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Medusa

Medusa is a monster from Greek mythology. 


Biography[]

Medusa and her sisters, Stheno and Euryale, were Gorgons, monsters which took on the form of serpent-haired females with the power to turn people into stone by looking at them. Her two older sisters were born immortal and were the daughters of Phorcys and Keto, a pair of primordial deities, while Medusa was born as a mortal.

Medusa was a stunningly beautiful young woman who was desired by all the men in Greece, but because of her position as a priestess of Athena, she was bound by a vow of celibacy. Her beauty had, however, caught the attention of Poseidon, who, under cover of darkness, followed her to the temple, where he had sex with her.

Athena, who had been watching the pair, was furious that such an act had taken place in her holy temple; instead of punishing Poseidon (this kind of behaviour was expected of him), Athena turned her fury onto Medusa, turning her desecrated priestess into a Gorgon, then having her spirited off to an island, where men who arrived there would be turned to stone.

The Hunt for the Gorgon's Head[]

When the womanizing King Polydectes wanted to marry his mother Danae, Perseus, the son of Zeus, was ordered by the king to retrieve Medusa's head for him as a gift. When he was lost in the wilderness, he encountered Athena and Hermes, who gave him a pair of winged sandals, a sharp sword crafted by Hephaestus, Athena's shield and the helmet of Hades.

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