Myths and stories with background for Medusa were added later. Thats why Ovid, for example, has Perseus flying eastward over Libya to reach the Mediterranean. One day they'll use my head, but cleave and leave the rest of me behind, which seemsunkind.". In some versions, we'll never know if it was consensual. Medusa embodies menstruations protective powers. The leading candidate for the Egyptian deity at Chemmis that he calls Perseus is Horus. Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) Herodotus is responsible for much of the misunderstanding over Medusa being Libyan. To protect Perseus from this danger, the gods gave him special items to help him on his quest to kill the monster. Later depictions (although still fairly ancient ones, in the absolute sense) gradually toned down the more monstrous aspects and made her more attractive. Both girls cultivated the military life, which once led them into contentious dispute. [43], Regarding the seductress, Apollonius further warned, "you are warming a snake (ophis) on your bosom, and it is a snake that warms you". [87][88] It is noted that this character terrorized Delphi, just as the dragon Python had. [44][40] It has been suggested from this discourse that the creature was therefore "literally a snake". Hes entirely wrong about Greek gods names, for example: we know now that theyre mostly Indo-European. Check out our Privacy and Content Sharing policies for more information.). [3] Modern scholarship reconstructs a Proto-Indo-European stem *lem-, "nocturnal spirit", whence also comes lemures. Medusa's popularity is somewhat Newer Than They Think. But once Apollonius reveals her false identity at the wedding, the illusion fails her and vanishes. Although later details, such as her origins as a beautiful Perseus used it as a weapon before surrendering it to Athena. Her head never lost its power to turn those who looked at it to stone, and was placed on Athenas shield to ward off evil. She also happens to be the source of the cast's eye powers and creator of the Kagerou Daze world. Whats the historical low-down? When citing an essay from our library, you can use "Kibin" as the author. Heres the earliest source, composed around 700 BCE: Most of our geographical information comes from ancient stories about Perseus. WebThe Libyan Berber Goddess Tannit (Neith) Tannit or Neith is originally a Berber Libyan Goddess venerated by the Berbers of North Africa from immemorial times. These include the half-woman, half-snake beasts of the "Libyan myth" told by Dio Chrysostom, and the monster sent to Argos by Apollo to avenge Psamathe (Crotopus). Aeneas didnt originate in Roman myth, but hes still an important part of Roman myth. To protect the anonymity of contributors, we've removed their names and personal information from the essays. Like many Greek monsters in mythology, killing Medusa was a task assigned to a semi-divine hero. Such is their tale. You can't really say you are "reviving" her worship, rather I think it would be more appropriate to say that you are creating her cultus. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) : Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 14 (trans. (Herod. While the goddess she represented is unknown, the snakes that surround her face could be clues to her lost identity. There is an ancient metaphysical belief that menstrual blood is the single Athena was sent to a foundry in North Africa to be raised by a Cyclops. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. My work has also been published on Buzzfeed and most recently in Time magazine. The names are the clearest indication that the story has Greek origins. Herodotus, Histories 4. As for Athena, they say that she was daughter of Poseidon and Lake Tritonis, and that, being for some reason angry at her father, she gave herself to Zeus, who made her his own daughter. Of the three sisters only Medousa was mortal. She is a goddess of menstrual power and hence female power. [21][d] This was later incorporated into Edward Topsell's 17th-century envisioning of the lamia. Sometimes, however, she is portrayed as a living woman. Like his brother Zeus, Poseidon fathered Poseidon, especially attracted to her voluptuous hair, assaulted her in the temple of Athena. Raised by Wolves features a character named Lamia, an android mother, who has removable eyes and the ability to shapeshift. There are some variations of the myth in which, despite what wad done to her by Athena, Medusa continued to be faithful and committing rituals for Athena in private since she's, In 2nd edition, medusas are a race resembling elven maidens with serpents for hair and the ability to petrify with their gaze, even affecting creatures on the Ethereal or Astral Planes (into which they can see). They were the maiden, mother and crone. The story of Medusa is one of the most well-known in Greek mythology. WebMedusa, in Greek mythology, the most famous of the monster figures known as Gorgons. Please note: [16], Lamia was the daughter born between King Belus of Egypt and Lybie, according to one source. The one part about Reddit I love is the mix of opinions. Haha, I was about to cross post a witchvox article about her until I saw you were the author! In southern Asia, theres an ancient belief that menstruation indicates possession by snake spirits. So if Berber people want Medusa to be Berber, then yes, shes Berber. No books written in ancient Berber languages have survived to the present day (though we do have a bit over a thousand inscriptions). [citation needed]. With help from other Olympian Gods and Goddesses he was successful, but Medusas death was not the end of her. 1493 ff (trans. There was a myth at nearby Antaeopolis that Horus made a pair of sandals from the hide of Seth; Perseus flying sandals would have made an obvious parallel. [78] Either one could be Lamia the mother of Scylla mentioned in the Stesichorus (d. 555 BC) fragment, and other sources. 1st century BC) gave a de-mythologized account of Lamia as a queen of Libya who ordered her soldiers to snatch children from their mothers and kill them, and Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. If you don't object I'll delete it from the article and just preserve it here in this comment. Herodotus, Histories 4. Hopefully ppl do know that there are African Greeks. Just like there are African Indians, Afro-Mexicans and etc.. Just true history is needed.. no When he describes a festival of Osiris at Siwa, for example, he calls the god Dionysus, because of some minor parallels with Greek Dionysiac festivals (2.4749). WebTHE GORGONES (Gorgons) were three powerful, winged daimones named Medousa (Medusa), Sthenno and Euryale. Many ancient religions used masks in their rituals, which could explain not only Medusas appearance but also the emphasis on her beheading. In 2008, the Mattel company produced the Barbie Doll as Medusa, a collectors doll that portrays a beautiful, sexy pre-transformation Medusa. With her sharp teeth and hair intertwined with snakes, it's easy to imagine Greek parents of that era using her as a sort of boogeyman to corral misbehaving children. Poseidon courted her. [i][47][48] The same joke was used in theatrical Greek comedy,[49] and generally. While Medusa could be killed, her sisters could not. Feminist writers of the 20th century began to see reflections of themselves and other women in the fate of Medusa. Perseus had foolishly promised that he would provide the Gorgons head as a gift, and Polydectes, king of Seriphos, held him to his word. "They say that after Athene's birth, she was reared by Triton [and presumably Tritonis], who had a daughter named Pallas. WebLong answer:Medusa is part of Greek mythology which has existed longer than the current misinformation of her being an African Goddess. Please like and share this article if you found it useful. [89], Some commentators have also equated Lamia with Hecate. WebIt is unlikely, though, that Medusa was ever an African goddess, since we have no evidence that any goddess resembling Medusa was worshipped in North Africa before Hermes helped directly by lending Perseus his sandals and Hephaestus gave him a sword. And sometimes she has also become an afrocentrist symbol. Medusa, to me, is the monstrous version of a heroic mortal. We can leave that aside: Hyperborea was sometimes imagined as being in northern Ukraine, or to the north of the Caspian Sea.). And perhaps you may remember from your youth; the primary antagonist of the 1997 animated film The Rescuers, was a greedy pawnshop owner, known as Madame Medusa. The story of Medusa seems to obviously be one of a terrible monster. Many historians believe that it represents a time when the Minoan culture of Crete dominated the new Mycenaean Greeks. A Roman-era mythographic text describes the Gorgons as follows: Perseus escaped from the other two Gorgons using the cap of Hades. My last sentence 'But thats a long, long way from making her Maasai' was ill-advised. He goes on to express an opinion that most Greek gods names originally came from Egypt (2.50). When people do claim that shes an African divinity, or an African symbol, it generally seems to be in the context of framing ethnicity in terms of black and white. You know how looking at a math problem similar to the one you're stuck on can help you get unstuck? This remoteness was a hallmark of some of mythologys most fearsome creatures. [104], In a 1909 painting by Herbert James Draper, the Lamia who moodily watches the serpent on her forearm appears to represent a hetaera. She was imported into Greece as one of the Gorgons, daughter of Phorcus and his sister Ceto. WebMedusa was a Libyan Goddess who was worshiped by The Amazons. Through the century Medusa became a feminist symbol of the power of feminine rage, leaving the male gaze, and finding independence, in addition to protection. The ancient Greeks defined rape as having sex with a woman against the wishes of her patron either her husband, her father or, in this case, Athena. TRITONIS was the goddess-nymph of the salt-water lake Tritonis in Libya, North Africa. Pursuing her, he raped her there. 144 (trans. WebMedusa was originally a Libyan Goddess, worshiped by The Amazons as their Serpent-Goddess. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Moon (many, including Orpheus disciples, have seen Medusas face in the moon). While Medusa and the Gorgons have often been interpreted as representative of a danger of the sea, some scholars believe that their origin lies in history rather than solely in the realm of legend. Her face is a Gorgons mask, but her body is that of a woman dressed and girded for battle. An account of Apollonius of Tyana's defeat of a lamia-seductress inspired the poem Lamia by John Keats. Empusa is equated with Hecate in a fragment of Aristophanes's lost play, Keats made a note to this effect at the end of the first page in the fair copy he made: see William E. Harrold, "Keats' 'Lamia' and Peacock's 'Rhododaphne'". The loss of her children drove Lamia insane, and in vengeance and despair, Lamia snatched up any children she could find and devoured them. Her features are common of Greek monsters. There are also people who worship people from the Arthurian legends. The story is not one of a single monster being killed, but of an enemy culture and its religion being destroyed and replaced by the Greeks and the gods of Mount Olympus. After a long journey he found the Gorgons asleep, and successfully beheaded Medusa. Uncover new sources by reviewing other students' references and bibliographies, Inspire new perspectives and arguments (or counterarguments) to address in your own essay. 5. ", Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. . In the anime Monster Musume, the character Miia is a lamia. Berbers are people that speak one of the Berber group of languages Tamazight, Shawiya, Tuareg, and so on. Send your order with a custom message. [11], Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (vii.5) refers to the lore of some beastly lifeform in the shape of a woman, which tears the bellies of pregnant mothers and devours their fetuses. Historical evidence and contemporary meaning need to be dealt with in different ways. They think that Medusa was a goddess. She is depicted as the daughter of Hecate and as having glowing green eyes with serpentine slits, shriveled-up hands with lizard-like claws on them, and crocodile-like teeth. White and black, as a taxonomy of race, are inventions of the modern era. A single glimpse of Medusas face was enough to kill a man instantly. Lamia (/lemi/; Greek: ), in ancient Greek mythology, was a child-eating monster and, in later tradition, was regarded as a type of night-haunting spirit (daemon). Ancient sources do indeed put Medusa in or near northern Africa. Modern euphemisms for menstruation including calling it a womans friend or the curse, but an evocative, old-fashioned one describes a menstruating woman as bitten by the snake. Anthropologists and historians regularly tell us, in fact, that Berber as an overarching ethnic category is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Myths are malleable, after all. A gypsy curse associated with him has Lamia torment the victim for three days before having its minions drag them into Hell to burn in its fires for all eternity. Before the girls are set fighting, the whole people choose the fairest maid, and arm her with a Korinthian (Corinthian) helmet and Greek panoply, to be then mounted on a chariot and drawn all along the lake shore. The sisters WebAlso known as the Libyan Goddess Neith. Let us know! Perseus was the son of Zeus and Dana, the daughter of Acrisius of Argos. [45] Philostratus's tale was reworked by Keats in his poem Lamia,[83] where it is made clear she bears the guise of a snake, which she wants to relinquish in return for human appearance. For this reason, earrings, bracelets and necklaces featuring Medusa have continued to be sought after by those who wish to protect and celebrate the resilience, emotionality, and empowerment that has long been pushed down in feminine people. Engraged, Athena, unable to punish Poseidon, banished Medusa to an island and cursed her to have snakes for hair and a face so revolting it would turn the onlooker to stone. It is eventually revealed that Medusas are the larval form of hydras. Medusa in Libya Medusa is a powerful symbol today, as powerful as ever whether you imagine her as the monstrous demon of early Greek art, the beautiful Lamia by Zeus gave birth to a Sibyl according to Pausanias, and this would have to be the Libyan Lamia, yet there is a tradition that Lamia the daughter of Poseidon was the mother of a Sibyl. Herodotus gives us valuable data, but hes no authority in interpreting the data. There are traditions built around Avalon and Arthurian literature. Note that the Erinnyes (Furiae) were depicted very similarly as hideous snake-haired women. Medusa's appearance varies depending on what source you're reading. It is referred to as Poine or Ker[60] in classical sources, but later in the Medieval period, one source does call it a lamia (First Vatican Mythographer, c. 9th to 11th century).[61][62]. [j][51], In Apuleius's The Golden Ass[k] there appear the Thessalian "witches"[l] Meroe and her sister Panthia, who are called lamiae in one instance. Her hideousness, deadliness, and removal from the civilized word all made Medusa a monstrous figure. The Traditional Story of Medusa. English composer Dorothy Howell composed a tone poem Lamia which was played repeatedly to great acclaim under its dedicatee Sir Henry Wood at the London Promenade concerts in the 1920s.
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