But the young Medusa offended Athena and was therefore cursed to be a terrible monster, forever hunted by men. Many later versions of the myth claimed that she was once a beautiful maiden loved by Poseidon. One can argue that Medusa is caught in the middle of a crossfire between two deities. Medusa was often depicted as a terrifying winged female with snakes instead of hair. So to get back at him, Athena cursed Medusa so that Poseidon couldn't seduce him anymore. In Greek mythology, Pegasus was an immortal winged horse, one of the two children of Poseidon and Medusa. Athena looked down in anger and cursed Medusa for betraying her. After all, in those days, the gods claimed their mates as their partner forever, and Medusa was now Poseidon’s wife. Besides having corrupted Athena’s best priestess, he also degraded her beloved temple, which the goddess deeply treasured for its purity. His revenge had gone better than planned. Medusa prayed to Athena for guidance and forgiveness. Poseidon possessed her on the goddess altar by force in order words, Poseidon assulted Medusa.
Medusa’s sisters come to her defense and thus suffer part of the punishment. She doesn’t blame her fellow god she blames the human Medusa. Athena comes and sees that her temple has been defiled. Athena knew that Poseidon lusted after Medusa, this was made evident by his ravishing her. Poseidon vanished after he was done and left Medusa vulnerable and weak. Poseidon rapes Medusa on the floor of the Temple of Athena. In the myths, he raped Medusa in the temple of Athena and Athena was so angry she turned Medusa ugly and her hair into snakes. In fact, many of the stories of Poseidon focus on rape. In turn, the only way for Athena to punish Poseidon is by punishing Medusa. Poseidon, like many of the Greek gods, did not behave with perfect moral rectitude. Poseidon was determined to win her, even though being a priestess of Athena required a woman to remain a virgin. Medusa Medusa, in Greek mythology, the most famous of the monster figures known as Gorgons. In these kinds of disputes, the gods tended to have the upper hand as opposed to mortals as well, which also probably contributed towards Athena's verdict. Medusa was originally a beautiful mortal woman, a priestess of Poseidon’s niece and fellow Olympian, Athena. Pegasus carried Bellerophon in his fight against Chimaira and the amazons. In a case like this, Poseidon would arguably garner more favor with Zeus as opposed to Medusa. Medusa is an instantly recognizable figure from ancient Greek art. Pegasus was the child of the oceans god Poseidon and Medusa with the snake hair. The situation becomes trickier since Poseidon is also Athena's uncle (Zeus' brother).
POSEIDON AND MEDUSA FULL
If Athena were to hold Poseidon accountable for his transgressions against her, the goddess' father, Zeus, would have to punish him. In the version where Poseidon and Medusa are a couple, they were fervent lovers, full of passion and celebration of their love. Athena, while a very influential goddess in Greek mythology, is outranked by Poseidon in terms of status. In this section of the book, Ovid gives a completely different origin story for the terrifying creature.Another reason Athena may have punished Medusa is that she could not punish Poseidon. However, there is evidence that the myth changed drastically over time.Īround 8 AD, Ovid-a Roman poet celebrated for his faithful retelling of popular Greek myths-produced his famous Metamorphoses, an expansive book of myths which includes the myth of Perseus and his slaying of Medusa. When Medusa had an affair with the sea god Poseidon, Athena punished her. In these earlier myths then, it’s assumed that Medusa was born a monster-complete with snakes and stony vision. He also describes a key difference between Medusa and her two sisters, one that becomes extremely important later: Medusa, unlike the other two gorgons (and for reasons not explained), is fully mortal. He calls them Stheno (“the mighty”), Euryale (“the wide wandering” or “the far springer”), and finally, Medusa (“the cunning one” or “the queen”). Hesiod, in his Theogony (700 BCE), describes the gorgons as three sister-monsters born of Phorcys and Ceto, two primordial ocean deities. It isn’t until several years later that another author gives the gorgon more of a backstory. In the Odyssey, the gorgon is a briefly mentioned inhabitant of the underworld-one whom Persephone could apparently “sic” on anyone who angered her.
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