Medusa

Three sisters, one mortal

Medusa is one of the three Gorgons, sisters whose gaze turns people to stone. The early Greek poet Hesiod places them beyond Ocean, at the edge of the world, near the land of Night. They are Sthenno, Euryale and Medusa, daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. Sthenno and Euryale never grow old and cannot die. Medusa alone is mortal.

Apollodorus, an ancient writer whose Library retells the Greek myths, says this is exactly why the hero Perseus is sent after her and not after either sister. He also describes the Gorgons. They have dragon scales coiled around their heads, tusks like a boar’s, hands of bronze and wings of gold. His description fits all three sisters.

Neither writer tells a story in which Medusa begins as a human woman. The familiar tale of a priestess turned into a monster comes from the Roman poet Ovid, in a poem written centuries later. It does not belong in the accounts of Hesiod or Apollodorus.

The task and the shield

Perseus is sent for the head by Polydectes, a king. Medusa poses no threat to his kingdom. Polydectes wants to get rid of Perseus. The task turns her deadly gaze into something useful to men who never meet her.

Perseus finds Medusa asleep. He comes close without looking at her. The goddess Athena holds up a polished bronze shield so that he can watch Medusa’s reflection and not Medusa herself. Athena guides his hand. Perseus turns his face away and cuts through her neck with a sickle, a curved blade, that the god Hermes gave him. Each tool in the plan is there because looking at her directly would turn the killer to stone.

Perseus carries the head away in a special bag called the kibisis. From then on, he can uncover it against his enemies. Her power has become his weapon.

What comes from the wound

As Perseus cuts off the head, two sons spring from the wound: Pegasus and Chrysaor. Hesiod makes the god Poseidon their father. He says the horse Pegasus was named for the springs of Ocean, near the place where he was born. Pegasus later reaches the house of the god Zeus and carries his thunder and lightning. Chrysaor becomes the father of Geryon, another figure the hero Heracles will later kill.

Medusa appears once more in Apollodorus, but by then she has no body. Heracles goes down into the underworld at Tainaron to fetch Cerberus, the hound of Hades. All the dead flee from him except Meleager and Medusa. Heracles draws his sword, but Hermes stops him: this Gorgon is only an empty shade, a ghost. The warning is needed only because Perseus has already cut off the dangerous head.

The Gorgon on the temple at Corfu

Around 580 BC, a Gorgon was carved for the temple of the goddess Artemis at Corcyra, the ancient city on the island of Corfu. She sits at the centre of the west pediment, the triangular space under the roof at the end of the temple. The figure is cut in limestone. She faces straight out, with bent legs as if running, and wings. Leopards stand on either side of her. Smaller scenes fill the narrowing corners, including Zeus fighting a giant. Her son Chrysaor appears beside her.

The pediment is 22.16 metres wide, and the original is still on Corfu.

A face made to be seen

The carving does not show Perseus coming near. No killer and no mirror appear in it. The Gorgon’s fixed stare faces everyone who stands in front of the temple. The feared face is put to work protecting the building of Artemis. On Corfu, Medusa is the temple image made to be seen first, and not the sleeping victim Perseus avoids seeing.

This change of use is already in the myth. While the face is part of Medusa, it kills anyone who looks. Once cut off, it protects Perseus and Athena. The temple carving makes that protective use permanent and leaves out the killing. The Corcyra Gorgon reaches outward with both her children beside her. In the story of Perseus, she can only appear with her head put away in a bag.