She is killed by the hero perseus, who cuts off her head. A beautiful mortal, medusa was the exception in the family, until she incurred the wrath of athena, either due to her boastfulness or because of an illfated love affair with poseidon. As medusa was the only gorgon that was mortal, she was the only one that could be decapitated, although of course, polydectes assumed that perseus would be killed by the gorgon. To kill medusa, the snakeheaded gorgon to bring back the golden fleece to king pelias to kill the chimera a beast with three heads to. Pdf medusa the victimized monster dhianita kusuma pertiwi. I could see how that idea might arise, but athena as sungoddess struck me as a bit of a reach. The courtiers looked at each other in stunned surprise and then started to titter. During my research for my post on medusa and the gorgon, i constantly ran into the idea that the gorgon was a faint echo of an early mycenean sungoddess, depicted facefront with radiating snaky hair.
The gorgons in greek mythology greek legends and myths. Medusa was one of the three gorgons, daughters of phorcys and ceto, sisters of the graeae, echidna, and ladon all dreadful and fearsome beasts. Sep, 2019 medusa was a temptress among the gods, and poseidon had impregnated the mortal while in the temple of athena. The adventures of perseus the national gallery, london. Perseus and the legends of argos oxford university press. Medusa the gorgon ks2 reading comprehension worksheets.
Click download or read online button to get perseus and the gorgon medusa book now. The story and myth of perseus and the medusa features pictures from mythology and legend. Ancient greek myth were three monsters, the sisters stheno, eurayle and. He cut off medusa s head with his sickle, and put the head in his shoulder bag. Medusa in ancient greek art essay the metropolitan museum. The story and myth of perseus features pictures from mythology and legend. With athenas or poseidons help, another greek hero, bellerophon, captured pegasus and rode him first in his fight with the chimera and later while he was taking vengeance on stheneboea anteia, who had falsely accused bellerophon. Medusa would be confined to a cave, and anyone who made eye contact with the gorgon would be turned to stone. The short story and myth of perseus and the medusa the myth about perseus and the medusa is featured in the book entitled greek gods, heroes and men by caroline h. Perseus by edith hamilton study guide geary high school. Children can then reconstruct the story using the follow me question cards. One of my favorites is the medusa story, sometimes referred to as perseus and the gorgon medusa. Medousa, 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. Much later stories claim that each of three gorgon sisters, stheno, euryale, and medusa, had snakes for hair, and that they had the power to turn anyone who looked at them to stone.
The traditional greek myth specially retold for children growing in reading confidence. Olympus in the form of a stream of gold, which poured through the roof of the chamber, and soon danae had a baby named perseus. Transformed into a vicious monster with snakes for hair, she was. Myths usually have heroes or heroines who are gods or people with. The three gorgons, of whom only medusa was mortal, were of terrifying aspect, and those who looked upon their faces were turned to stone. This myth though doesnt sit well with the fact that heracles, a descendent of perseus, encountered the nonpetrified atlas generations later. Perseus, in greek mythology, the slayer of the gorgon medusa and the rescuer of andromeda from a sea monster. This book gives readers a closeup look at this snakehaired horror. The three female gorgons were monstrous and deadly creatures that guarded the entrance to the. Sep 21, 2014 a dramatised version of a classic greek myth told by anthony horowitz. This greek myth, retelling the tale of perseus and medusa the gorgon, can be used to test reading comprehension skills in ks2.
Most sources describe her as the daughter of phorcys and ceto, though the author hyginus makes her the daughter of gorgon and ceto. Indeed, the gorgon medusa was said to have given birth to the winged horse pegasus, and the giant chrysaor, both emerging from the open neck wound let from the decapitation. The story of perseus long ago, king acrisius of argos learned from an oracle that he would one day be killed by his grandson. The bibliotheca provides a good summary of the gorgon myth. Medusa was a temptress among the gods, and poseidon had impregnated the mortal while in the temple of athena. According to this ancient author, the three sisters, sthenno, euryale, and medusa, were the children of phorcys and ceto and lived beyond famed oceanus at the worlds edge hard by. The myth of perseus and medusa is one of the best thrillerlike tales in greek mythology with a promising plot that gets more complicated as the story progresses, this myth has a typical hollywoodlike scenario with the main character not being born yet at the moment when his destiny was determined. How does the gorgons head become useful to perseus. Learn more about the traditional story of perseus in this article. Hamiltons scholarly work singlehandedly renewed an interesting the classical world in american schools. Her face, whether fierce and grotesque or feminine and composed, appears in virtually all media in varying contexts. Perseus is determined to rescue andromeda, even though it means facing the hideous gorgon, medusa, whose glare turns warriors to stone. Starting with details about medusa s history, physical features, and supernatural powers, the text continues with a retelling of the classic myth of perseus.
Most sources describe her as the daughter of phorcys and ceto, though the author hyginus makes her the daughter of. To the greeks, medusa is the leader of an ancient, older matriarchal religion that had to be obliterated. In the greek mythological pantheon, the gorgon medusa stands a head above all others in her power to terrify. Searching for the origins of medusas myth in cultures that predate ancient greece, leeming explores how and why the mythical figure of the gorgon has become one of the most important and enduring ideas in human history. Perseus and the legends of argos 549 gorgon and came bearing the head with hair of writhing snakes, for the islanders a stony death. Medusa, the gorgon, who turns those who gaze upon her to stone, is one of the most popular and enduring figures of greek mythology. Ovid describes medusa as the beautiful mortal sister of two gorgons, female.
If anyone looked in a gorgon s eyes they turned to stone. The text is accompanied by 20 reading comprehension questions. The gorgons lived in the west, near the ocean, and. Athena, medusa and the sungoddess we are star stuff. Their bodies were covered with impenetrable scales. Fearing that, he hid his daughter danae in a chamber underground. Ebook gorgon as pdf download portable document format. Medusas head retold by olivia coolidge 1 king acrisios of argos was a hard, selfish man. In the marketplace of argos is a mound of earth, in which they say lies the head of the gorgon medousa medusa. Perseus and medusa perseus though was a son of zeus, and also a mortal favoured by his halfsister, the goddess athena.
I omit the miraculous, but give the rational parts of the story about her. Ancient greece perseuss grandfather akrisios goes to the oracle to ask how long he has to live. It also provides a model text and prompts for writing activities. The origin medusa in greek mythology is considered as the first account which depicts her characterization and became the basic idea of following literary and.
In this version, medusa was the only gorgon to have snakes for hair, the result of being cursed by athena minerva in roman traditions after medusa. A dramatised version of a classic greek myth told by anthony horowitz. However, she swore a vow of chastity and soon broke it by having an affair with poseidon, supposedly in athenas temple. Pausanias presents a rationalisation of the medousa myth. Edith hamilton students who enjoy reading greek and roman mythology as part of their english classes have edith hamilton to thank. Polydectes suggests that perseus cut off the medusas head because. One of my favorites is the medusa story, sometimes referred to. Nov 23, 2016 during my research for my post on medusa and the gorgon, i constantly ran into the idea that the gorgon was a faint echo of an early mycenean sungoddess, depicted facefront with radiating snaky hair. Perseus and the gorgon medusa bbc teach school radio english ks2. Perseus and the gorgon medusa download ebook pdf, epub. Wilk begins by refamiliarizing readers with the story through ancient authors and classical artwork, then looks at the various interpretations given to the meaning of the myth throughout the ages, offers new interpretations of the myth and meaning of medusa, and explores the history of the gorgon since classical times. The most common interpretation of medusa suggests she is an apotropaic symbol used to protect from and ward off the negative, much like the modern evil eye.
Medusa in ancient greek art essay the metropolitan. As an educator and counselor, i often use tales from classic greek mythology as a way of relating common themes that speak to the human condition. Adapted from the myths and legends of ancient greece and rome by e. The sisters were turned into monsters by athene, the goddess of wisdom, who was angry at the destruction of one of her temples. Medusa is an instantly recognizable figure from ancient greek art. The story of perseus from ancient mythology read about gods, goddesses and mythical creatures in the myth story of perseus. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Medusa was one of the gorgon sisters, the daughter of phorcys and keto.
Polydectes replied, coolly, go kill the gorgon, medusa mehdoo. Read the myth online found on my teacher webpage and fill in the correct answer on the. Picture of the head of medusa, the gorgon, who was slain by the. Medusa was one of three horrible gorgon sisters, so gruesome that all living creatures turned to stone at the sight of them. Edith hamilton students who enjoy reading greek and.
Some other variations of the myth suggest that medusa and the other gorgons were always hideous monsters and covered with snakes. Harding, published in 1906 by scott, foresman and company. The story above is the pdf version of the myth recorded on the website below. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. The user submitted story below is similar to one version of the medusa myth. When medusa saw the artwork, she commented that the artist had done a fine job considering the goddesss thick eyebrows but imagine how much more wonderful the painting would be if it was of someone as delicate as medusa. They lived on an island far out at sea, but nobody knew just where. Athena cursed the mortal medusa with a hideous face and snakes for hair. And when medusa reached the altar she sighed happily and said, my this is a beautiful temple. Perseus found a gorgon called medusa perseus put on his cap so that medusa could not see him. No man who had ever set out to kill medusa had come back, and the king was sure that now he was forever rid of perseus. This worksheet gives an overview of the greek myth of perseus and medusa. Myth, symbolism and appropriation medusae jellyfish were named as such by linnaeus because of their intriguing similarity to.
Perseus was the son of zeus and danae, the daughter of acrisius of argos. According to greek myth, medusa was one of three beautiful sisters known as the gorgons. To find and kill the gorgon, perseus needed all the help he could get. In ancient greek mythology, medusa is the most famous of three monstrous sisters known as the gorgons.
She was a very kind and she obeyed her greek gods and. Starting with details about medusas history, physical features, and supernatural powers, the text continues with a retelling of the classic myth of perseus. Apr 18, 2019 in the middle is the gorgon medusa, an enormous monster about whom snaky locks twist their hissing mouths. David leeming seeks to answer this question in medusa, a biography of the mythical creature. Click the link to see the text in its original format. There was a collective gasp from all in the room, except from perseus. To kill medusa, the snakeheaded gorgon to bring back the golden fleece to king pelias. Perseus approaches medusas cave, passing figures turned to stone. In ancient greek mythology, medusa is a gorgon, one of three hideous sisters whose appearance turns men to stone. Slay the monster medusa and bring me her head, he said. Perseus approaches medusa s cave, passing figures turned to stone. Medusa, despite being dead, has further entries in the stories of greek mythology though. Their teeth were giant boar tusks, their hands were made of bronze and they had wings of gold. Athena then sent medusa with her hair of snakes to live with the blind monsters, the gorgon sisters, at the end of the earth, so that no innocent people would be turned to stone at the sight of her by accident.
Perseus managed to cut off a gorgons head and was able to use it to turn polydectes to stone. Instead of hair, she has horrible, live serpents on her head. The myths team many years ago there was a beautiful women called medusa. Medusa the gorgon ks2 reading comprehension worksheets and. He hated his brother, proitos, who later drove him from his kingdom, and he cared. Medusa was turned into a horrific creature with a gaping mouth, hypnotic eyes, and hair made of writhing snakes. A victim of rape in grecoroman mythology, medusa and her. There are myths from every culture in the world, but the bestknown ones are from ancient greece, rome or from the norse people of northern europe.
The earliest known record about the story of medusa and the gorgons can be found in hesiods theogony. Instead of looking at medusa, he uses the reflection on. At the age of sixtythree, hamilton began a second career retelling the ancient myths of greece and rome. Long after many other figures from greek myth have been forgotten, she continues to live in popular culture. Medusas death was figured as a perversion of the erotic abductions common to many greek myths, and points out the beautiful gorgon s affinities with abducted. The figure of the gorgon medusa, or just the gorgoneion, appeared in many types of greek and etruscan art from as early as the 7th century bc archaic period, particularly on pottery, paintings, architectural decoration and coins see earliest depictions of the gorgon myth in the note below.
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