Many Faced Medusa

The Myth

Medusa was one of three sisters known as the Gorgons, who lived on the outskirts of the inhabited world. They were born from Keto and Phorkys, sea deities, descendants of Pontos. This is also the origin of the mythic creatures the sirens, the Graiai, and Echidna, who mothered Scylla, the harpies, and the Hydra. The Gorgons are described and often shown with large heads, boar tusks, dragon scales, brazen hands, golden wings, and hideous faces whose gaze would famously turn anyone who looked upon them to stone. And while Medusa is known to have been abducted and raped by Poseidon, the Gorgons are most known for their involvement in Perseus’s tale.

Perseus was born from the god Zeus and the mortal Dannaë, making him one of many heroes by the Greek definition. His story follows the standards of a classic folktale hero’s quest, where a task seen as a suicide mission is assigned to the hero by a malevolent king. Perseus happened upon this task by boasting that he would retrieve the head of a Gorgon as a wedding present.

As hero tales go, Perseus is assisted by the Gods, Hermes and Athena, and the Nymphs, who help him collect a few items to help him in his task. The main tools seen in depictions are the kibisis, which is a pouch to put the head in, and a bronze shield to use as a mirror to avoid their gaze that would turn him to stone.

When he found the sleeping Gorgons, Athena guided him in beheading Medusa. Depending on the story, Pegasus, a winged horse, and Chrysaor, a man, are either born from Medusa’s neck or her blood touching the ground.

As with the construct of the hero’s story, on the way back, he finds, frees, and marries a princess who was chained to a rock, meant to be a sacrifice to the ocean gods. Upon presenting the head to the King, the King and his group are turned to stone. The head is then given to Athena, which she fixes to her shield.

Cycles of Change

The Perseus myth became popular in the Archaic Period, with many depictions of the act of beheading Medusa. However, the symbol of Medusa herself was also extremely potent, with many examples of sculpture of just her. This is often the Gorgoneion, or an image of only Medusa’s head, believed to repel evil with her powerful gaze. The Gorgoneion appears to be the first representation of Medusa, but her image evolved in stages.

Statues of the Gorgon Medusa then appeared, still grotesque but full-figured. The feminization of these monsters served to demonize women, so even if they were wronged by a man, their

rage and desperation were judged as deviant and a threat to society. Yet, or maybe because of this, the Gorgon Medusa was prominently placed on temples and other sculptures.

This leads us to the most drastic change in appearance, Maiden Medusa, which occurred in the 5th century when she, the sirens, sphinxes, and the sea monster Sylla, all demonized women, were reexamined and humanized. The mode of thought that drove this was the sensibilities of the classical period, which honored harmony and proportion. The Maiden Medusa image allowed artists, particularly vase painters, to flip the script and challenge the Hero’s tale as perverse.

I aim to highlight the shifts in the portrayal of the Gorgoneion, the Gorgon, and Medusa as a maiden, by art form; vase painting, sculpture, or coins and accessories. Vase paintings were mass-produced and traded, and this focused on popular scenes. There were plenty of nuanced moods, but in contrast to other forms, included humor. This is where Maiden Medusa is most often found. Sculptures of the Gorgoneion and the Gorgon Medusa were widespread, but as the settings were oft places of public gatherings, civic duties and protective qualities became the lens through which each of these aspects shone. Coins represented local cults and myths, and the Gorgoneion image is seen on coins originating from many places, evidence of the importance and spread of the mythic Medusa.

The Gorgoneion

The Gorgoneion seems to have appeared first which caused speculation into what was indeed being depicted. Few presented the idea that this form could have germinated as a mask that would shift the myth to Perseus as the collector of this mask. The mask was thought to be a part of rituals in which the wearer embodied the spirit of the underworld and was then ceremoniously cast out. In his attempt to prove this notion, Croon traced the myth through coins, hot springs that were centers for cults relating to the underworld, and other indicators of the myth’s travel. He wanted to investigate if there was a Medusa before Perseus. In his search, Croon mentions “J. T. Bent informs us that the inhabitants of Seriphos brought him ancient coins with the Medusa, saying that it was a picture of the first queen.” He uses this to deepen his investigation, but this also illustrates the reverence that being featured on the coin holds, and that Medusa was also found here.

While Croon and others presented and defended the mask concept well, A.I. Frothingham presents a rich body of evidence and a strong argument for the connection between a Cretan Mother-Nature Goddess and Medusa that cannot be ignored, and proves a figure of Medusa existing before Perseus. This Cretan Goddess of destruction and creation, and the Medusa Gorgon, shared specific attributes linked to nature, creation, and destruction, such as snakes, lions, birds, and agricultural goods. These images were traced through images minted on coins.

Fothingham presents the idea that the ancient deity adopted into Medusa was first associated with the sun. This was because Medusa was often associated with Apollo, including found

Archaic coins which have one of them on each side. She also cites a Gorgeion “appears in the centre of the triquetrum in the coinage of Sicily, beginning with Agathocles, later connecting that Sicily was known as “The Isle of the Sun”. The coins from these areas featuring the Gorgoneion represented the image of the sun better than an entire figure would; her face and chaotic hair flowing outward allude to the sun and its rays. These connections in coins allow us to track where the archetype of the Gorgon Medusa came from, and how the Greek society accepted some aspects but rejected others.

The aspect of creation was largely left behind in the Greek interpretation of this deity. Instead, the Gorgeion was seen as grotesque and destructive, and in that way served as a symbol of protection. Medusa’s disembodied head became correlated with protection as her mythic gaze would turn men to stone. Her disembodied face is seen repetitively on temples and other structures as a means of protection. Her face is often grotesque and sometimes bestial, including tusks, wings, wide-open mouths, and protruding tongues. This image of mighty destruction lent itself to accessories, including shields and other tools of warriors. Besides the association with protective abilities, Perseus’s myth concludes with Athena affixing the Gorgon’s head onto her shield, which most probably contributed to this practice and was seen as a tribute to Athena, a Goddess of wisdom and war.

Medusa and the Beasts

It seems that Medusa Gorgon came out from the prototype of the Supreme Cretan Goddess, but the Greek culture, centered around the male citizen, affected the image of Medusa. The full figure of the Gorgon Medusa matures with the sculpture, Gorgon at Corcyra, $ seen here$ , $ $ prominently displayed as a “Great-Mother” figure, with several of the Cretan attributes present. Frothingham describes Medusa’s moment of projecting as a mother figure: "Medusa is conceived here, therefore, as the Great Mother, as both a serpent goddess and a mistress of beasts. She is the mother of Pegasus and Chrysaor as a living goddess and not as a beheaded mortal.”

However, despite being represented with her own creations, she and her creations are surrounded by war scenes. The Gigantomachy to the right and the Trojan War to the left emphasize destruction and conquest. It is interesting to note that one war is of man, and the other is of beasts, corresponding to her offspring being both man and beast. It would seem that, in this way, she is the creator of figures of destruction, but not an actor in the warring scenes. Though the theme is heavily destructive, Medusa’s stature being more prominent than the war scenes symbolizes that she is of a grander force, and while, perhaps a spirit inspiring destruction, she is not one to act on destructive impulses.

Medusa The Maiden

In the shift during the Classical Periods, the Greeks sought a new image of beauty through proportions and harmony, humanizing many of the demonized, female mythic figures. The Gorgon Medusa shifted into the Maiden Medusa, a figure that embodied the beautiful over the dangerous presentations of the past. The Maiden Medusa’s portrayal complicates the storyline of the hero, particularly seen painted on vases. The mass-produced quality and the artists' freedom within the art form of vase painting led to a plethora of mythic readings, with different emotional goals.

The Gorgon Medusa has been shown being slain in many public sculptures, all revering Perseus as a hero as a part of the propaganda of a male-warrior-centered society, $ as seen here$ . $ In this depiction$ , Maiden Medusa is seen as part-horse, part-human, with Perseus about to behead her. While the reference to horses could be read as a connection to Pegasus, who she births from her blood, or to Poseidon, who is known as the creator and tamer of horses, Topper provides context to the symbolism of horses outside of mythic associations and cuts to the heart of the message. Unwed maidens were often associated with wild horses; a creature to be domesticated and, in the maiden’s case, was domesticated through marriage. These associations are so potent that Greek wedding rites used language that alluded to this very concept. By the time of this painting, horses were not animals to be considered for sacrifice, for the similar reason of their usefulness in domestication. Within this context, the vase painting unveils the pitiful act of a so-called hero, as the Maiden Medusa faces out in acceptance of her fate. Another image that perverts the Hero’s story is the scene of Perseus among the sleeping Gorgons. In this context, the Gorgons are presented as maidens and highlight the backhanded nature of his attack, carried out at their most vulnerable state.

The Comedy of Medusa

The abduction of Medusa by Poseidon was not as popular a myth as Perseus slaying the Gorgon, but tales of abduction by a hero or deity were vast, to the point of being recognized as a trope. Being now seen as a beautiful maiden, Medusa’s image became a part of the mythic Greek trope of the abducted maiden. The storyline of the abducted maiden begins as a group of maidens together, when one of the maidens is then singled out as an exceptional beauty, which a hero or god then abducts and often rapes them. This pattern applies to the stories of Persephone, Thetis, Helen, and more. There is a tale where Artemis is also being pursued, but she fools the hero by smearing mud on her and the other maidens’ faces, so he cannot tell which one she is. In Medusa’s case, she had been singled out from among her sisters and raped by Poseidon. However, Medusa's stories appear to be liked by artists who twist and critique the myths as they are known.

We just discussed how killing Medusa could be seen as pathetic. $ Here$ , the artist explores twisting the abduction trope into a humorous scene at the expense of Perseus. In vase paintings of abductions, the hero is often depicted chasing a particular maiden, and the chase is depicted around the vase, $ as seen here$ . A typical production of the abduction myth, the hero is steadily, threateningly (as he is wielding a weapon) pursuing the maiden, who appears to be

looking behind her while attempting to escape. The story of Medusa being slain while she and her sisters slept allowed for a play on the hero’s chase; $ the previous image$ showed the Gorgon chasing Perseus instead. The scene is after he has beheaded Medusa in her sleep, as he carries her head while running away. This plays upon the expectations of the chase, sexuality, and casts Perseus as a coward; a man who beheaded a sleeping maiden and is armed but won’t fight, still fleeing from the beautiful maiden. This reversal has the comedic sensibility of a cartoon chase; Tom the cat torments Jerry the mouse in his sleep, somehow, but turns around and flees as soon as Jerry wakes and pulls out a giant hammer from behind him.

Medusa Forever

One could say Medusa’s origins as a Supreme Goddess of Cretan times became sullied in the Greek vision. Images of her head that first appeared alluded to her demise and her power being stripped from her, and used by others. But the representation of Medusa has carried on for centuries, creating an archetype recognized even today, a testament to a powerful woman. In Greek times, she was dismissed as a creator and made to fit the vision of a destructive Gorgon, even as the myth describes her being slain only for a hero’s boast. This irony did not seem to have been lost as the Classical Period provided for such powerful depictions of a woman wronged and a cowardly hero; vase painters depicting the Maiden Medusa, a quasi-feminist figure, pulling the rug out from under the male-dominated view. Medusa has evolved from art form to art form, to embody all these attitudes, and even more as her image and story survive in culture today.

Cook, Brian F. “Two Medusa-Head Friezes.” The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal, vol. 1, 1974, pp. 33–36. JSTOR, www.jstor.org.queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu/stable/4166311.

Croon, J. H. “The Mask of the Underworld Daemon-Some Remarks on the Perseusgorgon Story.” The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 75, 1955, pp. 9–16.

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Frothingham, A.l. “Medusa, Apollo, And The Great Mother.” Medusa, Apollo, and the Great Mother, 2009, pp. 349–376., doi:10.31826/9781463220440-001.

Topper, Kathryn. “Maidens, Fillies and the Death of Medusa on a Seventh-Century Pithos.” The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 130, 2010, pp. 109–119. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41722534.

Topper, Kathryn. “Perseus, the Maiden Medusa, and the Imagery of Abduction.” Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, vol. 76, no. 1, 2007, pp. 73–105. JSTOR, www.jstor.org.queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu/stable/25068013.