Cultural depictions of Medusa and Gorgons

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Medusa by Caravaggio; Ufizzi Gallery, Florence Caravaggio - Medusa - Google Art Project.jpg
Medusa by Caravaggio; Ufizzi Gallery, Florence
Central motive of the Medusa mosaic, 2nd century BCE, from Kos island, in the palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes, in Rhodes city, island of Rhodes, Greece. Medusa mosaic Rhodes.jpg
Central motive of the Medusa mosaic, 2nd century BCE, from Kos island, in the palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes, in Rhodes city, island of Rhodes, Greece.

Medusa and the other Gorgon sisters, Stheno and Euryale, have been featured in art and culture spanning from the days of ancient Greece to present day. Medusa is the most well-known of the three mythological monsters, having been variously portrayed as a monster, a protective symbol, a rallying symbol for liberty, and a sympathetic victim of rape and/or a curse.

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The Gorgons are best known by their hair of living venomous snakes and ability to turn living creatures to stone. Medusa herself is an ancient icon that remains one of the most popular and enduring figures of Greek mythology. She continues to be recreated in pop culture and art, surpassing the popularity of many other mythological characters. [1] Her likeness has been immortalized by artists including Leonardo da Vinci, Peter Paul Rubens, Caravaggio, Pablo Picasso, Auguste Rodin, and Benvenuto Cellini. [2]

Ancient times to the Renaissance

Cellini's bronze statue of Perseus with the Head of Medusa, completed in the Renaissance Perseus Cellini Loggia dei Lanzi 2005 09 13.jpg
Cellini's bronze statue of Perseus with the Head of Medusa , completed in the Renaissance

The Gorgoneion, or Gorgon head, was used in the ancient world as a protective apotropaic symbol. Among the ancient Greeks, it was the most widely used symbol to avert evil. Medusa's head with its goggling eyes, fangs, and protruding tongue was depicted on the shield of Athena herself. [3] Its use in this fashion was depicted in the Alexander Mosaic, a Roman mosaic (ca. 200 BC) in Pompeii. In some cruder representations, the blood flowing under the head can be mistaken for a beard.

By the Renaissance, artists depicted Medusa's head held aloft to represent the realistic human form of the triumphant hero Perseus (such as in the 1554 bronze statue Perseus with the Head of Medusa by Benvenuto Cellini). Medusa's head was also depicted to evoke horror by making the detached head the main subject (as demonstrated by the 1597 painting Medusa by Baroque painter Caravaggio). [4]

19th century

Medusa (1895), watercolour by Carlos Schwabe Medusa 1895.jpg
Medusa (1895), watercolour by Carlos Schwabe

After the French Revolution, Medusa was used as a popular emblem of Jacobinism and was often displayed as a figure of "French Liberty." This was in opposition to "English Liberty," which was personified by Athena (whose shield bore Medusa's head). [5] "To radicals like Percy Bysshe Shelley, Medusa was an 'abject hero,' a victim of tyranny whose weakness, disfiguration, and monstrous mutilation [had] become, in themselves, a kind of revolutionary power." [6] Shelley's 1819 poem, On the Medusa of Leonardo da Vinci in the Florentine Gallery was published posthumously by his wife Mary Shelley in 1824. [7] Octave Mirbeau's use of Medusa during his time has also been examined. [8]

Modern use

The image of Medusa's severed head has become one of the most-recognized images from Greek mythology. A representation of Perseus carrying this head has been featured on the cover of a number of paperback editions of Edith Hamilton's Mythology and several editions of Bulfinch's Mythology . [2] Medusa also became a very popular icon in designer fashion, as the logo of the Italian luxury clothing brand Versace portrays a Gorgon head. [9] Luciano Garbati's 2008 sculpture, Medusa with the Head of Perseus, portrays her clutching the severed head of Perseus, later becoming a feminist avatar for the MeToo movement. [10] [11]

Anime and Manga

Comics

Screen

Medusa reflected in Perseus's shield, from The Gorgon's Head (1925) Medusa (The Gorgon's Head, 1925).jpg
Medusa reflected in Perseus's shield, from The Gorgon's Head (1925)

Video games

Music

Books

Theatre

Toys

In Monster High , Deuce Gorgon is the son of Medusa, while his cousin, Viperine Gorgon, is the daughter of Stheno.

Internet

The Russian- and English-language independent news website Meduza is named after Medusa, though using the Russian version of her name (Медуза) as the website was originally for a Russian speaking audience (the English version of the website was not set up until later). [40]

References

  1. Wilk, Stephen R. Medusa: Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon , 26 June 2000, Front matter, ISBN   0-19-512431-6.
  2. 1 2 Wilk, Medusa: Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon, pg. 200
  3. Jane Ellen Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion, pp 196ff.
  4. Might Medici, By Robert Hughes, Time, 5 December 2002
  5. Judson, B. (2001). The Politics of Medusa: Shelley's Physiognomy of Revolution. ELH. 68(1), 135-154.
  6. "Ekphrasis and the Other" by W. J. T. Mitchell, excerpted from Picture Theory(The University of Chicago Press);the paper originally appeared in South Atlantic Quarterly XCI (Summer 1992), pg. 695-719.
  7. Shelley, Percy Bysshe. The Complete Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley, 14 June 1994, pg. 621, ISBN   0-679-60111-2.
  8. Claude Herzfeld, La Figure de Méduse dans l'œuvre d'Octave Mirbeau, Librairie Nizet, Paris, 1992, 107 pages.
  9. "Versace's Medusa Logo Breaks Every Design Rule. So Why Does It Work?".
  10. "Luciano Garbati's Medusa". Luciano Garbati.
  11. Griffin, Annaliese. "The Medusa Statue That Became A Symbol of Feminist Rage". Quartz. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  12. The Gorgon's Head, 1925. YouTube. 13 March 2020.
  13. Wilk, Medusa: Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon, pg. 207.
  14. Wilk, Medusa: Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon, pg. 209.
  15. Wilk, Medusa: Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon, pg. 210.
  16. "SYFY WIRE". SYFY. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  17. "Chosen One of the Day: Medusa from Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief". 12 February 2018.
  18. "Atlantis Puts a New Face on the Gorgon Medusa | TV Guide". 29 November 2013.
  19. "Tim Burton's 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children' is the Consumer-Grade Version of Eccentricity [Review]".
  20. 1 2 3 David Leeming (2013), Medusa: In the Mirror of Time, Reaktion Books, p. 81, ISBN   9781780231334
  21. "Medusa is Back in Kid Icarus: Uprising". 20 February 2012.
  22. "Finding the Fun Medusa Heads in Castlevania". 27 February 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012.
  23. "Assassin's Creed Odyssey Mythological Beasts guide: How to kill Odyssey's toughest monsters". PC Gamer . 16 October 2018.
  24. Davis, Ryan. "Titan Quest Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  25. "Gorgon's Quest". Swansong games. 25 October 2024.
  26. Avalon, Whitney (19 September 2020). "Plaything of the Gods". YouTube.
  27. Jette, Kaia (1 November 2023). "Kaia Jette - Medusa (Official Video)". YouTube.
  28. "Antoin Gibson - Serene Despair". Indie Dock Music Blog. Indie Dock Music Block. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  29. Joan, Naomi. "Serene Despair by Antoin Gibson". Illustrate Magazine. Illustrate Magazine. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  30. "Serpentine Gaze Analysis". DosBot. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  31. "Antoin Gibson - Serene Despair Review: A Dark And Cinematic Journey Through Myth And Emotion". Dulaxi. Dulaxi. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  32. Bound, Chris. "Antoin Gibson - 'Serene Despair'". Mystic Sons. Mystic Sons. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  33. "Antoin Gibson Unleashes Mythic Power in Serene Despair". Apricot Magazine. Apricot Magazine. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  34. "Victims of Circumstance? Retelling the tale of the Medusa has been a labour of love for one Cyprus-based author". The Cyprus Mail.
  35. Rosenfeld, Lucinda (5 February 2023). "Medusa, Scourge of Myth, Tells Her Side of the Story". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  36. Bear, Lauren J. A. (8 August 2023). "Medusa's Sisters". Ace.
  37. Winship, Lyndsey (9 May 2019). "Royal Ballet: Within the Golden Hour / Medusa / Flight Pattern review – monsters and melancholy". The Guardian.
  38. Halasz, Lauren (2022). "Medusa's Children". OperaQ.
  39. Tripaldi, Megan (2024). "Gorgons". The Playwrights' Center.
  40. ""Медуза" ответила на вопросы читателей". Meduza (in Russian). Retrieved 27 January 2023.