Medusa (mythology)/Definition

From Citizendium
< Medusa (mythology)
Revision as of 08:49, 9 April 2010 by imported>Daniel Mietchen (<noinclude>)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This article contains just a definition and optionally other subpages (such as a list of related articles), but no metadata. Create the metadata page if you want to expand this into a full article.


Medusa (mythology) [r]: From Greek mythology, she was a Gorgon, one of three sisters who was the only one who was mortal, and she was killed by Perseus. Originally, according to Ovid, she was very beautiful and was unfortunately raped in the temple of Athena by the god Poseidon; Athena cursed Medusa by putting snakes in her hair.
Source: Elizabeth Vandiver, Classics scholar, authority on Greek mythology and Greek tragedy, including the Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Homer, and Virgil. This definition is based on her course Classical Mythology for The Teaching Company.