Medusa by Excruciator on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

As described by Hesiod:

Originally a high priestess of Athena, Medusa broke her sacred oath of chastity to her patron Goddess. She was seduced upon a bed of spring flowers in a lush meadow by Poseidon, a fierce rival of Athena. He deliberately sought to do so in order to spite his rival Goddess; just your average everyday occurence in the soap opera that was the Greek pantheon.

Athena, being the jealous and vengeful type, chose to punish Medusa, who was carrying Poseidon's offspring. She had previously been renowned for her beauty, especially her long lustrous hair. Athena cursed her with a hideous appearance, her hair transforming into a tangle of venomous snakes. Her gaze became so piercing that it would petrify those who beheld her visage.

Supposedly, aside from being a warning against breaking a sacred oath or going against the will of the Gods, the tale of Medusa's curse was a means of cultural subsumation and deicide against a rival Libyan snake goddess. As such, Medusa was victim to mythological revisionism, and unfortunately she still suffers from it to this day. It's tragically poetic, considering in the Greek version of the myth she was used as a pawn in a game of chess by spiteful power seekers. The more things change...