Medusa is a widely-known myth in Greek mythology, however, in recent years her myth has evolved to reflect current-day values. That alone isn’t a new concept though, a popular example would be Norse mythology. Denmark was Christianize and so most of the Nordic Gods were rewritten to be just human (lords and ladies, kings and queens, you get the idea), or sometimes the Norse Gods and Jesus would be worshiped alongside one another.
Either way, Stories change the more time goes by, whether it be by the region the mythology comes from changing religion or the stories being rewritten to reflect a more modern point of view. Medusa is just one of those examples.
If you know the tale of Medusa then you most likely know the tales surrounding her. Medusa is a beautiful maiden in ancient Greece who has devoted her life to worshiping the goddess Athena when she is seduced by the God Poseidon (A God with whom Athena isn’t very friendly with). This offends Athena so in retaliation she turns Medusa’s hair into snakes and to rub salt in the wound she gives Medusa the ability to turn anyone she looks at into stone. She runs off and hides in a cave and later her head gets cut off by the hero Percus, from that neck stump she gives birth to Chrysaor and Pegasus (A winged Boar and horse).
In another version, Medusa isn’t seduced and is assaulted instead. This plays out similarly with Athena turning her hair to snakes and giving her the ability to turn people to stone, depending on who you ask there are two different reasons for this. One, Athena is just a terrible person and a victim-blaming jerk, or two, Athena is protecting her by giving her the ability to protect herself from being violated again.
These stories were derived from the Roman poet, Ovid and his book Metamorphoses. So yes technically the most popular retelling isn’t Greek in origin. In Ovid’s later version of the story, he says “She was once most beautiful, and the jealous aspiration of many suitors.” When originally she wasn’t human to begin with. You see, Ovid’s book was written in 800 CE but Medusa’s origin can be traced back further than that. In around 700 BC the Theogony was written by the Greek poet Hesiod, the Theogony was written to catalog and make sense of Greek mythology and put it all into one single concise story. In short, it’s one of the earliest sources we have to work with.
In Hesiod’s telling of the story (Before Rome came in and started to synchronize their gods with the Greek Gods). Medusa was a daughter of two Gods of the sea and one of three gorgon sisters. She was the youngest and was mortal, unlike the rest of her family who would live forever. She would then go on to conceive Chrysaor and Pegasus in a field of flowers with the God of the sea, Poseidon. Ovid’s version of the story was probably made to give Medusa more character and romanticize her because I’ll just put it out there now, gorgons were not pretty women with snakes for hair. Well, at least not originally. Older art of Gorgons has them just look straight at the person viewing them and it’s horrifying, to put it mildly.
Despite the past Medusa is hailed as more of a symbol of perseverance, bravery, and female empowerment in the modern day. Victims of sexual assault get tattoos of her to symbolize their own empowerment, and plus, artist renderings of her are amazing too. Medusa has grown to be more than just a monster, she’s changed to be an iconic symbol of one’s perseverance through hardship.
