If you are familiar with Greek or Roman mythology, surely you have heard the name Medusa. A human turned Gorgon, cursed to live with a face so hideous that turned men into stone whenever they gazed upon her until the hero Perseus came to claim her head, ending her ill-fated destiny. In this story, Medusa has been depicted as one of the antagonists that Perseus had to face in order to finish a quest as a hero. However, not many people knew Medusa’s tragic story that led to her curse.
The story of Medusa’s life before she turned into a Gorgon is later on introduced. The earliest record of Medusa’s beautiful appearance had been recorded by Pindar in 490 BC (Milne, 1946, pp. 126–130). Ovid, a Roman poet also mentioned in detail Medusa’s early life in his poem Metamorphoses. It was said that Medusa was originally a maiden with very beautiful hair and an alluring face who served in Minerva’s (Athena) temple. One day, her beauty caught the attention of the sea god Neptune (Poseidon). Overwhelmed with lust, he made love with Medusa in the temple of Minerva. Overwhelmed with anger, she cursed Medusa, transforming her hair into snakes.
Even though the story of Medusa is a myth, we could learn one or two things from this story. Firstly, life will never be fair to you, especially when you do not have the power to fight back. A maiden punished with an eternal curse, doomed to die in another human hand is probably a very harsh punishment for disrespecting a god. On the contrary, the other perpetrator, Neptune gets away with everything simply because he is a god. To him, she was just nothing, which is why he does not have any remorse or regret for his wrongdoings. The only one that suffered the consequences was Medusa alone. Pity.
The second lesson is that beauty is power. Because of her looks, a god actually noticed the presence of a mere maiden. If one is born with an alluring face or charming physical attributes, it can be a very effective weapon to gain favour and get anything that you desire. However, the inability to use them properly will lead you to unnecessary trouble, consuming you from the inside.
Medusa’s story might be tragic, but do you know that she is also the mother of Pegasus, a flying horse? She gave birth to Pegasus after Perseus beheaded her. What a weird way to end the story, to be honest, but hopefully you enjoy the story.
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