Medusa was a gorgon, rumored to be a terrible monster with the body of a woman but snakes as hair. The sight of a gorgon is so terrifying that any mortal who looked at one would immediately turned into stone.
A lot of you have probably heard of the version where she was once a beautiful maiden, but after being raped by Poseidon in Athena's temple, the goddess of wisdom herself, turned Medusa into a horrifying creature as punishment for desecrating her holly temple. Then later on, Athena helped Perseus slay Medusa. This is the most popular and widely known version of the story. It contains everything that the modern people are looking for in a fascinating story–beauty, sex, revenge, and unfair punishment. But what if I told you that wasn't what happened?
First of all, notice the absolute inconsistencies in this story. We know that Medusa has two immortal gorgon sisters and they, together, appeared in many stories. If she alone was punished, how can she have sisters of the same kind? Second, Athena is the maiden goddess of wisdom who is widely known for supporting women and aiding heroes, why would she do such a thing that was so out of characters? Because she didn't.
This leads us to look a bit into history. The great poet Ovid, who wrote so many stories about the gods, is also one of the people that I dislike the most. Back then, Rome had something that resembled a democratic system. They established a republic with representatives. The ruler during Ovid's time was Augustus. Augustus had banished Ovid for his poems without going through any of the democratic process, which reasonably brewed Ovid's deep hatred for people in power and the authority. Being Roman, you'd think that he was only qualified to write stories about Minerva, Athena's Roman counterpart who is quite different in personality and is valued much less than Mars–Ares' (the god of war, not my friend) Roman counterpart–by the Roman's. Athena was one of the most worshiped out of all Greek gods and goddesses at the time, since she brought wisdom and triumph. This also made her a symbol of authority, and Ovid loathed her. He started inventing stories that smeared her name, and it obviously worked. Look at where we are now. The perfectly rational goddess is now known for her jealousy and chastised for her victim-blaming.
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I'm afraid that the origin of Medusa was nowhere as exciting. She was never a human woman and her terror was never thrust upon her as a form of punishment. The gorgons were never mentioned as characters until in Homer's Iliad, before which they were only shown in artwork. There are different versions of their origin, but all described them born as gorgons, either as the daughters of Gorgo or a sea monster. And Medusa was the only one that was mortal among them. Later on, poets started describing Medusa as having a beautiful face despite her monstrous features and snake hair. Gorgon's were terrifying creatures that were deadly for mortals to look upon, but also used as a symbol protection against worst monsters. Medusa did clearly have sex with Poseidon though, evident because of their famous son–the flying horse Pegasus who appears in Disney's Hercules. However, Ovid was the only one to describe it as a rape that occurred in Athena's temple.
The story behind the slaying of Medusa is much more dramatic and less controversial compared to her origin. This is where you’ll find all the sex, jealousy, and magic you crave. King Acrisius of Argos had a daughter, princess Danae, but had no son to succeed him. He asked the oracle what he has done to not be grant a son, and Apollo told him that he would have no son, but a grandson that would kill him. So Acrisius locked Danae in a bronze tower. Despite his efforts, Zeus visited Danae and they conceived a child, the famous Perseus. Acrisius was livid and banished his daughter and grandson in a wooden chest and set it in the waters, in hopes that it would sink and kill them. The chest floated to Seriphos, where a kind fisherman named Dictys took Danae and Perseus in.
Dictys is the brother of the King of Seriphos, the tyrant Polydectes. Polydectes lusted after Danae, who refused the marry him. He wanted to take her by force, but Perseus grew up to be a strong young man who was always there to protect his mother. To get rid of Perseus without getting the blood on his own hands, Polydectes devised a plan. He held a great feast where he invited all the young men of Seriphos, including Perseus. All the other men from rich families bore expensive gifts for the king, but Perseus had nothing and came empty handed. The other men mocked him and in his anger Perseus announced that he would bring a gift more precious than any of the other gifts. Polydectes laughed and said that it is not possible, unless Perseus brought him the head of a gorgon, which is the lady of today’s story, Medusa. Since she’s the only mortal among the three sisters, she was the only target. Perseus vowed he would do it or die trying.
Being the son of Zeus, immortals were sent to help Perseus. With the assistance of Athena, Hermes, and some nymphs—including one who is Persephone's bestie—Perseus acquired Athena’s shield, Hermes’ sandals, the adamant sickle, a magic wallet, and Hades’ Cap of Darkness.
Athena warned Perseus that anyone who looked upon the gorgons would turn to stone in terror, but not if he looked at the reflection in her shield; Hermes’ winged sandals would allow Perseus to travel swiftly and fly through the air (some versions say that Perseus acquires the shoes of swiftness from the nymphs instead); the adamant sickle is the very one Cronos used to castrate his father, Uranus; the magic wallet would hold Medusa’s head once she’s slain; Hades’ dog-skin cap would grant Perseus invisibility while wearing it.
Perseus successfully retrieved Medusa’s head, saving a beautiful girl on his way back, who becomes his wife. He turned Polydectes and his entourage into stone with Medusa’s head, and returned the magic items to the gods. Athena took Medusa’s head and placed it in the center of her shield to send terror down the spines of anyone who dares battle against wisdom.
Perseus goes on to become the great grandfather of one of the most famous Greek heroes, Heracles.
So the moral of this story is: Ovid is a whiney drama queen and Athena did nothing to Medusa but help her brother kill her. Which I guess is not great, but family, right? They get extorted and we bail them out. Except Athena’s dad just banged a lot more women than anyone else. I mean, Zeus tricked his granddaughter into sleeping with him to have Heracles. Sure, he had his reasons, but no wonder Hera had issues. That's a story for another time though.
If you are interested in Greek mythology, I highly recommend you check out Mythology and Fiction Explained on YouTube. The host usually includes the history, origin, and various versions of the stories instead of simply sharing the popular modern versions.
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