Then he grew to an immense height in every part (so you gods determined) and the whole sky, with its many stars, rested on him. What had been his head before was the crest on the mountain summit. Now his hair and beard were changed into trees, his shoulders and hands into ridges. Atlas became a mountain, as huge as he himself had been. Inferior in strength (who could equal Atlas in strength?), he said, ‘Well now, since you show me so little kindness, accept a gift’ and turning away himself, he held out Medusa’s foul head, on his left hand side. Perseus delaying resolutely, and combining that with calm words. However, it was certainly not because Medusa could not turn gods to stone Perseus turned Atlas, a Titan, to stone (again according to Ovid): And now, to terrify her enemies, numbing them with fear, the goddess wears the snakes, that she created, as a breastplate.’īecause Ovid (that translation anyway) says "terrify" and not "turn to stone", it would suggest that Athena didn't actually wear the entire head in her armor, just the snakes which perhaps on their own didn't turn anyone to stone. So that it might not go unpunished, she changed the Gorgon’s hair to foul snakes. Jupiter’s daughter turned away, and hid her chaste eyes behind her aegis. He then returned to Seriphus and rescued his mother by turning Polydectes and his supporters to stone at the sight of Medusa’s head.Well, according to Ovid, she din't put Medusa's entire head on the shield, just the snakes from her hair: (According to another version, the Graiae merely directed him to the Stygian Nymphs, who told him where to find the Gorgons and gave him the bag, sandals, and helmet Hermes gave him the sword.) Because the gaze of Medusa turned all who looked at her to stone, Perseus guided himself by her reflection in a shield given him by Athena and beheaded Medusa as she slept. After Perseus had grown up on the island of Seriphus, where the chest had grounded, King Polydectes of Seriphus, who desired Danaë, tricked Perseus into promising to obtain the head of Medusa, the only mortal among the Gorgons.Īided by Hermes and Athena, Perseus pressed the Graiae, sisters of the Gorgons, into helping him by seizing the one eye and one tooth that the sisters shared and not returning them until they provided him with winged sandals (which enabled him to fly), the cap of Hades (which conferred invisibility), a curved sword, or sickle, to decapitate Medusa, and a bag in which to conceal the head. As an infant he was cast into the sea in a chest with his mother by Acrisius, to whom it had been prophesied that he would be killed by his grandson. The shields power works even if the target closes or covers their eyes, because it passes through blindfold and eyelid, and goes directly into the retinas. Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danaë, the daughter of Acrisius of Argos. Algol can use the legendary Medusa Shield (based on the Greek mythological monster, Medusa), that can transform anyone who looks directly to it into stone. Perseus, in Greek mythology, the slayer of the Gorgon Medusa and the rescuer of Andromeda from a sea monster. SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!.Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them! Perseus continued to use Medusa’s severed head as a potent weapon before conceding it to the goddess Athena, who attached it to her shield. Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century. Medusa’s reign of terror ended when the hero Perseus tricked her - with the help of the gods - by using a mirrored shield to avoid gazing at her, and beheaded her.Britannica Beyond We’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning.100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.COVID-19 Portal While this global health crisis continues to evolve, it can be useful to look to past pandemics to better understand how to respond today.Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Clash of the Titans (1981) 1. She was portrayed by Natalia Vodianova in the 2010 film. Student Portal Britannica is the ultimate student resource for key school subjects like history, government, literature, and more. Medusa is a major antagonist in the 1981 film Clash of the Titans and its 2010 remake of the same name.
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