Medusa - The Misunderstood and Raped Gorgon

in #story6 years ago (edited)

Ever since I was a child I have always been fascinated by Greek Mythology.

One of my favorites is Medusa but there are many misconceptions about her.

I would like to take this opportunity to let everyone know the story of the beautiful Medusa who according to me is the most misunderstood character in Greek Mythology.

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EARLY LIFE

There is little whereabouts about her earlier days but she was the most beautiful and was desired by many men

She was the only mortal among the 3 sisters born to Phorcys and Ceta, two of the primary seagods.

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THE PRIESTESS

She possessed great beauty and many men lusted for Medusa but no one could acquire her

She had sworn service to Goddess Athena and was required to remain pure and eventually became the priestess of Athena's temple

Thousands visited Athena's temple just for a glance of Medusa's beauty

They even claimed that her hair rivaled that of the Goddess Athena

It was not long before Athena started to become jealous of Medusa

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THE RAPE

One day when Medusa was walking across the shore, she caught the attention of Poseidon - The God of the Sea

He instantly fell for Medusa's beauty but she rejected him numerous times

If Medusa wished to remain the priestess of Athena's temple she must stay a virgin

Poseidon was in the middle of a conflict with Athena and he saw Medusa as a possession which he could take away from Athena

Eventually Poseidon grew tired of Medusa's rejections and decided to take Medusa by force

Medusa in fear of Poseidon ran into Athena's temple in the hopes that Athena would protect her

That evening there was no protection given to Medusa and Poseidon had his way with Medusa in Athena's temple itself

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A SERPANT IS BORN

When Poseidon had finished, Athena did appear in rage because Medusa lost her virginity

She decided that she would punish Medusa, as punishment to one of the powerful god's like Poseidon was considered unthinkable

Athena cursed Medusa and put her in an isolated island.The hair of Medusa, of which Athena was once envyous off was turned into the head of venomous snakes

Moreover, anyone who would look into Medusa's eyes would be turned into stone

Word spread of the monster Medusa had become and she became the target for warriors who wished to kill and add her head to the list of their trophies, but all who tried were turned into stones

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THE KILLING OF MEDUSA

Perseus son of Zeus(The most powerful Greek god) was given the task of killing and bringing back Medusa's head

Inorder to complete the task Perseus needed aid from the gods

He was given helmet from Hades which made him invisible to Medusa and her sisters

Was given wings from Hermes allowing him to reach Medusa

Athena herself gave him a bronze shield allowing him to reflect the gaze of Medusa's eyes

And lastly given a sword sharp enough to cut the head of Medusa

With all these gifts Perseus was able to behead the head of Medusa while she was asleep and later gifted her head to Goddess Athena

At the time of her death Medusa was pregnant with the offspring of Poseidon and as soon as the head was severed the two unborn children Chrysaor and Pegasus suddenly sprang out from her neck

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THE MISUNDERSTANDING

She is often regarded as the cruel monster but she only had the best intentions and placed her trust in Goddess Athena who ultimately failed her and punished her for actions beyond her control

Medusa is always considered the monster but infact it's quite the opposite

She was often blamed for turning people into stones but she had been cursed to be this way

Most of the people whom she turned into stones were warriors who wanted to cut her head off to add to their trophy collection

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THE CONCLUSION

In the end this is a very sad and tragic story

She wanted to remain a virgin and serve the Goddess Athena for the rest of her life but was raped

Goddess Athena did not protect her and was infact cursed by her to become a monster

I hope people now know the truth about the beautiful Medusa and change their mind set about her

Let me know in the comment section if you knew about Medusa and what you think about her tragic life

Lots of Love
Alice

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Great write-up... I've always loved greek methodology as well

Thanks..me too love it :)

Medusa was innocent. Look at the GODs in Greek Mythlogy it is not a good example to people 😨😨😨

I know..I can't believe they treated her with such cruelty :(

Yeah, Greek mythology is full of jealous perverted gods. Great post, do more like this Alice. I've been on steemit for a whole year now! If you have the time please check out my anniversary post -https://steemit.com/anniversary/@kenentertainment/i-ve-been-on-steemit-for-little-over-a-year-it-s-been-a-great-journey-great-friends-and-great-platform
One love

Thanks..I will check it out now :)

Cool, i'll meet you there! lol

I never knew this ... thanks for the knowledge and story.

Your welcome..it was a pleasure writing about her...

I love Greek and roman mythology. I remember reading this story years ago. It is nice to see someone else enjoys it also.

Me too..may be someday we can discuss about them..great stories..

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SOOOO SHES NOT BAAAAD?

No..not at all..they made her that way..

This post has received a 16.32 % upvote from @boomerang.

This is some sweet mythology, I often wonder about these myths and what they really mean. Are the gods representative of archetypal forces which play out through us?

There is some truth in here about beauty and lust, leading to jealousy and then violence. These dark emotions create a tragic ending. Ultimately caused by 'gods' who lack empathy. They have power but are disconnected.

Would the gods have any relevance without mortals? They seem to need mortals in order to have something to distinguish themselves against, and play with. That being the case then gods have no intention of elevating anyone, they would rather retain superiority and power. People without empathy are sometimes called psychopaths, we can see this kind of psychology playing out in the business world.

There are kind gods as well I guess, yet mostly it seems to boil down to this dynamic of something outside of us that we have to pay homage to.

Thanks for a great post, and an opportunity to speculate :P

God's without us mortals would be like a kid without his toys to play with..

Wow amazing story, and you told it so well! I loved it. I don't know much about Greek gods, but always love to learn more. My favorite misunderstood goddess is the goddess Hel. She is a goddess of the underworld but Christian monks wrote her story and made her out to be evil and it's not the case. She cares for dead children and women who die in childbirth and has a beautiful hall. She is one of my favorite goddesses. Oh did I mention she is the daughter of Loke! Anyways again, great story I can help but feel bad for this mortal goddess.

Yeah..she's in Thor Ragnarok movie as well... apparently more powerful than Thor...

I want to watch it, but I don't want to get pissed off lol. I still follow the old gods and of course Hollywood can do whatever they want to European gods and no one cares.

Haha...Hel in the movie is completely evil...you will surely get pissed haha..

That settles it! I'm going to do a VR post to about Hel. Of course, I will link this post if that's okay? :)

Ofcourse..
I would love to read it :)

I didnt know that. Mudusa was innocent and not become monster by choice but by the cure of Goddess Athena who didn't save her when she was in need and latter came up to curse her for the incident which was beyond her power to stop. This is so unfair... :(
You have concluded very nicely.. It is short and crisp.
Splendid Work...

Thank you..I am glad people know the truth now :)

Great story, and well written. Unfortunately, this depiction of medusa all too truly reflects how women are perceived in society, especially beautiful women. When a woman is pure of heart and soul, who she is is reflected by her level of vanity and physical beauty, and all too often that aura of confidence gets dismantled and ultimately broken, out of insecurity conveyed as jealousy and male empowerment and ego. Woman are just as valued as men, and should be respected as not lesser, but equals.

I truly agree to this..but at times it's not just the men who are jealous and filled with ego..it's the women as well..we do need a change of mindset in society..

I really enjoyed the story and felt really sad for her. I had never known the true story.
Thank you!

Consider posting through esteemapp or surfer once in 24 hours to get curated by our curators.

Thank you..I am glad you know the story now :)
What is esteemapp?

An application that is steemit related where great writings like yours are curated by some whales. You can download it on playstore @esteemapp

That sounds interesting...

Have installed esteemapp..is there something like I should use a specific hashtag or something like that?

Sorry for replying late..
As @shemzy told you it is an application for steemit where your content gets curated if it is good.
The minimum number of words should be 150 and you should have a reputation of 34+.
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Thanks..I have downloaded the app..

Clear and concise. I enjoyed reading from you. I only know Medusa in movies, haven't really read about her story until now. You write in such an amazing manner

Thank you so much :)

I love Zeus the most and Greek mythology is in that ABC television series called Once Upon A Time (OUT).

I think Zeus is the most powerful..