Thus, the description of Medusa changed from one of an alluring lady, as Ovid describes in Metamorphoses: Stone carved panel of the head of Medusa. When Athena discovered the sea god had ravaged Medusa in her shrine she sought vengeance by transforming Medusa’s hair into snakes, so that anyone who gazed at her directly would be turned into stone. Her beauty caught the eye of Poseidon, who desired her and proceeded to ravage her in Athena’s shrine. In this work, Ovid describes Medusa as originally being a beautiful maiden. By contrast, a more comprehensive account of Perseus and Medusa can be found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Why Did Medusa Get Cursed?Īlthough Hesiod gives an account of Medusa’s origins and the death of Medusa at the hands of Perseus, he does not say more about her. But she is also the most famous and the myth of her demise at the hands of Perseus is often recounted. Of the three, only Medusa is said to be mortal. According to this ancient author, the three sisters, Sthenno, Euryale, and Medusa, were the children of Phorcys and Ceto and lived “beyond famed Oceanus at the world’s edge hard by Night”.
In ancient Greek mythology, Medusa is the most famous of three monstrous sisters known as the Gorgons. The earliest known record about the story of Medusa and the Gorgons can be found in Hesiod’s Theogony.
