The petrifying face of Medusa
From the earliest known account in Hesiod's ' Theogony' to the present day, the gorgon Medusa has fascinated artists. I too regard her as a stunning visual creation. Here is my interpretation of her.
Medusa and her two sisters Sthenno & Euryale, with their hands of bronze, razor sharp teeth and hair of hissing wriggling snakes lived in a dark, gloomy place at the end of the world where they basked in their reputation of being the most savage of monsters.
Far away in sunny Seriphos, king Polydectes wishing to be rid of a young man called Perseus decided to send him on a mission from which he doubted the fellow would return.
"You wish to prove yourself a hero" said the king " well then, bring me back the severed head of the gorgon Medusa. She is the only mortal one of three abominable sisters. When you approach to kill her be careful to not look directly into her face or you shall instantly be turned to stone." It appeared to be the deadliest of quests but Perseus was aided by the Olympians who gave him a helmet of invisibility, a mirrored shield so he didn't risk looking into the ghastly face, a pair of winged sandals & a sword specially forged by Hephaestus the blacksmith god.
Perseus flew over the civilised countries until he came to the extremity of the world. Here he looked down on ravaged land - the carcasses of people & animals eaten by the gorgons plus some human shaped rocks. He furtively approached the monsters as they slept and decapitated Medusa with his sword. Then, to his surprise an elegant white horse with wings emerged from the blood spurting out of the gorgon's neck. This was an unexpected gift for a hero. He mounted the horse to speed away from the now awakened sisters who were reaching to tear him to shreds.
Above is a Relief from Melos now in the British Museum showing Perseus on the flying horse Pegasus. Note the small figure sprouting from the dead gorgon's neck - it is Chrysaor who in turn begat a monster called Geryon.
After other adventures Perseus returned to Seriphos. Here he learned that his mother had been harassed by the king so it was in angry mood that he proceeded to the court of Polydectes. The king was amazed to see the young man alive & unscathed. Perseus took The head of Medusa out of the bag he had been keeping it in, shouting " Those who are my friends close your eyes now!" Polydectes couldn't avoid staring directly at the monster face and he was immediately frozen into solid stone. Perseus later gave the head to the goddess Athena to keep.
Above is a baroque image of Medusa painted on a shield by Caravaggio in about 1596-98 which is now in Uffizi, Florence.
In the ancient world horrific faces in the form of masks or amulets were made to act as apotropaic objects- magic symbols to ward off evil spirits. With this in mind, I add here an opinion given by Joan Ellen Harrison -" The ritual object comes first; then the monster is begotten to account for it; then the hero is supplied to account for the slaying of the monster."
In the painting of goddess Athena shown here, artist Gustav Klimt has dressed her in gold breastplate adorned with a stylised gorgon head like some of the faces made on ancient objects to act as protective symbols. The painting was done in 1898.
Recently I read that Sthenno was the most ferocious of the three gorgons and Euryale had the loudest scream yet there appear to be no stories developed about them individually so maybe someone should work on that now.
Medusa and her two sisters Sthenno & Euryale, with their hands of bronze, razor sharp teeth and hair of hissing wriggling snakes lived in a dark, gloomy place at the end of the world where they basked in their reputation of being the most savage of monsters.
Far away in sunny Seriphos, king Polydectes wishing to be rid of a young man called Perseus decided to send him on a mission from which he doubted the fellow would return.
"You wish to prove yourself a hero" said the king " well then, bring me back the severed head of the gorgon Medusa. She is the only mortal one of three abominable sisters. When you approach to kill her be careful to not look directly into her face or you shall instantly be turned to stone." It appeared to be the deadliest of quests but Perseus was aided by the Olympians who gave him a helmet of invisibility, a mirrored shield so he didn't risk looking into the ghastly face, a pair of winged sandals & a sword specially forged by Hephaestus the blacksmith god.
Perseus flew over the civilised countries until he came to the extremity of the world. Here he looked down on ravaged land - the carcasses of people & animals eaten by the gorgons plus some human shaped rocks. He furtively approached the monsters as they slept and decapitated Medusa with his sword. Then, to his surprise an elegant white horse with wings emerged from the blood spurting out of the gorgon's neck. This was an unexpected gift for a hero. He mounted the horse to speed away from the now awakened sisters who were reaching to tear him to shreds.
Above is a Relief from Melos now in the British Museum showing Perseus on the flying horse Pegasus. Note the small figure sprouting from the dead gorgon's neck - it is Chrysaor who in turn begat a monster called Geryon.
After other adventures Perseus returned to Seriphos. Here he learned that his mother had been harassed by the king so it was in angry mood that he proceeded to the court of Polydectes. The king was amazed to see the young man alive & unscathed. Perseus took The head of Medusa out of the bag he had been keeping it in, shouting " Those who are my friends close your eyes now!" Polydectes couldn't avoid staring directly at the monster face and he was immediately frozen into solid stone. Perseus later gave the head to the goddess Athena to keep.
Above is a baroque image of Medusa painted on a shield by Caravaggio in about 1596-98 which is now in Uffizi, Florence.
In the ancient world horrific faces in the form of masks or amulets were made to act as apotropaic objects- magic symbols to ward off evil spirits. With this in mind, I add here an opinion given by Joan Ellen Harrison -" The ritual object comes first; then the monster is begotten to account for it; then the hero is supplied to account for the slaying of the monster."
In the painting of goddess Athena shown here, artist Gustav Klimt has dressed her in gold breastplate adorned with a stylised gorgon head like some of the faces made on ancient objects to act as protective symbols. The painting was done in 1898.
Recently I read that Sthenno was the most ferocious of the three gorgons and Euryale had the loudest scream yet there appear to be no stories developed about them individually so maybe someone should work on that now.
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