was this her "natural look" ... or did she do something that caused her hair to turn to snakes?
2007-09-02 12:32:00 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
The snakes are there because they are a symbol of Athena. In her early worship Athena was a goddess of life and death. The head of Medusa is a symbol of death for this reason, and the story of Perseus is a struggle of life over death. For the Greeks the story also warned beautiful women to be careful or they would be raped and their life would turn ugly. Later Christians took the story and made the head beautiful because of the Christian promise of a beautiful afterlife in heaven. So the head of Medusa in the statue of Perseus and Medusa by Cellini is beautiful.
Medusa was a fearsome monster called a Gorgon. Her face had a strange power. If you looked at her face you were turned to stone. Athena helped Peseus to kill Medusa because she wanted to wear Medusa's head on her Aegis as a warning to strangers and young women.
EDIT: To the other answerer who said "her hair sometimes resembles dread lock, showing her origins in Africa"...That is incorrect Medusa was not black.
2007-09-02 12:56:33 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Medusa in Greek mythology, most famous of the three monstrous Gorgon sisters. She was once a beautiful woman, but she offended Athena, who changed her hair into snakes and made her face so hideous that all who looked at her were turned to stone. When Medusa was with child by Poseidon, Perseus killed her and presented her head to Athena. Chrysaor and Pegasus sprang from her blood when she died. Medusa's head retained its petrifying power even after her death. Because of this power, her image frequently appeared on Greek armor. In some myths Athena used the Medusa head on her aegis.
hope this would help you..
thanks!
2007-09-02 21:41:44 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Athena turned Medusa's long silky hair into snakes for fooling around with Poseiden (Neptune)
2007-09-02 19:17:18 · answer #3 · answered by Philbert 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Medusa was very beautiful and had many suitors. She seduced Poseidon in Athena's temple. So to punish Medusa, Athena turned her beautiful hair into snakes as to turn her off to her suitors.
2007-09-02 12:43:30 · answer #4 · answered by someone 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No,Medusa's snake hairs had no names. If you thought that she treats them like a pet,you're wrong,instead of a blessing it is a part of a curse bestowed on her.
2016-05-19 21:47:14 · answer #5 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Medusa means "sovereign female wisdom," in Sanskrit it'sMedha, Greek Metis, Egyptian Met or Maat.
Medusa was actually imported into Greece from Libya where she was worshipped by the Libyan Amazons as their Serpent-Goddess. Medusa (Metis) was the destroyer aspect of the Great Triple Goddess also called Neith, Anath, Athene or Ath-enna in North Africa and Athana in 1400 c. BC Minoan Crete.
Medusa was originally an aspect of the goddess Athene from Libya where she was the Serpent-Goddess of the Libyan Amazons. In her images, her hair sometimes resembles dread locks, showing her origins in Africa. There she had a hidden, dangerous face. It was inscribed that no one could possibly lift her veil, and that to look upon her face was to glimpse ones own death as she saw your future. her image around the world as the ancients translated the powers of the natural world into an organic image that was accessible, practical, ceremonial, mystical and potent. In the beginning, her images represent a powerful natural force that is worshipped and revered by cultures as sacred and holy as she was a symbol of the full potency of the Great Triple Goddess. Snakes coil around her arms, legs or are entwined in her hair and are shown whispering into her ear. The serpent is a totem of the cycles of life, death and rebirth and the seasons. It is the connection to the fertile earth and to the underworld. It also symbolizes immortality as it was thought to shed its skin indefinitely. Medusas' ancient, widely recognized symbol of female wisdom was her threatening, ceremonial mask . It has wide unblinking eyes that reflect her immense wisdom. They are all knowing, all seeing eyes that see through us, penetrating our illusions and looking into the abyss of truth. Her mouth is deathly; it looks like a skull. It is devouring of all life, returning us to the source. Sometimes she has the frightening tusks of a boar which is meant to scare men, yet these hearken back to the pig, an ancient symbol of the uterus of rebirth. Her tongue protrudes like a snakes' and her face is surrounded by a halo of spiraling, serpentine hair which symbolize the great cycles and her serpent wisdom.
Love & Blessings
Milly
2007-09-02 12:43:51 · answer #6 · answered by milly_1963 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
She was cursed, and since her hair was one of her most beautiful features before she turned into a monster, this turned into one of her most ugly traits.
Eeek!
2007-09-02 12:39:48 · answer #7 · answered by Mandy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i believe that she had an affair with Zues and it pissed of his wife.. ??? forgot her name.... then as punishment she was turned into the ugly medusa =S
2007-09-02 12:42:34 · answer #8 · answered by greenman Nate 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She made Athena or Hera, I forgot, Mad
2007-09-02 12:36:44 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think she was cursed for something she did
2007-09-02 13:21:01 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋