Medusa（Greek：Μέδουσα；English: Medusa) YesAncient Greek mythologyThe snake haired banshee in,Gorgons One of the three sisters who lives around the earth and the riverOkeanosThe place where the other side of the sea meets the land of night.Father is the Earth GoddessGaiaAnd the god of the seaPontosSon ofForcus, whose mother is Falcus's sisterCattle。
In Greek legend“Gorgons ”Is very similar in appearancesnaker The three sisters are collectively referred to as:
one
Stheno
two
Euryale
three
Medusa
Among the three sisters of the Gorgon, only Medusa is mortal, her sisterStheno andYuri AiliAll are demons.PerseusThe youngest sister Medusa was killed. The other two sisters had the power of immortality, so no matter how many times Perseus cut them down, they would never die. At last Perseus had to give up and run away.When Perseus evaded the pursuit of Medusa's two sisters, he met the attack of the wind in the air and was swayed from side to side. The blood dripping from Medusa's head fell toLibyan desertAnd become venomous snakes.[3]
Introduction
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Medusa isancient GreekAll who see her eyes will be petrified.This monster was killed by the hero PerseusAthenaandHermesWith the help of.Perseus dedicated his head to Athena, so it was embedded in Athena's shield[1]。
Medusa sculpture, ca. 580 BC
The earliest written records of Medusa can be found in ancient Greek poetsHesiod's long poem《Divine Scripture》。According to the Divine Manual (lines 274-286): Medusa is the father of monstersForcusAndCattleShe and her other two sisters Steno and EuryaleGorgons 。Among the three Gorgon sisters, only Medusa was dead (in ancient Greece, "dead" (θνηττ ό) often referred to mortals, but here it is not said that Medusa is a mortal. According to her origin and ability, she is undoubtedly a monster). Medusa was a hero of ancient GreecePerseusDecapitation,PoseidonA giant "born with a golden sword" with Medusa's two sonsChrysaolAnd TianmaPergasosJump out of her body.
Although earlierHomer EpicGolgi was mentioned in, but only the singular form is used in the epic, that isHomerOnly one Goldilocks was known, and the name of Medusa was not mentioned.
stayarchaic period OfAncient Greek ArtIn the middle, Goldilocks Medusa both speak with bare teeth and have long headsviper, with a ferocious face.This shape has the effect of exorcising evil spirits, and can scare the enemy if painted on the shield.And inClassical periodIn art, there are works that beautify Medusa's face.At the same time, classical poetsPindar It is also said that Medusa is "good cheeked" (Line 16 of "The Twelfth Song of Pito Kaige"). Later in the myth, it even appeared that Medusa tried to compare beauty with Athena and was killed (pseudo Apollodoros《Library》2.4.3）。In Roman art, there was no shortage of Medusa as a beauty with snake hair.In ancient times, Medusa did not have a snake body but only had snake hair, but in modern works, she often described it as a snake body.
According to the Roman poetOvidOf《Anamorphosis》（Metamorphoses4.770) said that Medusa was originally a beautiful girl, because in Minerva (corresponding toMYTHOSAthena inNeptune (Corresponding to Poseidon in Greek mythology) Rape first appeared in RomePoetryIt is not found in ancient Greek literature[2]。
According to the ancient Greek poet Hesiod《Divine Scripture》(Line 277), Medusa isGorgons The only one who can't live forever.thereforePerseusTo cut off her head and kill her and dedicate it to Athena,AthenaPut Medusa's head in the shieldAegisThe center of.According to another story, Perseus buried it in the market of Argos.allegedlyHeraclesGet a pinch of Medusa's snake hair from Athena (with the same magic power as the head), and send it to Stepper, the daughter of Cepheus, to protect Tegea from attack.When this hair appeared in front of the people, it would cause a storm and make the enemy flee.In addition, it is said that Medusa andPoseidonShe had two sons who appeared in the blood from her neck after Medusa was killed, namely PegasusPergasosAnd giantChrysaol。[3]
There is a city calledArgosArgos, the king Acrisius, has a very beautiful and lovely princess namedDanae(Danae), Acrisius loved her very much, but the sun godDelphi Temple(Delphi)OracleTell Achilles that he will die at the hands of his grandson.In order to prevent his daughter from meeting men, he built a tall tower made of bronze and locked Danae inside. No one was allowed to approach it.PrimordialZeus(Zeus) I will not let go of such beauty.He turned into a golden rain and sprinkled it through the only window of the copper tower to meet Danae.
Ten months later, Danae gave birth to a healthy and lively boy namedPerseus(Perseus), which means "glittering with gold".After Acrisius heard this, he intended to kill them, but killing his relatives would be punished by heaven,Vengeance(Erinyes) will not give up, and he cannot bear to do so, so Acrisius decides to lock Danae and her son in a wooden box and throw them into the sea to let them live and die.
The wooden box drifted to an island called Seriphus with the sea water and was rescued by Dictys, the brother of the king of the island. He liked Perseus very much and took him as an adopted son to raise him up.Eighteen years later Perseus grew up and became a handsome and brave blond boy.Dixitis's brother Pollectes had a crush on Danae early in the morning and wanted to marry her, but she refused him on the grounds of raising Perseus, so he always regarded Perseus as a thorn in his side.[3]
At a birthday party, Polidetex gave a big dinner to the royal nobles. He deliberately invited Perseus to the party and found an opportunity to taunt him.Perseus did not bring any gifts, so he said that if the king spoke, he could bring something back to the king as a gift.Polidetex deliberately asked for the head of Medusa.The young and competitive Perseus did not know about Medusa at all, but he wanted to take the risk and agreed to Polidetex at once. In fact, Polidetex wanted to take this opportunity to keep Perseus from coming back and let him die under the Gorgon.Perseus was afraid of his mother's worry, so he left without saying goodbye and went alone to find the legendary Gorgon.[3]
When Perseus was ready to go to find the Gorgon, a friendly old fisherman at the seaside offered to help him and lent him some treasures. It turned out that the old fisherman wasAthenaThe avatar of.The treasure she lent Perseus was: the divine envoyHermes(Hermes) A pair of shoes that can fly to heavenHades(Hades) Wear a hat that can be invisible, a leather bag that can be retracted at will and cannot be worn by any beast, and a pair of iron cuttingDiamondsAthena lent him her shield.The goddess instructed him to find three Grey Women if he wanted to defeat Golgi.
Grey Niang is the sister of Goliath, who lives at the west end of the sea. They are very old from birth. The three people share one eye and one tooth in turn. Only they know where Goliath is and how to deal with it.Perseus went to Grey Niang's residence to hide, and snatched the eyes from one person when he took them off and handed them to the other.Perseus threatened to crush his eyes if they did not tell him how to defeat Golgong.In desperation, Grey Niang had to tell Perseus.[3]
Perseus followed the instructions of Grey Niang and came to the island where Goldilocks lived.He used Athena's shield to reflect the correct position of the three Gorgons, and slowly retreated to Medusa while they were sleeping. He cut off her head with a sword and put it in a leather bag.At this time, the other two Goliath workers woke up and saw his sister's tragic death. They wanted to find Perseus, the murderer who killed her. Unfortunately, Perseus put on his invisibility cap and flying shoes. The two Goliath workers could not see him, and he also left smoothly with Medusa's head.The blood flowing from Medusa's neck suddenly came outSmoke screenCome on, a winged onePegasusFlying out, this isPegasusPegasus ofPegasus(Pegasus), GiantChrysaolThey came out after Perseus leftPoseidonDescendants of.
Perseus took a leather bag with Medusa's head and rodePegasusOn the way back, when passing the coast of Ethiopia, I saw a beautiful woman who was naked and tied to the shore with iron chains.Perseus then went to ask the truth.It turns out that she is the princess of this country. Her name isAndromeda(Andromeda). Her mother loves vanity and boasts of her beauty. She once boasted that she is more than Nellide, the fairy in the sea（Nereid）It is more beautiful. People are not allowed to visit the sea fairy but want to visit her, so it offends the sea godPoseidonThe god of the sea triggered a huge tsunami to flood the country's land and destroy people's houses. The only way is to give his daughter Andromeda to the sea monster as food, otherwise there will be more disasters in Ethiopia.[4]
Perseus killed Medusa, works of Benvenuto Cellini
When Perseus knew the whole thing, he promised to defeat the sea monster for her and save her from here.Suddenly, there was a loud rumble on the sea, and the waves suddenly separated. One was dark all over, and his head had a single horntridentThe sea monster with the shape of tail rushed towards the shore where they were.Perseus, wearing takeoff shoes and holding a sword that cuts iron like mud, jumped into the air to attack the sea monster.He stabbed the sea monster with his sword, and then took out Medusa's head from the bag and turned the sea monster into a stone (Cetus refers to this sea monster).Perseus took Andromeda back to the royal palace in Ethiopia. King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia warmly welcomed them. They were very grateful to Perseus for saving their daughter, and decided to marry Perseus. In fact, they admired each other early in the morning, even if the king did not propose,Perseus would also ask to marry Andromeda.
On the day of their grand wedding in Ethiopia, Andromeda's fiance Phineus led the army to make trouble and complained that the king had broken his engagement.But King Sippes said: "When your fiancee is in trouble, you will only hide in a safe place. On the contrary, the brave Perseus bravely saved her. He is the one who really cares about Andromeda, and you are not qualified to be her fiancee!" However, Binus was furious, and he ordered the army to attack Perseus to put him to death.Perseus, of course, could not resist the whole army, so he shouted: "If it is my friend, don't look!" Then he took out Medusa's head and turned all the enemies to stone.andromedaIt refers to the image of the beautiful princess Andromeda tied to the rock by an iron chain and ready to sacrifice to the sea monsterCepheusIt means King Sippes,CassiopeiaQueen Cassiopeia.[4]
After Perseus and Andromeda were married successfully, he returned to Cyprus with his new wife.Knowing that King Polidetex forced his mother Danae to marry, she refused, so she was imprisoned.Perseus was very angry and immediately went to the palace to look for Polidetex.Polidetex was having a dinner with the ministers at that time. Seeing Perseus coming back intact, he immediately showed his displeasure. He said Perseus didn't kill Medusa at all, but he was frightened to escape.Perseus opened his bag and said, "If you don't believe it, you can see clearly with your eyes." He held up Medusa's head and turned everyone into stone.The people wanted to make Perseus king, but he wanted to go back to Argos City, his motherland, so he gave the throne to his adoptive father Dixitis, who took his mother and wife back with him.Acrisius, the king of Argos, knew that his grandson had become a famous hero. He was very afraid and left Argos to hide.[3]
Perseus went back by boat, only to find that the strong wind caused them to deviate from the route and arrived at Thessaly, the neighbor of Argos City. There was a large-scale sports meeting held there, and Perseus participated in it with great enthusiasm.When hediscus throwAt that time, the discus was thrown askew and fell on the audience, killing an old man. It turned out that this old man was the king of Argos, Acrisius. He had wanted to escape here, but he died in the hands of his grandson.The oracle finally came true.
Perseus holds Medusa's head in his left handFive Tombs）, holding a sword in his right hand and wearing flying shoes on his feet, he was set in the sky asPerseus。
(Note: Ethiopia is not modernEthiopia(Ethiopia), but originally located inAfricaA dynasty on the north coast).
Although the blood of Goliath worker is highly toxic, it has special power and once gaveEric Tronnias(Erichthonius) The ability to bring the dead back to life.Perseus killed the sea monster with the cut head of MedusaCetus (Cetus). After returning, she handed the head to Athena, who fixed it in the center of her shield/breastplate.The heads of the three Gorgons sisters are often used by artists on symbolic badges, architectural decorations and even coins of Athens, as well as on soldiers' shields.[4]
There is another saying about the blood of Goliath workers: the blood flowing out of Goliath workers' right body can cure any disease, while the blood flowing out of Goliath workers' left body is fatal.
Note: Medusa is the unclean side or trinity of Athena, which is the setting of secondary creation in Japanese animation.At present, there are only cultural relics of Kinpatas in Greece, which shows that Medusa originated from the belief of death mask.Athena originated fromCreteGoddess belief in other places.According to the current textual research, they are not from the same region, and their sources are different. They have nothing to do with each other.
archaeological discovery
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Medusa (1595) by Caravaggio
United States TurkeyarchaeologistGroup inAntalyaFound the well preserved stone head of Medusa banshee.According to the StateCultural tourismAccording to the Ministry of Finance, the head of the Medusa banshee was found in the 2-3 century AD.
This head was excavated fromAncient RomeCragus Hell in the city of Antioch or Little Antioch in the modern Gazpasa County.From the United StatesUniversity of Nebraska And Turkish universitiesUshakBranch schoolsExperts from.
Experts studied and inspected the temple site.The head of Medusa was found among the columns and fragments of the wall.It is speculated that it is part of the interior decoration of the temple.In addition to the well preserved face of the Medusa banshee, its hair clearly shows the shape of the snake - a basic element of this mythical creature.At present, the finds have been sent to the restorer for repair. The restorer will clean the dirt and then transfer it to AlaniaCity MuseumIt will be exhibited there.
The Medusa banshee is ancientMYTHOSAnd one of the most common characters in the culture.Her images and sculptures have been found in many urban sites in Turkey.
stayturkeyCarved marble heads of Medusa can be seen in the most lively places in the Republic, such as Didima Apollo Temple andIstanbulRoyal Cathedral.On the cylindrical base of the Royal Cathedral, there are two heads of Medusa, which are used to support the arch of the underground pool.One of the heads of Medusa is facing down, and the other head turns to the side.It is speculated that the original intention was to make people not afraid to see these ancient banshees.
In mythology, Medusa is the only female demon who died.Perseus cut off her head, but her head has the ability to look at her head and the person will become a stone.The image of Medusa has spread to other cultures in the region.
