Medusa 392192 224957475 2008-07-11T04:53:03Z Bakilas 1872772 [[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 224956309 by [[Special:Contributions/70.253.189.38|70.253.189.38]] ([[User talk:70.253.189.38|talk]]) {{otheruses}} [[Image:Medusa by Carvaggio.jpg|right|thumb|200px|''Medusa'', by [[Caravaggio]] (1571-1610)]] {{Greek myth}} In [[Greek mythology]], '''Medusa''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: Μέδουσα (Médousa), "guardian, protectress, queen"<ref>Medousa: [[Greek language|Greek]]: Μέδουσα (Médousa), protect, rule over"; compare [[Medon]], [[Medea]], [[Diomedes]]. Probably the feminine present participle of ''medein'', "to protect, rule over" (''[[American Heritage Dictionary]]''; compare [[Medon]], [[Medea]], [[Diomedes]], ''etc.''). If not, it is from the same root, and is formed after the participle. ''[[OED]]'' 2001 revision, ''s.v.''; [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2365585 medein] in [[LSJ]].</ref>), a sea nymph, was one of three [[gorgon]] sisters, and the most beautiful. She was courted by [[Poseidon]], and made love to him in a temple of [[Athena]]. Furious, Athena transformed Medusa into a monstrous [[chthonic]] beast with snakes instead of hair, whose frightening face could turn onlookers to stone. She was beheaded while sleeping by the hero [[Perseus]], who thereafter used her head as a weapon<ref>{{ cite web | last=Bullfinch | first=Thomas | url=http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/tbulfinch/bl-tbulfinch-age-15.htm | title=Bulfinch Mythology - Age of Fable - Stories of Gods & Heroes | quote=...and turning his face away, he held up the Gorgon’s head. Atlas, with all his bulk, was changed into stone. | accessdate=2007-09-07 }}</ref> until giving it to the goddess [[Athena]] to place on her [[Aegis|shield]]. Medusa having coupled with Poseidon previously, two beings sprang from her body when she was beheaded. One, [[Pegasus]], was a winged horse later tamed by [[Bellerophon]] to help him kill the [[chimera]]. The other, [[Chrysaor]] of the Golden Sword, remains relatively unknown today. In [[classical antiquity]] and today, the image of the head of Medusa finds expression in the [[apotrope|evil-averting device]] known as the ''[[Gorgoneion]]''.<ref>A classic example of [[apotropaic magic]].</ref> In 1940, [[Sigmund Freud]]'s ''Das Medusenhaupt ([[Medusa's Head]]'') was published posthumously. This article laid the framework for his significant contribution to a body of criticism surrounding the monster. Medusa is presented as “the supreme [[Amulet|talisman]] who provides the image of [[castration]] -- associated in the child's mind with the discovery of maternal sexuality -- and its rejection. The snakes are multiple phalluses and petrifaction represents the comforting erection.”<ref>[http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/bogan/medusamyth.htm according to myth if you look into medusa>'s ayes you will turn into stone and it is i reversible History]</ref><ref>''Das Medusenhaupt ([[Medusa's Head]]''. First published posthumously. Int. Z. Psychoanal. Imago, 25 (1940), 105; reprinted Ges. W., 17,47. The manuscript is dated May 14, 1922, and appears to be a sketch for a more extensive work. Translation, reprinted from Int. J. Psychoanal.,22 (1941), 69; by James Strachey.</ref><ref>Psycho-Anal., 83:895-911.</ref> ===Feminism=== [[Image:Medusa Bernini Musei Capitolini.jpg|thumb|left|90px|Medusa by [[Bernini]]]] In the 20th century, [[feminists]] reassessed Medusa's appearances in literature and in modern culture, including the use of Medusa as a [[logo]] by fashion company [[Gianni Versace S.p.A.|Versace]].<ref>Pratt, A. (1994). Archetypal empowerment in poetry: Medusa, Aphrodite, Artemis, and bears : a gender comparison. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253208653</ref><ref>Stephenson, A. G. (1997). [http://worldcat.org/oclc/39703715 Endless the Medusa]: a feminist reading of Medusan imagery and the myth of the hero in Eudora Welty's novels. </ref><ref>Garber, Marjorie. ''The Medusa Reader'', [[24 February]] [[2003]], ISBN 0-415-90099-9.</ref> The attack on Medusa is discussed as a potential example of violence against women or [[rape]]. The name "Medusa" itself is often used in ways not directly connected to the mythological figure but to suggest the gorgon's abilities or to [[connotation|connote]] malevolence; despite her origins as a beauty, the name in common usage "came to mean monster."<ref>''The Medusa Reader'', Introduction, pg. 1</ref> The book ''Female Rage: Unlocking Its Secrets, Claiming Its Power'' by Mary Valentis and Anne Devane notes that "When we asked women what female rage looks like to them, it was always Medusa, the snake-haired monster of myth, who came to mind ... In one interview after another we were told that Medusa is 'the most horrific woman in the world' ... [though] none of the women we interviewed could remember the details of the myth."<ref>''Medusa: Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon'', pg. 218.</ref> == Medusa in art== [[Image:Rubens Medusa.jpeg|thumb|300px|''Tête de Méduse'', by [[Peter Paul Rubens]] (1618)]] [[Image:MedusaFlorence.JPG|right|thumb|150px|The head of Medusa held aloft by Perseus, from a copy of the statue by Cellini outside of the Palazzo Vecchio in [[Florence]].]] {{main|Cultural depictions of Medusa and gorgons}} From ancient times, the Medusa was immortalized in numerous works of art, including: * Medusa on the breastplate of [[Alexander the Great]], as depicted in the [[Alexander Mosaic]] from [[Pompeii]]'s [[House of the Faun]] (c. 200 BC) *''[[Medusa Rondanini]]'', a Roman copy of the ''[[Gorgoneion]]'' on the [[aegis]] of [[Athena]] *[[Medusa (Leonardo da Vinci)|''Medusa'']] (oil on canvas) by [[Leonardo da Vinci]] *[[:Image:PerseusSignoriaStatue.jpg|''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'']] (bronze sculpture) by [[Benvenuto Cellini]] (1554) *[[Medusa (Caravaggio)|''Medusa'']] (oil on canvas) by [[Caravaggio]] (1597). * ''Bust of Medusa'' (marble sculpture) by [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]] (1644-1648)<ref>[http://en.museicapitolini.org/museo/restauri/restauro_del_busto_di_medusa_di_gian_lorenzo_bernini Restoration of the bust of Medusa], [[Capitoline Museum]], [[Rome]].</ref> *''Tête de Méduse'', by [[Peter Paul Rubens]] (1618) *[[:Image:Persus-with-the-head-of-med.jpg|''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'']] (marble sculpture) by [[Antonio Canova]] (1801) *[[:Image:Medusa.jpg|''Medusa'']] (oil on canvas) by [[Arnold Böcklin]] (c. 1878) *[[:Image:Dalí.Perseo.JPG|''Perseus'']] (bronze sculpture) by [[Salvador Dalí]] Accompanied by a revival of the legend by [[Thomas Bulfinch]]'s ''Mythology'', "Medusa had become a common theme in art" by the nineteenth century. [[Edward Burne-Jones]]' [[List of paintings by Edward Burne-Jones#The Perseus Cycle (1875-90s)|Perseus Cycle]] of paintings and a drawing by [[Aubrey Beardsley]] gave way to the twentieth century works of [[Paul Klee]], [[John Singer Sargent]], [[Pablo Picasso]], and [[Auguste Rodin]]'s bronze sculpture ''The Gates of Hell''.<ref>Wilk, Stephen R. ''Medusa: Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon'', [[26 June]] [[2000]], pg. 200, ISBN 0-195-12431-6.</ref> ==See also== {{commons|Medusa}} *[[Apotropaic magic#Apotropaic symbols|Apotropaic symbols]] *[[Caput Medusae (disambiguation)|Caput Medusae]] *[[Gorgon]] *[[Theodontius]] ==Notes== {{reflist|2}} ==References== ===Primary sources=== *Servius, 'Commentary on ''Aeneid'' vi.289 *Lucan, ''Bellum civile'' ix.624-684 *Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'' iv.774-785, 790-801 ===Secondary sources=== *[[Jane Ellen Harrison]], (1903) 3rd ed. 1922. ''Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion'': "The Ker as Gorgon" ==External links== * [http://rg.ancients.info/medusa/ Ancient coins depicting Medusa] * [http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/bogan/medusamyth.htm "Medusa in Myth and Literary History" - English.uiuc.edu] * [http://www.infoplease.com/t/lit/shelley/2/5/18.html ''On the Medusa of Leonardo Da Vinci in the Florentine Gallery''], by [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]] * [http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Gorgones.html Theoi Project, Medousa & the Gorgones] References to Medusa and her sisters in classical literature and art * [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/classes/finALp.html "Medusa as an Archetype"] [[Category:Greek mythology]] [[Category:Greek legendary creatures]] [[Category:Motif of harmful sensation]] [[ar:ميدوسا]] [[br:Medousa]] [[bg:Медуза (митология)]] [[ca:Medusa (mitologia)]] [[cs:Medusa]] [[da:Medusa]] [[de:Medusa (Mythologie)]] [[el:Μέδουσα (μυθολογία)]] [[es:Medusa (mitología)]] [[eo:Meduzo (mitologio)]] [[fa:مدوزا]] [[fr:Méduse (mythologie)]] [[hr:Meduza (mitologija)]] [[is:Medúsa]] [[it:Medusa (mitologia)]] [[he:מדוזה (מיתולוגיה)]] [[la:Medusa]] [[lt:Medūza (mitologija)]] [[nl:Medusa (mythologie)]] [[ja:メドゥーサ]] [[no:Medusa]] [[pl:Meduza (mitologia)]] [[pt:Medusa (mitologia)]] [[ro:Medusa]] [[ru:Горгона Медуза]] [[simple:Medusa]] [[sk:Medúza (mytológia)]] [[sl:Meduza (mitologija)]] [[sr:Медуза (митологија)]] [[sh:Meduza (mitologija)]] [[fi:Medusa]] [[sv:Medusa]] [[th:เมดูซ่า]] [[vi:Medusa]] [[tr:Medusa]] [[uk:Медуза (міфологія)]] [[zh:美杜莎]]