Medusa was one of three gorgons, all dreadful and fearsome beasts. As a beautiful mortal, Medusa was the exception in the family, until she incurred the wrath of Athena. So all of medusa's siblings were monsters by birth, even though she wasn't born a monster. She had the misfortune of being turned into the most hideous of them all, but it wasn't always like that. Medusa being the only mortal among the gorgon sisters, was also distinguished from them by the fact that she alone was born with a beautiful face.
However, the great sea god Poseidon seemed to have admired her a little bit too much. Poseidon raped medusa and impregnated her on the stairs of the temple of Athena enraged the virgin goddess. Athena transformed Medusa's enchanting hair into a coil of serpents, turning the youngest gorgon sister into a monster. Then when medusa was asleep, Perseus using the reflection of Athena's bronze shield as a guide, so as not to look straight into medusa's eyes to turn to stone, managed to cut off her head. Remember, Medusa was pregnant during her time of death and according to legend her two unborn children suddenly sprang from her neck. Once, the gorgon sisters were awake, they did their best to avenge their sister's death but they couldn't see or catch Perseus since he was wearing Hades cap of invisibility and wearing her maize winged sandals.
Once Perseus gave Medusa's head to Athena, she collected some of the remaining blood. Apparently the blood that was flowing in Medusa's left side had the power to take people's lives and the blood flowing on her right side had the power to raise people back from the dead. One of the reasons why I love Medusa is because she was an unusual yet divine feminine figure in history. Another thing that I also admire is that she was a mortal when she was alive. She wasn't always a fearsome monster, she was turned into one -out of jealousy. And even after her death, she still retained power. So although Medusa was beheaded, her head retained the ability to turn onlookers into stone.
Fun Fact: Medusa used to wear a belt of intertwined snakes which was depicted as a fertility symbol. In this story, the gorgon was made out of terror. But again, Medusa was not always a monster- she was turned into one. Although throughout history she was depicted as an ugly monster that people feared - she was a beautiful mortal who had a divine goddesses jealous of her.
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