Medusa Gorgon and Perseus. Myths of Ancient Greece

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

Medusa Gorgon and Perseus are one of the most famous characters of ancient Greek myths. The hero who killed the terrible monster and saved the beautiful Andromeda from death is credited with founding the city of Mycenae and the Perseid dynasty. Medusa, on the other hand, symbolizes a disgusting terrible creature, the embodiment of fear and death, but at the same time - an unfortunate beauty who, by the will of evil fate, became an innocent victim of a divine curse. The myth of Perseus and Medusa the Gorgon left a noticeable mark in the literature, music and art not only of the ancient world, but also of the Middle Ages and the present.

Origin of Medusa Gorgon

According to the legend, Medusa was the youngest of the three sisters born to the deities of the water element Forky and Keto, who in turn were the children of Pontus (god of the sea) and Gaia (goddess of the earth). The elder Gorgons - Stheno and Euryale - inherited immortality from their parents, while Medusa was the only one who did not get the priceless gift.

Initially, these characters of the mythology of ancient Hellas werepresented in the form of sea maidens, proud and beautiful. The beautiful Medusa, the owner of a slender figure and luxurious hair, seemed to have been born in order to captivate men's hearts. However, according to one version of the legend, she became a priestess of Pallas Athena, the goddess of war, and took an eternal vow of celibacy.

Curse of Athena

The vow given by Medusa did not stop Poseidon, the almighty god of the seas. He appeared to the beauty right in the temple of Athena and, blinded by desire, took her by force. Upon learning of this, the goddess was furious. However, she considered not Poseidon, but the unfortunate Medusa, to be guilty of what happened, as well as of the desecration of the shrine. Athena's unbridled anger fell at the same time on both of the girl's older sisters.

As a result of the curse of the goddess, the beautiful sisters turned into monstrous winged creatures. Their skin was covered with disgusting wrinkles, scales appeared on their bodies, terrible claws and fangs grew, and their hair turned into balls of poisonous snakes. Moreover, from that time on, any unfortunate person who had the imprudence to meet the eyes of any of the Gorgons immediately turned into a stone statue…

Realizing that they no longer have a place among the gods and people, the Gorgon sisters went into exile to the western tip of the inhabited earth, where they settled on a remote island in the world river Ocean. However, they soon justified the terrible rumor that went around the world about them, ruining many unfortunate souls. It was the youngest of the sisters who became the most cruel and bloodthirsty.

Many heroes tried to deal witha terrible monster - after all, the one who killed Medusa Gorgon should have got not only glory, but also a priceless trophy: her head. The power of Medusa's gaze would continue to turn creatures to stone even after her death. However, no one succeeded - until the young Perseus set off to perform the feat, ironically, not at all for the sake of a trophy or glory.

Who is Perseus

The legend of Perseus says that the ruler of Argos named Acrisius had the only daughter Danae. Believing the prediction that the son of Danae was destined to become the cause of his death, the frightened Acrisius locked his daughter in the tower, intending to kill her with hunger and thirst. However, the beauty was noticed by Zeus himself, the head of the Olympic gods. He entered the dungeon to Danae in the form of golden rain and made her his wife. From this marriage, a boy was born who received the name Perseus.

Mythology says that one day Acrisius, having heard the laughter of a child, went up to his daughter in the tower and was depressed and amazed, but he still did not dare to kill the little demigod with his own hand. Instead, he made a monstrous decision: he ordered to put Danae with the baby in a wooden box and throw them into the waves of the sea.

However, Perseus and his mother were not destined to die. After some time, the box was pulled ashore by a fisherman named Dictis - the brother of the king of the island of Serif, Polydectes. At the court of Polydect, little Perseus grew up, who later became famous as the one who killed the Gorgon Medusa.

Preparing the hero for the campaign

However, the life of Perseus and his mother on Serif was also not easy. After deathPolydect decided to marry his wife, the beautiful Danae. However, she opposed this in every possible way, and Perseus was a reliable protection for her mother. Thinking to kill the young man, the insidious Polydectes gave the young hero a task: to bring him the head of a monster known throughout Hellas as the Gorgon Medusa.

And Perseus set off. However, the immortal inhabitants of Olympus could not allow the death of the son of Zeus himself. The swift-winged messenger of the gods, Hermes, and the warrior Athena took his side. Hermes handed the young man his sword, which easily cut through any steel. Pallas gave Perseus a copper shield, shining like a mirror, and blessed him on the road.

The hero's wanderings through distant lands were long. Finally he reached a gloomy country in which lived the old grays guarding the path to the Gorgons, who had one tooth and one eye for all three. With the help of cunning, Perseus managed to steal their "treasures" from the grays, leaving them toothless and blind. In exchange for returning the stolen items, the Grays had to tell the hero how to find the Gorgon.

The road in the right direction ran over the edge where the nymphs lived. Having learned who Perseus was and where he was going, the nymphs, wanting to help, gave him three magical things. It was a bag that could hold anything, winged sandals that let you fly through the air, and the helmet of the lord of the Underworld, Hades, that grants invisibility to whoever wears it. Thanking for the help and gifts, Perseus flew straight to the island, which was occupied by the Gorgons.

Die of the Monster

Fate and the gods favored the hero. Perseusappeared in the lair of monsters at a time when they were fast asleep and could not notice him. The copper shield donated by Athena turned out to be very handy: looking at the reflection on it, as if in a mirror, the young man managed to get a good look at the three sisters, and most importantly, guess which one of them was Medusa Gorgon.

And Perseus rushed to the attack. The only true blow with the sword was enough - and the severed head of Medusa was in the hands of the hero. The scarlet blood of the monster poured onto the ground, from which the dazzling white horse Pegasus and the golden bow Chrysaor emerged, immediately soaring into the heavens.

The two awakened Gorgons howled in horror. They rushed up to find and tear apart the one who killed their younger sister. But in vain they flew over the island in search of Perseus - thanks to the winged sandals, the young man was already far away, carrying the terrible head of Medusa in his bag.

Saving Andromeda

On his long journey back, Perseus ended up in Ethiopia, on the territory of the kingdom of Kefeya. There, on the ocean shore, he saw his daughter, the beautiful princess Andromeda, chained to a rock. The girl told the hero that she was left here to be sacrificed to a sea monster sent down by Poseidon from the depths of the sea. This gigantic fish devastated the kingdom of Cepheus by order of the god of the seas due to the fact that Andromeda's mother, Cassiopeia, angered the sea nymphs, declaring that her beauty was much more perfect. The oracle told the grief-stricken King Kefei that it was possible to atone for the guilt of his wife only by sacrificing their only daughter to the monster.

Stricken by the woefulhistory, as well as the beauty of Andromeda, Perseus did not leave the unfortunate girl in trouble. After waiting for the monster to appear, he killed him in a difficult battle, and then took the rescued princess to the palace to her parents and announced that he wanted to take her as his wife.

Return of Perseus

Having celebrated the wedding, Perseus and Andromeda returned to the island of Serif, where they found Danae hiding in the temple of Zeus from the persistent harassment of Polydectes. In anger, Perseus hurried to the royal palace, where Polydectes was feasting with his friends. He did not expect to see the young man alive, and began to make fun of him: "Bouncer! It turns out that you did not follow my order? Well, where is your Medusa Gorgon?"

And Perseus, not forgiving the insult, in a fit of rage snatched the head of Medusa from the bag and showed it to the king. At the same moment, the king and his friends turned to stone.

Perseus, however, did not stay on Serif. Having transferred power on the island to Dictis, the brother of the former king, he returned to his native Argos with his mother and Andromeda. Hearing about the return of the hero, his grandfather, King Acrisius, fled to Larissa, to the north of the country. Perseus took the throne and ruled happily ever after.