The Most Brutal and Terrifying Greek Gods

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Greek mythology is responsible for some of the most enduring stories in all of history: the pantheon of gods sitting atop Mount Olympus, the underworld, the land of the dead guarded by a multi-headed dog, and the many monsters. The Minotaur stalks through the labyrinth, the sirens lure sailors to their doom with their beautiful songs, and of course, there’s Medusa, the woman with hair made of serpents whose gaze can turn a man to stone. Medusa is quite possibly one of the most famous monsters in the mythological world. You’ve almost certainly heard of her or seen her referenced in movies or TV shows. But what is the real story behind the snake-haired woman?

Grab your sword and shield and try not to make eye contact because today we’re digging into the legend of Medusa the Gorgon. According to the myths, Medusa was not the only Gorgon; she had two sisters, all daughters of the sea gods Phorcys and Ceto, who dwelled at the very edge of the world. The writer Hesiod described it as beyond the glorious ocean, in the frontier land towards night, where there are the clear-voiced Hesperides. The Hesperides were sky goddesses associated with the evening and guardianship of golden apples.

The Gorgons, with their intimidating wingspans, sharp talons, and hair made of snakes, were quite different from these gentle guardians. Their names were Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale. Stheno’s name means strong and forceful, while Euryale means broad. Depending on the story, the blood of the Gorgons was said to have poisonous or healing properties.

The Gorgons have been part of Greek mythology since before the 7th or 8th century BCE when Hesiod wrote about them in “Theogony.” It’s theorized that they were influenced by Near Eastern mythology and artistic influences on ancient Greek culture. Early depictions of the Gorgons showed them with a more beastly appearance, with thick hair and tusks, resembling a Mesopotamian demon known for stealing children and attacking pregnant women. Over time, depictions of the Gorgons shifted to become more human in nature, but some monstrous elements remained, leading to the iconic images we associate with Gorgons today: open mouths, wild eyes, and twisting crowns of snakes.

No Gorgon is more recognizable than Medusa herself. While the other Gorgons were immortals with monstrous features, Medusa was quite different; she was mortal. This was a lonely fate, as her siblings would never grow old or die. But where they were hideous to behold, she was beautiful. Her looks and feminine charms captivated all who knew her, and her most stunning attribute was her lush, splendid hair.

However, not all attention is welcome attention. Medusa captured the eye of the lustful god Poseidon, brother of Zeus and god of the sea. Poseidon boldly pursued the mortal girl, but she rejected his advances out of devotion to the goddess Athena, whom she hoped to serve as a priestess someday. But gods don’t like to take no for an answer. One day, in the temple of Athena herself, Poseidon forced himself on Medusa. Athena was horrified and enraged at the desecration of her sacred temple, and she sought revenge—not on Poseidon, her uncle and the one who had abused his power, but on Medusa. Athena transformed her into a monster, changing her hair to snakes and her face to a visage so hideous that anyone who met her eyes would be petrified and turned to stone.

Medusa returned to her sisters, joining them in their isolation and fleeing from society. But she was beset by would-be heroes intending to slay her and cut off her head. Eventually, one succeeded, but we’ll get to that later. First, we have to address something: a few of you watching might have been listening to the story of Medusa and thinking, “Hey, that’s not how I heard it,” and that’s entirely possible. There are several variations on the Medusa myth that have circulated over the years, some popularized by different ancient poets, resulting from the way stories shift and change over time.

The earliest mentions of Medusa describe her as a monster, quite like her sisters, born monstrous rather than made that way. Over time, more emotion and drama were woven into the story. The poet Hesiod described Medusa’s fate as a sad one, her mortality tragic alongside the immortality of her sisters. In Hesiod’s version of the story, Poseidon and Medusa had a consensual love affair, and he lay with her in a soft meadow among spring flowers—a gentler, more romantic take on Medusa compared to what came before or after.

A century after Hesiod, the poet Stesichorus of Cyprus wrote about Medusa and her sisters, describing them as fearful monsters who lived in Sarpedon, a rocky island in the deep-eddying ocean. Later, the Greek playwright Aeschylus would expand on the monstrous appearance of the Gorgon, writing of three-winged sisters, the snake-haired Gorgons who loathed mankind, whom no mortal shall look upon and still draw breath.

It is the Roman poet Ovid who might be responsible for the most commonly repeated version of the Medusa myth. He described her fate in his work, stating she was once the most beautiful and the jealous aspiration of many suitors. Of all her beauties, none was more admired than her hair. He recounted how Poseidon violated her in the temple of Minerva, Jupiter’s daughter, who turned away and hid her chast eyes behind her ages so that it might not go unpunished. She changed the Gorgon’s hair to foul snakes, and now, to terrify her enemies, the goddess wears the snakes she created as a breastplate.

One thing all the Medusa myths have in common is her death at the hands of the hero Perseus. The story of Perseus began when Acrisius, the king of Argos, was warned by the Oracle of Delphi that his grandson would one day kill him. Since he didn’t yet have any grandchildren, he set about making sure that he never would. He locked his daughter Danaë in an underground room where she would never become pregnant. But walls, locked doors, and a secret underground chamber are no match for Zeus, the god of thunder and the official god of infidelity. Zeus took a shine to Danaë and decided to visit her in the form of a shower of golden rain.

Yes, he came to Danaë as a shower of gold, bypassing the walls of her chamber and entering her body. When the shower had passed, she was pregnant. She eventually gave birth to a son named Perseus. Furious that his daughter had managed to conceive a grandson and not believing that Zeus was the father, Acrisius sent his daughter and newborn grandson out into the open sea on a ship. They drifted for a while before landing on the shores of Seriphos Island, where a local couple rescued them. They weren’t just any ordinary couple either; the husband was the brother of the island’s king, Polydectes.

When Perseus grew up, becoming a strong, handsome young man, he attracted the eye of King Polydectes. Polydectes wanted to marry Danaë but didn’t see a way to pull off that union with her son around. Danaë didn’t want to marry him, and Perseus protected her from his unwanted advances. So the king hatched a plan: he would send Perseus away and make sure that he would never come back. Polydectes threw a royal banquet at which each and every guest was required to bring him a gift. For his gift, Perseus was asked to journey to the lair of Medusa to slay her and bring him back her head. In Polydectes’ eyes, this task was as good as a death sentence. But Perseus promised to complete the quest and return victorious with the Gorgon’s head in hand.

He was in luck too; Athena, ever eager for a chance to help Medusa suffer and for the chance to help out her demigod half-brother, offered guidance to Perseus. She instructed him to find the Hesperides, who would be able to tell him the location of Medusa and her sisters. Before he could locate the Hesperides, Perseus needed to pay a visit to the Graeae, the sisters of the Gorgons—three gray-haired women sharing one single eye between them. He was able to get the better of them by stealing their eye, holding it hostage, and promising to return it in exchange for the location of the Hesperides.

When he reached the Hesperides, they offered to help him in the form of a special bag he could use to carry Medusa’s head without being harmed by it. Then several of the gods contributed gifts that would aid him in his quest. Athena gave him a polished shield, Zeus offered an unbreakable sickle, Hades gifted him a helmet that gave him the ability to turn invisible, and Hermes gave him a pair of winged sandals. Armed with the favor of the gods and the hidden location of the Gorgon’s cave, Perseus prepared to take on Medusa.

When Perseus arrived at the cave, he found Medusa sleeping. Using the polished face of the shield he received from Athena, he was able to look at Medusa’s reflection, avoiding being turned to stone. Then, using the unbreakable sword, he sliced off Medusa’s head. From her bleeding wound, the famous winged horse Pegasus and his brother Chrysaor were born. With a helmet of invisibility keeping him hidden from view, Perseus threw Medusa’s head into the bag and fled.

But Perseus’s journey wasn’t over just yet. On the way back home, he passed through Ethiopia, where he spotted a beautiful young woman bound to a rock, waiting for a sea monster to rise up and swallow her whole. This was, as he learned, the doing of Poseidon, a punishment for the queen of Ethiopia’s vanity. Andromeda would pay the price for her mother’s choice to proclaim herself more beautiful than the daughters of Nereus. In exchange for Andromeda’s hand in marriage, Perseus slayed the monster Cetus and freed her. The two were married, but the union was interrupted by Andromeda’s uncle, who was originally supposed to marry her. Perseus defeated the lecherous uncle by holding up Medusa’s head, turning him to stone.

After all this trial and tribulation, it was time for Perseus to return home and offer the king his gift. When he arrived, he learned that Polydectes had continued his predatory pursuit of Danaë, and enough was enough. Perseus confronted the king in his palace, holding up the head of Medusa for him to see. Polydectes turned to stone, face frozen in shock forever.

But wait, did Perseus ever kill his grandfather? He did, but it was an accident. Sometime later, while participating in a series of athletic games, he threw a discus that hit an old man and killed him. That old man was his grandfather he never knew.

As for Medusa, she died, but what happened after that? Though she was no longer living, she made her mark on the land. Throughout Perseus’s journey home, as he flew over the North African desert using the winged shoes gifted to him by Hermes, Medusa’s blood began to leak from the satchel, falling onto the sands and creating venomous snakes. When Perseus stopped to rest at the shoreline of the Red Sea, her blood dripped into the water, transforming into hard red coral.

As for the fate of Medusa’s head, Perseus presented it as an offering to Athena in thanks for her aid during the journey. She placed the head on her shield, using it as both an offensive and defensive weapon. It protected her, but it could also turn her opponents to stone.

Now seems like an appropriate time to mention that the name Medusa means “protector.” Medusa is far from the only female figure in Greek mythology with a touch of the serpentine about her. There are her sisters, of course, but it goes beyond the Gorgons. In many Greek myths, Lamia was a beautiful woman, either the daughter of a king or the daughter of Poseidon and the mother of the sea monster Scylla. Either way, she was beautiful enough to catch the eye of Zeus. He seduced her, and she bore several of his children.

As you can imagine, Hera didn’t take kindly to this. You might expect her to get used to Zeus’s affairs after a while, but she had a real talent for wrath. Depending on the version of the myth, she either killed off all of Lamia’s children except for Scylla or forced Lamia to kill her own children. Either way, Lamia was driven mad with grief, becoming obsessed with stealing and killing children. Over time, her rage and hatred turned her into a monster, transforming her into a hideous creature, half-woman, half-serpent.

Zeus decided to do something to ease her pain. Did he bring her children back? No, of course not. But he did give her the gift of prophecy and the ability to pluck out her eyes at will and replace them.

There is another female serpent monster in Greek myths, the daughter of the sea gods Phorcys and Ceto. Her name is derived from the Greek word for viper. In Hesiod’s writing, he described her as dwelling in a cave deep down under a hollow rock, far from the deathless gods and mortal men. Hesiod also wrote descriptions of her appearance: half nymph with glancing eyes and fair cheeks, and half again a huge snake, great and awful, with speckled skin, eating raw flesh beneath the secret parts of the holy earth. She was the mother of many of Greek mythology’s most iconic monsters, including Cerberus, the many-headed dog that guards the underworld, the Chimera, a hybrid lion-goat-snake, and the Hydra, the many-headed beast eventually slain by Hercules.

Women who are part snake are not limited to Greek mythology. There are different versions of serpentine women from all over the world. One striking example is the Japanese Nurarihyon or wet woman. The name refers to her preferred habitat along the coasts, riverbeds, and in and around various bodies of water. It also refers to the fact that they always appear dripping wet, as if they freshly emerged from beneath the surface of their watery home.

The Nurarihyon are vampiric sea serpents lurking around bodies of water, waiting for unsuspecting humans to wander by so they can drain them of their blood and eat them. The story is thought to originate from the Awami region of the Shiman prefecture, and there are two variations on the creature: one looks like an enormous sea serpent with the head of a human woman, and the other is the same but with humanoid arms as well. Both variations have long black hair drenched with water and forked tongues.

She doesn’t turn her victims to stone with a glance, nor does she use her inhuman physical strength to simply destroy them right away. Instead, the most common versions of the story have Nurarihyon using trickery to ensnare her prey. Nurarihyon will appear on the coast or riverbank disguised as an ordinary woman in a state of distress, carrying a baby bundled up in her cloth. She’ll beg for help from passersby. When they draw closer, she asks them to hold her baby and allow her to rest. If the victim accepts the baby into their arms, it will become heavier and heavier, weighing them down until they’re unable to move. Then she’s able to attack and feed.

Medusa can be seen throughout ancient Greek art, her face painted on ceramics, sculpted from stone, and smelted from metal. According to Melina Glennon of the Department of Greek and Roman Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Medusa’s face functioned much like the modern evil eye; she was a protective symbol, something dangerous that would repel other dangers, keeping other evils away. The association likely contributed to the popularity of her image in art.

The Gorgonian, the head and face of Medusa, appears frequently in temple decorations from the Archaic period. In these depictions, she is hideous and beastly. Then in the Hellenistic era, her visage morphs into that of a beautiful, though still inhuman, woman. Medusa’s impact on art has persisted beyond ancient Greece. In 1554, Cellini sculpted a bronze statue depicting Perseus’s moment of victory just after beheading her. He stands over her body, holding her severed head in the air. This was intended to represent the power of the Medici family over the people of Florence. Other artists of the time courted the favor of the Medici with Medusa imagery.

Caravaggio painted Medusa’s moment of defeat onto his ceremonial shield, again capturing the image of the powerful creature’s defeat. During the French Revolution, Medusa became a symbol of a political movement. Jacobin rebels used her image as an emblem of French liberty, linking her power with anti-establishment action.

Medusa inspired more modern poets than Hesiod and Ovid, lighting a creative fire in Percy Shelley. He penned “On the Medusa of Leonardo da Vinci” in the Florentine Gallery, a tribute that includes lines such as “Is the melodious hue of beauty thrown athwart the darkness and the glare of pain which humanize and harmonize the strain and a woman’s countenance with serpent locks gazing in death on heaven from those wet rocks.” Shelley described Medusa in the language of a tragic, beautiful woman lost to torture and death.

Other writers expanded on the idea of a misunderstood Medusa. In the 1975 manifesto “The Laugh of the Medusa,” feminist theorist Hélène Cixous used Medusa as a jumping-off point to discuss women’s bodies, the fear of female desire, and the value of women telling their own stories. “You only have to look at the Medusa straight on to see her,” she wrote, “and she’s not deadly; she’s beautiful and she’s laughing.”

Other prominent cultural voices had different opinions on what Medusa could represent. In 1940, Sigmund Freud’s writing “Medusa’s Head” was published after his death. In Freud’s eyes, decapitation could be compared to castration, and therefore the fear of Medusa could be linked to a fear of castration, linked to the sight of something he continued. Numerous analyses have made us familiar with the occasion for this; it occurs when a boy who has hitherto been unwilling to believe the threat of castration catches sight of the female genitals, probably those of an