Like many great heroes of Greek myths, Perseus was half man and half God, son of Zeus and a human princess who lived in Argon. When Perseus grew up he was admired greatly by a woman named Danae but King Polydectes wanted her for himself so he sent Perseus away on a very dangerous mission, to kill the Gorgon Medusa. Medusa was one of the three Gorgon sisters who were once beautiful women but after Medusa rejected Poseidon God of the sea he turned them all into monsters with snakes for their hair and great scaled bodies. Medusa was so monstrous that anyone who looked at her face was instantly turned to stone! Other versions of this tale state that in fact Poseidon and Medusa used Athena's temple as a place for romance and Athena was so furious that she turned Medusa into a monster and not Poseidon who only ever loved her. Either way the Gods Athena and Hermes aided Perseus giving him winged sandals to fly him to the home of the Medusa so that he would not be away from Dane for long, a cap which made him invisible, a mirrored shield and of course a sword.
When Perseus faced Medusa in her lair he was able to use the mirrored shield to avoid looking at her and instead see her reflection in it to know where she was. he was able to get close enough and beheaded her triumphanty with his sword. Two droplets of her blood from her severed head instantly formed Pegasus the great winged horse and a large or winged boar depending on what account of this myth you read. It is believed that they were her children with Poseidon; either way Perseus flew back on Pegasus and killed the King by showing him the head of Medusa, turning him to stone! He was able to use the head of Medusa as a weapon turning people to stone for some time before he supposedly gifted it to Athena as a present. This ending means that Athena turning Medusa into a monster is more creditable.
What do you think? Also do you feel sorry for Medusa? Did she really deserve to become a snake headed monster? Leave your comment below!
0 Comment:
Be the first one to comment on this article.