Sites and Resources She lived out her days in Africa, where she lets all the newborn snakes fall from her head and wander all over the Continent (That's the reason why there's so many snakes in Africa). Throughout history, Medusa got the bad reputation as a scornful, evil woman who turns people into stone with a mere glance. While she was there, Poseidon saw her and either seduced her or raped her, and she became pregnant. Unlike in the Greek myth, though, it appears that it is the snakes that turn people to stone in this Supergirl story. Athena, jealous of her beauty, condemns her form to a monstrosity whose gaze would turn onlookers into stone. Realms and Powers: The great Ocean, can turn men to stone with a glance . A famous Greek example is Medusa, a creature whose appearance was so hideous that all who looked upon her turned to stone. ... Medusa was a beautiful mortal woman who one day went to Athena's temple to worship. Ovid’s story may not have taken off in the Greek-speaking east, but it did eventually … However, much like most women of ancient mythology, she was a victim of patriarchal societal norms. She turned the seer Rosalind and the Witch Dorcas into stone, they were later turned back into flesh and Rosalind beheaded Nagaina with a sword. Yet before she could be betrothed to a husband, Poseidon (Neptune) found her worshipping in the temple of Athena (Minerva) and ravished her. Medusa is a mythical creature that can turn anyone to stone if you look into her eyes. She looked at them in fear and saw them turn to stone in front of her eyes. As always, blaming the mortal woman, she got revenge by turning Medusa into a monster so horrible that a single glance at her face would turn a man to stone. 1 Bite Size Monster Dictionary 2 Appearance 3 Powers & Abilities 4 Notes 5 Known Medusa From Greek mythology, a fearsome monster with snakes as hair. In a later medieval legend, it is said that Saint Hilda of Whitby was empowered by God to turn a horde of snakes threatening her to stone. She was scared of her powers and angry at the gods for cursing her. Here, Athena is portrayed to be someone ‘evil’ for cursing someone. What did “When Medusa looks in the mirror, she sees the Lady of Sorrows” Mason Cooley. While she believes she is simply incapacitating the villains, she looks back to see that they have been turned into stone. Medusa's ability to turn men into stone is an important facet of her feminine power. Then she was the crazy snake lady who turned people into stone because Perseus told her to. She was the crazy snake lady who turned people into stone until she was stopped by Perseus. The sight of Gorgon, if she cometh, would bring thee night from which were no returning.” – Dante, “Inferno”, Canto IX, vv. Petrification: Medusa is cursed to be a Gorgon and has the ability to turn beings into stone by just looking at them. Medusa was one of the three Gorgons, daughters of Phorcys and Ceto, sisters of the Graeae, Echidna, and Ladon – all dreadful and fearsome beasts. Medusa’s Famous Encounter With Perseus. Perseus then flew to Seriphos, where his mother was being forced into marriage with the king, Polydectes, who was turned into stone by the head. Perseus was somehow able to overcome this challenge of killing her by looking at her reflection in a mirror. No pun intended. Jean-Paul Vernant argues that the Medusa “represents in its grimace the terrifying horror of a radical otherness with which you yourself will be identified as you are turned to stone” (quoted in Garber and Vickers) and so signals how Sartre’s reading of Medusa may show how a kind of horror may in fact creep into our experience of the images in the swimsuit issue. As a result of exposure to daylight, all three were turned into stone. Stronger ones can turn anyone who simply looks at them into stone. 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