Pseudo-Hyginus states, By Joves [Zeus] will, it was borne to the island of Seriphos, and when the fisherman Dictys found it and broke it open, he discovered the mother and child. On his way home, Perseus came upon Andromeda, a beautiful woman embedded into a rock on the shore. It is pronounced P AH R-Siy-ahS in English . Perseus is of Old Greek origin. Perseus is a form of the English and Greek Persis. See also the related category greek. Perseus is uncommon as a baby girl name. It is not in the top 1000 names. Herodotus points out that Assyrians believed Perseus to have been from Persia, hence the similar name. It was interpreted both as a triumph of stoic reason over the foes of virtue and as the possibility of controlling passions and exercising stoical equanimity through implacable realism. Were building the worlds most authoritative, online mythology resource, with engaging, accessible content that is both educational and compelling to read. Detail. In the 20th century, Bernard Berenson and other leading critics argued against Leonardos authorship of the Uffizi painting. She was able to see the future, and because of this, became one of many in a line of Oracles of Delphi (also known as Pythia). It was said that anyone who looked directly at her was immediately turned to stone. Athena took things a step further. Indian modernists have been vanguards of shaping the narrative of Indian art in the modern world. He then used her severed head as a weapon during his travels, turning his enemies to stone. Some ancient Greek art would depict all three gorgons as having serpentine hair, tusks like pigs, and big round heads. Sterope used the hair to defend the city and keep it safe. O Atlas, the oracle said, mark the day a son of Zeus shall come to spoil; for when thy trees been stripped of golden fruit, the glory shall be his. Worried that this son was Perseus, Atlas was always careful. With the help of several gods, Perseus tracked Medusa down to her remote lair and beheaded her. Versace still uses a log of a woman with terrifying features and serpents coming from her head as its brand logo. Acrisius, not knowing his grandson was present and not being careful as a spectator, was struck by one of these discs and died instantly. Hesiod used her in Theogony. Medusa was a beautiful young woman, a virgin priestess of the goddess Athena. The Gorgon came out in 1964 and was a Hammer film that told a modern version of her story. She believes that Medusa was originally a beautiful woman with power and that men adapted her story to turn her into a monster because they did not appreciate powerful women. : In Pompeiis House of the Faun, Medusa was on the breastplate of. Angry at Perseus (instead of the gods that wished her to be sacrificed) he took up arms and started a great fight. Medusa is one of the most famous characters of Greek mythology. Ovid: The myths of Medusa and her killer Perseus are described in Books 4 and 6 of the epic Metamorphoses (ca. Themis is often seen holding a sword, which represents her ability to separate, or cut, the truth from the lies. 2022 Wasai LLC. Andromeda was a legendary Ethiopian princess who was saved by the Greek hero Perseus from a terrible sea-monster. Together, Perseus and Andromeda lived a happy life until they became constellations in the sky. Perseus and Andromeda, from the imperial villa at Boscotrecase, 1st century BCE, The Met. Perseus was the child of Danae, a princess of Argos. One of the sisters on the show found a woman who summoned the creature to punish men. One such lock was sometimes said to protect the Greek city of Tegea. Legend says that Medusa was one of three children born to Phorcys. 3 vols. Today, many surviving bronze shields from ancient antiquity are carved with the Gorgons head as a warning for all who face the wielder. A woman in the midst of an unsavory, unrequested task, she stands naked, her hair a tangle of serpents, a sword in one hand, a severed head in the other. Essentially urban and civilized, Athena was probably a pre-Hellenic goddess later taken over by the Greeks. The Origin of Hotdogs, The History of Boracay Island in The Philippines. Alcmenes husband, the hero Amphitryon, was from an important family, too, also tracing his lineage to Perseus through his father, Alcaeus. Athena, the daughter of Zeus, was produced without a mother and emerged full-grown from his forehead. The serpentine locks of Medusas hair had an effect very similar to that of the head: while they did not necessarily turn people to stone, they could scatter entire armies. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. In the versions that name Perseus, the story is grim. She and her sisters were daughters of the primordial sea gods, Ceto and Phorcys. By looking at the bronze shields reflection, he never had to gaze directly upon the monster. Woodward, Jocelyn M. Perseus: A Study in Greek Art and Legend. Lucan: The epic Civil War (60s CE) describes how the venomous vipers of the Sahara were born from Medusas blood (9.624ff). Sigmund Freud, Das Medusenhaupt (Medusas Head). Many later versions of the myth claimed that she was once a beautiful He stabbed it multiple times, in the neck and back, and attacked every time the creature rose to the surface. Medusa. Mythopedia, 11 Mar. WebDetermined to have a work from his hand, the countess negotiated a contract, signed by Canova on April 14, 1804, for a version of the artists marble Perseus with the Head of Medusa (17971801). Athena, also spelled Athene, in Greek religion, the city protectress, goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason, identified by the Romans with Minerva. Polydectes had been abusing her. Uma Thurman took on the film role and was in a pivotal scene. WebPerseus Origin and Meaning The name Perseus is boy's name of Greek origin meaning "to destroy". If you use any of the content on this page in your own work, please use the code below to cite this page as the source of the content. Benvenuto Cellini, Perseus with the head of Medusa, 1545-1554, Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy. Modern literary experts also point to the legend as one of the first times in history when men blamed a victim for her rape. Aeschylus, for example, in his fifth-century BCE tragedy Prometheus Bound, described them as three winged sisters, the snake-haired Gorgons, loathed of mankind, whom no one of mortal kind shall look upon and still draw breath.[6] It was said that anybody who looked upon Medusa (or her sisters) was immediately turned to stone. Though many of these pieces made her more beautiful, they also showed that she was terrifying. Andromeda had been left chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster. When she found them together, Athena transformed her into a woman with serpents in her hair and a cold stare. Herodotus also records that when Xerxes, the Persian king, came to conquer Greece, he attempted to convince the people of Argos that he was the descendent of Perseus, and, therefore their rightful king already. Disappointed by his lack of luck in having a son, Acrisius consulted the Oracle at Delphi, who warned him that he would one day be killed by his daughter's son. His bones became stones. In a late version of the Medusa myth, related by the Roman poet Ovid, Medusa was originally a ravishingly beautiful maiden, the jealous aspiration of many suitors, but because Poseidon had raped her in Athenas temple, the enraged Athena transformed Medusas beautiful hair to serpents and made her face so terrible to behold that the mere sight of it would turn onlookers to stone. All stories of Medusa sprang from this event. In The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, a Gorgon travels to Sabrinas town. Any man who saw her face would turn to stone, and it was considered a feat that Perseus could survive her presence, let alone kill her. 2. The best-known story of Perseus and Dionysus comes from Nonnus, who wrote an entire biography of the bacchic god. The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao came out the same year and told the traditional story of Medusa. The coat of arms of the Dohalice village from the Czech Republic depicts Medusas head. Also in more modern art, the subject of Medusas head became quite popular. Medusa is also a character in the first installment of Rick Riordans Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and is portrayed by Uma Thurman in the 2010 film adaptation. All Rights Reserved. As she traveled, some of the serpents in her hair fell to the ground and slid away. The bronze polished shield was quite reflective, which came in very handy. She was also worshipped in many other cities, notably in Sparta. Apollodorus, Library: A mythological handbook from the first century BCE or the first few centuries CE. Hades gave Perseus the helmet of invisibility, Hermes his winged sandals, Hephaestus a mighty sword, and Athena a reflective bronze shield. The fields of Atlas contained the golden fruit, some of which the old Titan had previously given to Heracles. Garber, Marjorie, and Nancy Vickers. Themis was a Titaness (the female version of Titan), which was a generation of gods that came before the Olympians. Medusa wandered Africa for some time. Homer: Medusa is not named in the eighth-century BCE epics the Iliad and the Odyssey, but whenever Athena marches into battle, she is said to carry the head of the Gorgon on her armor. It is said that the priestesses of Chorea, women who followed Dionysus, were slaughtered by Perseus and his followers and dumped into a communal grave. In the versions that name Perseus, the story is grim. At the time of her death, no one knew that the creature was with child, one she hoped to raise with Poseidon. Webkaiser covid test reimbursement limit. Perseus stayed in Ethiopia where he met Andromeda, daughter of Cassiopeia. Zeus had intercourse with her in the shape of a stream of gold which poured through the roof into Danaes lap., Enraged that she was to fall pregnant, and believing that it was Proteus, not Zeus, that had gotten into the chamber, Acrisius dragged Danae back out of the chamber. How Did Perseus Save Andromeda From The Sea Monster? Herodotus names Perseus as the son of Danae but points out that it is unknown who his father may have been this compared to Heracles, whose father was Amphitryon. His entire body, including his head and hair, became part of a mountain range. Born centuries after the first appearance of Medusa, Freud later used her in his psychoanalysis. From c. 200 B.C. 2. Medusa also appears on television. Perseus was gone before they ever understood what had happened. Perseus was often represented in ancient times in the act of removing Medusas head. Medusa herself had a chilling face topped with serpents that sprang from her hair. A lot of focus is put on the Renaissance when learning art history. Being the favourite child of Zeus, she had great power. WebIn one version of the Medusa story, she was a gorgeous young woman who agreed to become one of Athenas priestesses. Giovanni Versace loved the Medusa legend so much that he chose her as the mascot of his clothing brand. In Egypt, there was a city called Khemmis, which Herodotus records had a temple to Perseus: The people of this Khemmis say that Perseus is seen often up and down this land, and often within the temple, and that the sandal he wears, which is four feet long, keeps turning up, and that when it does turn up, all Egypt prospers. Eventually, it died. Kapach, Avi. Legend says this is why so many of the desert areas in that region have so many snakes today. While flying over the vast land, Perseus noticed a woman of astonishing beauty standing naked with her hands bound on a rock. iPhone History: A Timeline of Every Model in Order The other two Gorgons were named Stheno and Euryale. The bronze tower has a single door at its base, which is guarded day and night, and at the top is a room fit for a princess, and one which Danae effectively finds herself a prisoner in. Hesiod, Theogony 29597 (though the reading of these lines is disputed). These children of Poseidon would go on to have their own stories in Greek mythology. To cite this article in an academic-style article or paper, use: Thomas Gregory, "Perseus: The Argive Hero of Greek Mythology", History Cooperative, September 24, 2022, https://historycooperative.org/perseus/. Accessed April 4, 2021. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DG%3Aentry+group%3D9%3Aentry%3Dgorgo-bio-1. Returning to the island of Seriphos, the Greek hero discovered his mother in hiding. Themis was one of the first twelve Titans, direct descendants of Gaea (Mother Earth) and Uranus (Father Sky), the first beings to ever In Clash of the Titans from 1981, she was a standard villain. She was usually represented as a winged female creature having a head of hair consisting of snakes; unlike the Gorgons, she was sometimes represented as very beautiful. She also appeared in the 2010 remake as a monster with a serpentine lower body. Separated from her sisters and unable to find love, Medusa wandered through the African desert. Medusa. Mythopedia, March 11, 2023. https://mythopedia.com/topics/medusa. Krauskopf, Ingrid. In Pompeii, a fresco shows an infant Perseus, holding aloft the Gorgons head, and this pose is replicated in statues and artwork around Greece. [19], According to Ovid, the corals of the Red Sea were formed when Perseus set Medusas head down in the seaweed after saving Andromeda. In order to keep Dana childless, Acrisius imprisoned her in a bronze chamber, open to the sky, in the courtyard of his palace: This mytheme is also connected to Ares, Oenopion, Eurystheus, and others. Many of the women only knew her as a monster and not what she looked like before. However, Atlas also remembered the sayings of an Oracle, as told by Themis. In feminism Medusa is known as a symbol of rage even though she was originally exceedingly beautiful. According to another tradition, however, the head was kept in the city of Athens, buried underneath a mound in the agora.[22].
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