He used the mirror to SEE her without becoming a stone and then he beheaded her.
Again different versions tell that of different people or objects that the Gods use or assisted him.

Medusa Today-  
The eventually dispositions of the Medusa head has a varied tale. Some say Athena used it on her shield, the Aegis, for awhile and then gave it away. Another was Persephu s buried it in the market place of Argos. They have images of Medusa that were found in the temples of Artemis - Her images  were  also found on doors, flags and in cups. It was used to scare off  evil spirits too.
There were lessons to be learned from the Goddesses Medusa -
One is that beauty can either be a gift or a curse. It really depends on the woman in the shoes. The second is Even though  Medusa became more powerful as a Gorgon than as a woman. [This is how she became known as guprotectoressotectoress especially of virgins. ]  The curse of being able to turn men into stone proved to be a warning to all men who force their unwanted attention on  young women - All women.
Finally she continued to have power even after death.
Her head continued to kill and her blood spawed her many  children as was as snakes and the red coral in the RED SEA. That power has continued even in modern times of today. Several books on women rights and liberation have used the Medusa story  along with her head as a symbol of rage.
Wendy