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Medusa is a monster of Greek Mythology, one of the three [[gorgon]] sisters and the only mortal of the three. She is a woman with hair made of snakes whose gaze had the power to turn people to stone. The hero Perseus was sent on a quest by Polydectes in a scheme to kill him to kill Medusa, and was aided by the goddess [[Pallas Athena|Athena]] who provided him with a reflective shield so he may see Medusa without being struck by her petrifying gaze, and [[Hermes]] who granted Perseus his winged sandals and [[Hades]] helm of invisibility so he may sneak up on the gorgon. With these Perseus was successfully able to behead Medusa and from her severed neck sprung her children [[Pegasus]] and Chrysaor. Perseus then used her head to petrify Polydectes for forcing his mother into marriage. | Medusa is a monster of Greek Mythology, one of the three [[gorgon]] sisters and the only mortal of the three. She is a woman with hair made of snakes whose gaze had the power to turn people to stone. The hero Perseus was sent on a quest by Polydectes in a scheme to kill him to kill Medusa, and was aided by the goddess [[Pallas Athena|Athena]] who provided him with a reflective shield so he may see Medusa without being struck by her petrifying gaze, and [[Hermes]] who granted Perseus his winged sandals and [[Hades]] helm of invisibility so he may sneak up on the gorgon. With these Perseus was successfully able to behead Medusa and from her severed neck sprung her children [[Pegasus]] and Chrysaor. Perseus then used her head to petrify Polydectes for forcing his mother into marriage. | ||
She was initially portrayed as a hideous creature with wings, claws and fangs, but over time the depiction shifted to portray her as a beautiful woman. While she was initially said to be the monstrous offspring of Phorcys and Ceto, the roman poet Orvid introduced the narrative that she was a human priestess of Athena who was seduced by | She was initially portrayed as a hideous creature with wings, claws and fangs, but over time the depiction shifted to portray her as a beautiful woman. While she was initially said to be the monstrous offspring of Phorcys and Ceto, the roman poet Orvid introduced the narrative that she was a human priestess of Athena who was seduced by Poseidon and had an affair within the goddess's temple and was transformed by the goddess into the form of a gorgon as punishment. | ||
===Design=== | ===Design=== | ||