The earliest versions of the Gorgons connected them to sharp reefs and the storms that could drive ships onto them. They noted that in the myths there was never an instance of Medusa turning a woman to stone. Furthermore, the poisonous vipers of the Sahara, in the Argonautica 4.1515, Ovid's Metamorphoses 4.770 and Lucan's Pharsalia 9.820, were said to have grown from spilt drops of her blood. the primordial human, the prime carrier of melanin, the supreme being of the universe and mother of humanity, Greek Philosophers Didn't "Discover" Anything, They Stole It From Ancient Egypt, Dr. Ben: The 10 Commandments Of The Bible Originate From Egyptian 'Book Of The Dead', If It Wasn't For These Two Black Men The Modern Cell Phone Would Not Exist, The Story Of Medusa Is About European Fear Of African Spirituality, Melanin And Black Women With Power, Black Millennials Are Leaving Religion To Discover The Truth About Everything In The Universe, Africans Lived In America Before Atlantic Slave Trade Ever Happened And Built Civilizations, Virginia Teen Dies After Summoning Ancient Haitian VooDoo Deity Papa Legba, The Biochemical Melanin Found In Black People Is Worth 8 Times More Than Gold, How To Grow Wicks - Dreadlocks The Florida Way, Stop Thinking Like A Slave And Start Thinking Like A God With An Abundance Mindset, KRS-One: Boys Have Replaced Real Men In Mainstream Hip Hop, This Black Entrepreneur Created The #1 Blog For Melanated Minds In The Universe, The Black Woman Is A Supreme Being And The Mother Of All Humanity, Learning To Control Your Emotions And Find Peace Within Is How You Increase In Power. Perseus Receives Gifts from the Gods . Soldiers used Medusa’s head on their shields and armor, emulating the image of Athena, in an attempt to ward off death itself. The Gorgon/Medusa image has been rapidly adopted by large numbers of feminists who recognize her as one face of our own rage. Perseus used the same stealth he had practiced with the Graeae to sneak close. They were associated with rocks, which when hidden below the surface of the water spelled disaster for ships passing by. When Athena heard the cries of the Gorgons as they cried for their sister, she sought to emulate their mournful sounds. So it was extremely important to demonize black women (as they still continue to do now), with hopes of shifting the caucasian global minority into a more dominant position within the exponentially growing, genetically dominant melanated masses. 1922. She turned the young woman into a terrible monster. Other tales say that Medusa’s head was used to destroy the great sea monster that threatened to devour Andromeda. The final treasure of the Hesperides was the winged sandals of Hermes. Looking only at the monster’s reflection in the shining metal of the shield, he could creep forward without danger. The second treasure was the magical helmet of Hades, given to him by the Cyclops in the Titanomachy. My name is Mike and for as long as I can remember (too long!) Another example is the coat of arms of Dohalice village in the Czech Republic. Their genealogy is shared with other sisters, the Graeae, as in Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound, which places both trinities of sisters far off "on Kisthene's dreadful plain": While ancient Greek vase-painters and relief carvers imagined Medusa and her sisters as beings born of monstrous form, sculptors and vase-painters of the fifth century began to envisage her as being beautiful as well as terrifying. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. (If you have any references please leave it in the comment section or in the forum.). Phorcys and Keto were also the parents of three other monstrous sisters – the Graeae. "[9] Psychoanalysis continue archetypal literary criticism to the present day: Beth Seelig analyzes Medusa's punishment from the aspect of the crime of having been raped rather than having willingly consented in Athena's temple as an outcome of the goddess' unresolved conflicts with her own father, Zeus. Perseus stuffed the head of Medusa in the bag and made his escape. The only difference between Medusa and a human, or even a goddess, was the snakes that crowned her head. James in “Stolen Legacy“, John G. Jackson in “Christianity Before Christ“, John G. Jackson in “Introduction to African Civilizations“, Martin Bernal in “Black Athena“, and I’m sure there’s more sources out there. Nonetheless, I’m still not able to directly prove through a scholarly reference that the story of Medusa is of African Origin or about Black Women. In Greek mythology Medusa (Greek: Μέδουσα (Médousa), "guardian, protectress") was a monster, a Gorgon, generally described as having the face of a hideous human female with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Mythology. When the feminist movement reexamined the legend, they came to a much different interpretation of Medusa than the Greeks subscribed to. In an unusual and macabre turn of events, Medusa’s death was only the beginning of her adventures. [16][17] In this interpretation of Medusa, attempts to avoid looking into her eyes represent avoiding the ostensibly depressing reality that the universe is meaningless. Perseus then flew to Seriphos, where his mother was about to be forced into marriage with the king. Combining two traditionally popular images, that of a beautiful woman’s face and that of coiling snakes, she is chosen to represent both her modern power and her ancient demonism. Does this sound familiar? Medusa’s head was still treated as a frightening object, even when it was shown as being almost entirely human. His first mission was to find and defeat the Graeae. When Heracles was sent there, all the souls of Hades fled from him. More than ever before, the popular view of Medusa is a complex one. 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."[15]. Even this was not the end of the story for Medusa’s head, however. Medusa was a temptress among the gods, and Poseidon had impregnated the mortal while in the temple of Athena. Medusa’s body was often shown as abnormally large and disproportionate. In the underworld, too, she appeared. The vision of Medusa as a victim of tyranny continues today. The inclusion of Medusa in the center implies the protection of the goddess Athena, who wore the Gorgon's likeness on her aegis, as said above. The earliest stories of Medusa said that she always had a terrible, inhuman form. Perseus, who was the son of Zeus, had help from the … The three Gorgon sisters—Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale—were all children of the ancient marine deities Phorcys (or "Phorkys") and his sister Ceto (or "Keto"), chthonic monsters from an archaic world. In popular culture, Medusa has retained the duality between a sympathetic female figure and a dangerous monster. In games and books, however, she actively attacks her enemies or lures them in with her sexuality. They tried to catch Perseus but to no avail. So for now, here’s my theory about the origins of the Medusa story: Mythology is a way extraordinary concepts and phenomena can be explained in a somewhat relatable way. As Perseus used the sandals to fly over the sands of Libya, the droplets of blood that fell to the ground created enormous vipers. Passing their eye back and forth, one could be watchful at all times. Some images gave them wings, others a thick black beard. 21st century morals would see Medusa as a victim who was deserving of sympathy instead of punishment. Gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone. Jack London uses Medusa in this way in his novel The Mutiny of the Elsinore:[18]. Athena gave some of the Gorgon’s blood to the legendary surgeon Aesclepius. So much so, they would have no choice but to turn to stone. Some stories say that Perseus first used the Gorgon’s head while travelling back to his homeland. When Perseus laid the head on a bed of seaweed, its magic caused the plants to harden. They wore snakes around their waists instead of normal belts. The most common type of flute in ancient Greece had two bodies, a reflection of the two surviving Gorgons. It was more rare for a victimised woman to be helped and avenged than it was for her to be punished. She frequently appears as a villain in comic foods, video games, and fantasy movies. The triple form is not primitive, it is merely an instance of a general tendency... which makes of each woman goddess a trinity, which has given us the Horae, the Charites, the Semnai, and a host of other triple groups. While a few tellings say that Pegasus helped Perseus escape, most agree that the mythical horse would not be tamed until Bellerophon fought the Chimera. Radicals saw the Gorgon herself as a type of revolutionary, taking power from the monstrousness that made her vulnerable. The blood could be used to destroy or restore and enabled him to bring people back from the dead. It’s hard for a modern reader to accept this version of events. Rape was often a feature of Greek mythology, as much as the stories hide it in terms of seduction and marriage. By the time the Roman Empire was established, the face of Medusa was almost indistinguishable from that of any other woman. Her powers are expanded in modern media. -Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. She didn’t even have to look at her victim – it was their gaze that caused their death. If you were a Caucasian from a Greek civilization trying to create a story, or mythology that is to be used by future generations with genetic survival amongst the melanated masses as a primary objective, what would you say? Athena cursed the mortal Medusa with a hideous face and snakes for hair. Using the winged sandals, he was able to speed out of the cavern and avoid the angry monsters. Unlike Perseus, the protagonists in these stories actually have to fight her. "[15], Medusa has sometimes appeared as representing notions of scientific determinism and nihilism, especially in contrast with romantic idealism. In these she takes two forms. The cover featured the image of a Gorgon, which the editors explained "can be a map to guide us through our terrors, through the depths of our anger into the sources of our power as women. Also known as Generational Propaganda. Images Today. This myth, a later addition to the story of Atlas, explained the creation of the Atlas Mountain range in North Africa.

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