The oldest story known to feature Medusa is the adventures of Perseus. The names are the clearest indication that the story has Greek origins. Met. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) : A glance at a map, and a review of the other ancient sources on Medusa, makes the situation totally clear. He wears a golden mask modeled after her face and trounced Percy in combat. [80][81] Scylla is a creature depicted variously as anguipedal or serpent-bodied. 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 whose beauty gave way to bestial appearance due to her savageness. [citation needed]. The intercourse of men and women there is promiscuous; they do not cohabit but have intercourse like cattle. Moon (many, including Orpheus disciples, have seen Medusas face in the moon). Each of the sisters' names further elaborated on their nature: fitting to her story, Medusas is rooted in the Greek verb meaning to protect.. Her face is a Gorgons mask, but her body is that of a woman dressed and girded for battle. They are not strictly speaking "witches", but they are referred to as such by convention. Other myths say that Medusa retained her mortal beauty, as a cruel Irony. Poseidon courted her. Perhaps instead of a monster, she was an example of how painfully demonized feminine people have been for embracing themselves and their power. No. Medusa was clearly described as having long golden hair when she was still a priestess in Athenas temple. But its not unlikely that the myth Her symbols were a shield that frequently appeared above her head in The story of the Minotaur, for example, is often interpreted in the same way. Aristotle says there is a shark called "lamia". Myth evolves. Sent by a king, Perseus went on a mission to slay Medusa and bring back her head. She was a beautiful maiden with golden hair. The Berber myth and Arab realities., Rouighi, R. 2019b. Lamia is the main antagonist in the 2009 horror movie Drag Me to Hell voiced by Art Kimbro. [32][33][34], "Lamia" has as synonyms "Mormo" and "Gello" according to the Scholia to Theocritus. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) : Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4. Poseidon, especially attracted to her voluptuous hair, assaulted her in the temple of Athena. Most frequently, only her severed head is depicted. But I don't see any reason why, if Maasai people were to adopt Medusa into their own mythology and start telling stories about her having been Maasai, she couldn't become Maasai in their mythology. Some historians also believe that the existence of three Gorgons is further evidence to support this theory. She may also manifest as a mermaid. Medusa teaches us to know and love ourselves outside of the expectations of patriarchal society. 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 It can be used to destroy or overwhelm any other power. [103] The contemporary Greek proverb, " " ("the Lamia's sweeping"), epitomises slovenliness;[103] and the common expression, " ' " ("the child has been strangled by the Lamia"), explains the sudden death of young children. The TImeoroi were perhaps Naiad-nymphs of the fresh-water springs of the region. "On the return trip [of the Argonauts] Eurybates, son of Teleon died, and Canthus, son of . 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. Coral is allegedly Medusas blood, which spilled into the sea and was petrified. [98] August Enna wrote an opera called Lamia.[36]. Was the Griffin a Bird from Greek Mythology. Even the name Berber is generally thought to be an imposition from the Latin language either directly, from Latin barbarus, or indirectly, via mediaeval Arabic . An Ionian Greek city could change its ethnicity by changing its dialect and clothing styles. 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). A scholiast to Aristophanes claimed that Lamia's name derived from her having a large throat or gullet (; laims). WebMedusa Introduction. 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 [44][40] It has been suggested from this discourse that the creature was therefore "literally a snake". When she's defeated, Medusa herself is turned to stone. "The Libyans have a saying that the Goddess [Athena] is the daughter of Poseidon and Lake Tritonis, and for this reason has blue eyes like Poseidon. 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. In both versions, Athena, pissed that her priestess not only broke her vows but did the nasty in her temple, punished her by turning her into her new hideous form and banished her to a desolate island until Perseus slew her. For the Basque lamia, see. WebMedusa. This article is about a creature from Greek mythology. An anonymous commentator on the passage states this is a reference to the Lamia, but muddlingly combines this with Aristotle's subsequent comments and describes her as a Scythian of the Pontus (Black Sea) area. Strong parallel with the Medusa has also been noted. Because of her cruel acts, her physical appearance changed to become ugly and monstrous. Heres a run-down of where ancient sources placed the Gorgons. Berbers are people that speak one of the Berber group of languages Tamazight, Shawiya, Tuareg, and so on. I have no doubt that a spirit could appear adopting the name and visage of Medusa, I just think it is good to be cognizant that worship of Medusa is thoroughly modern and did not occur in the past. [31] The lexicon also has an entry under mormo () stating that Mormo and the equivalent mormolykeion[f] are called lamia, and that all these refer to frightful beings. I have been in love with all things related to Mythology. Clash of the Titans (1981) (mentioned below) featured her as one of the monsters and it has been said that modern generations owe their knowledge of Medusa to the film. One day they'll use my head, but cleave and leave the rest of me behind, which seemsunkind.". The views on medusa goddess in mythology. Medusa's popularity is somewhat Newer Than They Think. Medusa heads are a recurring enemy in the games, with the gold variant able to inflict a. Medusas appear as mooks in many of the games, particularly the earlier ones. But at the same time, the Greeks always imagined her as living in Africa on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. In some versions, we'll never know if it was consensual. For this reason. WebMedusa was a Libyan Goddess who was worshiped by The Amazons. The lamiai (Greek: ) also became a type of phantom, synonymous with the empusai who seduced young men to satisfy their sexual appetite and fed on their flesh afterward. He did so with the help of many of the pantheons powerful gods. Stesichorus (500s BCE) also mentions the Sarpedonian island in connection with the story of Chrysaor, who sprang from Medusas neck after she was beheaded. Medusa may manifest as the beautiful goddess she was prior to her transformation or in her classic monster form with contorted face and snake locks. [58], Some commentators, despite the absence of actual blood-sucking, find these witches to share "vampiric" qualities of the lamiae (lamiai) in Philostratus's narrative, thus offering it up for comparison.[59]. 1495.). There exists a genus of horned dinosaur named after Medusa called. There are two different such prequel myths regarding the origins of the original Medusa. Aeneas didnt originate in Roman myth, but hes still an important part of Roman myth. [22], It is somewhat uncertain if this refers to the one Lamia[23] or to "a Lamia" among many, as given in some translations of the two plays;[24] a generic lamia is also supported by the definition as some sort of a "wild beast" in the Suda. Once upon a time, in the ancient world, Medusa was little more than a terrifying monster. Maidens who die of their wounds are called false virgins. Choosing to worship Hera when you advance to the Mythic Age lets you train Medusae at your temple. White and black, as a taxonomy of race, are inventions of the modern era. For Apollonius in speech declares that the seductress is "one of the empousai, which most other people would call lamiai and mormolykeia". [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. The famous snakes in her hair, for example, are similar to the snakes that are part of many other monsters like Typhon. In the very earliest sources, she lived on an island in the Atlantic. We can leave that aside: Hyperborea was sometimes imagined as being in northern Ukraine, or to the north of the Caspian Sea.). Strands of her snake hair went on to protect whole cities. Other packaging types available at checkout. [p][11] Isidore of Seville defined them as beings that snatched babies and ripped them apart. It was assumed, among other godlike attributes, as a royal aegis to imply divine birth or protection, by rulers of the Hellenistic age, as shown, for instance, on the Alexander Mosaic and the Gonzaga Cameo. [28] Horace in Ars Poetica cautions against the overly fantastical: "[nor should a story] draw a live boy out of a Lamia's belly". Apollo as punishment then sends the child-devouring monster to Argos. WebMedusa was one of the three Gorgons ("the Terrible Ones"), the daughters of Keto ("Whale," daughter of Gaea and Pontos, the outer sea) and her brother Phorkys (also a If you feel called to her, though, I'd suggest you follow your instincts. [13][12], According to one myth, Hera deprived Lamia of the ability to sleep, making her constantly grieve over the loss of her children, and Zeus provided relief by endowing her with removable eyes. to view the complete essay. What Were the Hamadryads in Greek Mythology? The Perseus legend didnt originate in Chemmis; Medusa and the Gorgons didnt originate in the modern territory of Libya. Herodotus, Histories 4. In this origin, the Gorgons are typically three sisters, the other two being Stheno and Euryale. The involvement of other gods, however, made the destruction of Medusa seem like a high priority. In southern Asia, theres an ancient belief that menstruation indicates possession by snake spirits. Modern commentators have also tried to establish that she may have originally been a dragoness, by inference. Pursuing her, he raped her there. Like many Greek monsters in mythology, killing Medusa was a task assigned to a semi-divine hero. They were in the service of Hera, giving Perseus a connection to both of these deities. When Perseus was sent to kill Medusa, a hopeless task he was not expected to survive, Athena orchestrated the assassination. "He [Amphithemis son of Apollon and Akakallis (Acacallis)] married the Nymphe Tritonis and she gave him two sons, Nasamon and the powerful Kaphauros (Caphaurus). Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) : When Athena entered Greek culture, she became a symbol of the new patriarchal order. 5. Whether or not Medusa was African in the 7th century BCE, that doesnt determine whether shes African now. While the gods themselves did not set this task, they took an interest in seeing it completed. 180 (trans. Both sexes resemble the scaly humanoid from 3rd edition, though with less haggish features. [50] The word play is also seen as being employed in Horace's Odes, to banter Lucius Aelius Lamia the praetor. The examples are Aristophanes's reference to the "lamia's testicles", the scent of the monsters in the Libyan myth which allowed the humans to track down their lair, and the terrible stench of their urine that lingered in the clothing of Aristomenes, which they showered upon him after carving out his friend Sophocles's heart. The loss of her children drove Lamia insane, and in vengeance and despair, Lamia snatched up any children she could find and devoured them. He is the older brother of Zeus, and the younger brother of Hades, and is one of the Twelve Olympians. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. : Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. [63] According to a scholiast to Ovid, it had a serpent's body carrying a human face. [38] The last statement has led to the surmise that this lamia/empusa was a sort of blood-sucking vampiress. The short answer is yes, she was invented by Greeks. 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