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The Legend of Medusa and the Gorgons
In Greek Mythology the Gorgons were uncanny and popular creatures by the Greeks who created them, and even today, they are known as an important figure in the legends and myths of many of the famous Greek writers and poets like Homer and Hesiod. These Gorgons were three very unattractive and frightening woman who lived on an island in a cave on the far west, isolated from a lot of people.
The most famous myth with the Gorgons was the story about how Perseus slayed Medusa, one of the Gorgons. These three monsters were creatures so ugly and with such unnatural qualities about themselves, that they could turn people to stone with just a mere sight. The names of these mythological creatures were ¨Stheno or the mighty, Euryale or the far springer, and Medusa or the queen¨. (¨New World Encyclopedia¨). They had unbreakable scales around their entire bodies, boar tusks, a snake tongue, dead-like bloodshot eyes, brass hands, and their most notable appearance, dozens of deadly snakes on their heads instead of hair. The Gorgons also had wings, but it is not clearly stated if they could fly with them.
The tale of the Gorgons first started with Medusa. Phorcys, the sea god, and Ceto were the Gorgons parents, Phorcys favorite out of all his children was Medusa, so he decided to do an exchange with her, Medusa would give her immortality to him in change for the ability to turn herself into a beautiful woman, this explains how Medusa was the only mortal out of the three sisters. A while later she served in Athena’s temple, she was so beautiful that it caught Poseidon’s eye, both of them had a affair in her temple, and to Athena, this was unacceptable. Because she couldn’t harm Poseidon, Athena turned Medusa and her sisters into a Gorgon. She made them so hideous that anyone who looked at them, mortal or immortal, turned to stone. Since then all three sisters lived on a far off island. The most famous legend in which the Gorgon sisters are in is the legend where the hero, Perseus slays medusa. Perseus lived on an island called Seriphos with his mother which was ruled by the king Polydectes. Polydectes was a cruel man who wanted to marry Perseus´ mother, so he set up a plan. ¨The task given him (Perseus) was to slay the monster Medusa, one of the three Gorgon sisters, she alone of them mortal, but her very looks deadly to the best armed foe. For to punish an impeous outrage on Athene, her hair had been turned into vipers withering about a face so horrible that whoever laid eyes upon it was stiffened to stone before he could strike a blow. ¨ (Moncrieff 19).
Once leaving the island, Perseus was given many things by the gods to help slay Medusa: Hermes´ winged sandals to fly fast, the cap of Hades to turn invisible, a leather pouch to carry Medusa’s head in, a very sharp curved sword to cut Medusa’s head with and a polished bronze shield to see Medusa’s reflection in without directly looking at her. After being fully equipped he went to a dark, cold snowy place where the Graeae lived. The Graeae were three old sisters who shared one eye and one tooth altogether and siblings to the Gorgons. They also knew where the Gorgons lived. So Perseus could acquire this information, he went up to the Graeae invisibly and took their eye and tooth and said that he won’t return them until they said where the Gorgons lived. The Graeae wanted their eye back no matter what so they obeyed and told Perseus.
Then, Perseus flew to the island where the Gorgons lived. Once there, Perseus found Medusa sleeping with her sisters so he used his sword to decapitate the head using the shields reflection to see. He immediately collected the head and ran away before the other two sisters could go and follow him. Once he got back to the island where he normally lived, he used Medusa’s head to turn Polydectes and his followers into stone. Medusa’s head could still turn people into stone even after death. And in the end, Perseus gave the head to Athena, who put it on her shield called the Aegis. Since this story has been told, the Gorgons have been an important aspect of Greek mythology. In the past and even today, the Gorgons have had an effect on symbolism, what they represent and real life findings from the past. In these myths and other Greek stories, the Gorgons represent how beauty can be evil and that going into it blind can be very dangerous. One important symbol in Greek mythology involving the Gorgon is Athena’s shield the Aegis, which had the head of the Gorgon and was used a lot by Athena and Zeus. In real life, The head of Medusa is drawn in many temples and even coins. ¨There are also numerous coins that bear not only the imagery of Perseus holding the head of Medusa, but also the head in its own right¨ (DHWTY, “The Legend of Medusa and the Gorgons”). It symbolized protection and warded off evil from where the head was. The Gorgon has made it through the centuries with famous painters from different times depicting the death of Medusa, with painters like Leonardo da Vinci and Salvador Dali. The Gorgons lived a long lasting history and made the ability of turning people to stone with sight very famous and commonly known in mythology in general. They were born from the gods and one gave up their immortality for beauty. They were cursed and in the end the only mortal one got slain by the hero showing how the desire for beauty can lead to death. But even though the Gorgons Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa were beautiful in the past and ended being hideous in the end, they will always be remembered in people’s minds for centuries to go.
