Short answer: no. Long answer:Medusa is part of Greek mythology which has existed longer than the current misinformation of her being an African Go [94], Renaissance writer Angelo Poliziano wrote Lamia (1492), a philosophical work whose title is a disparaging reference to his opponents who dabble in philosophy without competence. [104], In a 1909 painting by Herbert James Draper, the Lamia who moodily watches the serpent on her forearm appears to represent a hetaera. For this Athena punished her hideously. Herodotus, Histories 4. Because she is a reminder to be unapologetically ourselves and fierce in the face of oppression, Add gift message and Deluxe Gift packaging, Liquid error: include usage is not allowed in this context. Maidens who die of their wounds are called false virgins. Coral, anything serpentine, menstrual blood stained pads or garments. Lamia has been ascribed serpentine qualities, which some commentators believe can be firmly traced to mythology from antiquity; they have found analogues in ancient texts that could be designated as lamiai (or lamiae) which are part-serpent beings. Send your order with a custom message. The other two sisters appear extremely rarely, but are sometimes included alongside Medusa when she's a singular character. ", Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4. Lamia is the main antagonist in the 2009 horror movie Drag Me to Hell voiced by Art Kimbro. Snakes are traditionally associated with menstruation. An account of Apollonius of Tyana's defeat of a lamia-seductress inspired the poem Lamia by John Keats. She was born far across the ocean from Greece; Later contributing authors to Medusas myth placed her homeland as Libya. Myth evolves. They saw parallels between the punishment and isolation the Gorgon faced for her own assault and the way women are so often maligned for the mistreatment they endure. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. WebSome interpretations argue that Medusa was a Libyan goddess who was equated with Athena before the Greeks defeated them and demonized her as Athena's enemy and The woman's decision is entirely inconsequential. In Renaissance emblems, Lamia has the body of a serpent and the breasts and head of a woman, like the image of hypocrisy. Other myths say that Medusa retained her mortal beauty, as a cruel Irony. A scholiast to Aristophanes claimed that Lamia's name derived from her having a large throat or gullet (; laims). [2.1] KEPHALION, NASAMON (by Amphithemis) (Apollonius Rhodius 4.1493, Hyginus Fab 14), TRITONIS (Tritnis). Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) In fourth edition, medusae are a species in the usual sense, with both males and females. In Statius' version, the monster had a woman's face and breasts, and a hissing snake protruding from the cleft of her rusty-colored forehead, and it would slide into children's bedrooms to snatch them. The story of Medusa seems to obviously be one of a terrible monster. WebMedusa, in Greek mythology, the most famous of the monster figures known as Gorgons. Lamia are featured in the progressive rock album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway by Genesis on the track "The Lamia." 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 The technical term for the image of Medusas severed head is gorgoneion. [14][27], Numerous sources attest to the Lamia being a "child-devourer", one of them being Horace. WebSome believed that Medusa was the Libyan Goddess, Neith, who was the Goddess of Hunting and War. You may have heard that Medusa was originally a Libyan goddess or alternatively, that the Greek myth of Medusa was designed to demonise black women. In the earliest stories, Lamia was a beautiful queen of Ancient Libya who had an affair with Zeus. "[The tribes of Libya :] Next to the Makhlyes (Machlyes) are the Auseans; these and the Makhlyes, separated by the Triton, live on the shores of Lake Tritonis. Pursuing her, he raped her there. And those analogues that exhibit a serpentine form or nature have been especially noted. It has been recorded more recently by Rumon Gamba conducting the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos Records in a 2019 release of British tone poems. FEBRUARY MYSTERY BOX, GET IT BEFORE IT'S GONE ON MARCH 1ST, LAST CHANCE | BUY THE FEBRUARY MYSTERY BOX, Discover your goddess | Take the quiz & get 10% off, Most recognizable for her locks of snakes, Medusa was the daughter of ancient chthonic deities of the sea. Met. [1.2] ATHENE, PALLAS (by Triton) (reconstructed from Apollodorus 3.144) Engraged, Athena, unable to punish Poseidon. Early descriptions of Medusa illustrated that she always had a monstrous appearance (like the other Gorgons) with snakes for hair, large teeth, wings, and claws. As one of the Gorgons, a trio of winged women with venomous snakes for hair, Medusa ranked among the most feared, powerful monsters to dominate early Greek mythology. [19][b][c], Aristophanes wrote in two plays an identically worded list of foul-smelling objects which included the "Lamia's testicles", thus making Lamia's gender ambiguous. And either way, she can still become Berber any time. Not only is Medusa identified with Libya, she also had dealings with the three Graeae who had the removable eye shared between them. They are depicted as female creatures with 'snake-like' bodies and seduce the protagonist Rael in an attempt to devour him, but as soon as they 'taste' Rael's body, the blood that enters the lamias' body causes their death. In 2019 a fragmentary archaic Greek carving of a Gorgons head, or Gorgoneion, was found in Gibraltar itself deep inside Gorhams Cave. [8], Diodorus Siculus (fl. [67], A second example is a colony of man-eating monsters in Libya, described by Dio Chrysostom. Alternatively she desired Medusas power. Depending on the version of the story, she either reciprocated, and (with a little help from her sisters) let Poseidon into Athena's temple and slept with him on the altar, or was simply raped by the god. They are not strictly speaking "witches", but they are referred to as such by convention. Theoi Project Copyright 2000 - 2017 Aaron J. Atsma, Netherlands & New Zealand, (Apollonius Rhodius 4.1493, Hyginus Fab 14). | FAQs | ^Mods | Magic ^Words. Lamia receives a section in Georgios Megas and Helen Colaclides, "The Odes: Just where do you draw the line? Sign up This is given in the concluding paragraph of the chapter. [9][10] Heraclitus Paradoxographus (2nd century) also gave a rationalizing account. Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh. [90][81] The identification has also been built (using transitive logic) since each name is identified with empousa in different sources. [18][26] Such practices are recorded by the 1st century Diodorus,[9] and other sources in antiquity. Perseus was the son of Zeus and Dana, the daughter of Acrisius of Argos. (Yes, Ive seen this claimed.). Strands of her snake hair went on to protect whole cities. For the Basque lamia, see. When ancient Greek writers say Libya, they dont mean the modern country. In both versions, Athena, pissed that her priestess not only broke her vows but did the nasty in her temple, punished her by turning her into her new hideous form and banished her to a desolate island until Perseus slew her. The 1982 novel Lamia by Tristan Travis sees the mythological monster relocated to 1970s Chicago, where she takes bloody vengeance on sex offenders while the cops try to figure out the mystery. The basis of this identification is the variant maternities of scylla, sometimes ascribed to Lamia (as already mentioned), and sometimes to Hecate. 1495.). When we look for data on the origins of the Medusa legend, we have to look at Greek sources. xsai 11/19/2011. Athena wore Medusas head on her aegis and shield. Percy also confronts the forgotten other son Chrysaor, embittered at being ignored in legend, who honors his heritage as a son of her and Poseidon by becoming a fearsome pirate. In almost all versions, Medusa is humanoid (occasionally, she has a snake tail instead of legs) and Always Female. Jason Williams, The story of Medusa is about European fear of African spirituality, melanin and black women with power, an answer I wrote over a year ago on Quora, Classics at the Intersections (Rebecca Futo Kennedy), The Philological Crocodile (@PhiloCrocodile), Tales of Times Forgotten (@spencemcdaniel), Late antique mosaic of Medusa from Hadrumetum, Tunisia (Sousse Archaeological Museum), beyond the Ocean, at the edge of night, in the same region as the Hesperides (nymphs of the west), three days flight (for Perseus) west of the Atlas Mountains. For the descriptions and nature of the Lamia, Keats drew from Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy. WebMedusa was a Libyan Goddess who was worshiped by The Amazons. Some of the Gorgons' depictions make them Snake People. [a][14][17], According to the same source, Lamia was taken by Zeus to Italy, and that Lamos, the city of the man-eating Laestrygonians, was named after her. Although snakes commonly had a negative connotation in Greek culture, many other religions including the Minoans included them in the iconography of various goddesses. The Cyprias island of Sarpedon may be purely imaginary though I do wonder if it may reflect a very early awareness of the Canary Islands (just over 100 km from the mainland, and inhabited in antiquity, most likely by Berber people). Both sexes resemble the scaly humanoid from 3rd edition, though with less haggish features. The Gorgons were in the far west. [38] The last statement has led to the surmise that this lamia/empusa was a sort of blood-sucking vampiress. As for Athena, they say that she was daughter of Poseidon and Lake Tritonis, and that, being for some reason angry at her father, she gave herself to Zeus, who made her his own daughter. ", "Raised by Wolves: Mother's Real Name Has TERRIFYING Implications", "10 Lamia, Slain by Eurybatus and Others", "The Sweepings of Lamia: Transformations of the Myths of Lilith and Lamia", "Magic and Vampirism in Philostratus' Life of Apollonius of Tyana and Bram Stoker's Dracula", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lamia&oldid=1138177380, Articles with Latin-language sources (la), Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2007, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 8 February 2023, at 12:19. Ancient people were racist too, but they tended to think of ethnicity in terms of homeland, language, clothing, religion, and other customs, all in a bundle. She may also manifest as a mermaid. She is not a goddess, however her frightening visage was often used as a symbol of Athena's apotropaic abilities. In the story of the birth of the Libyan Athena, Triton--a Libyan sea It's founded on a distortion, but as you say, myths are malleable. In the story of the birth of the Libyan Athena, Triton--a Libyan sea-god sometimes identified with Poseidon--and Tritonis were the parents of two daughters named Athena and Pallas. An Ionian Greek city could change its ethnicity by changing its dialect and clothing styles. Pegasus, the winged horse, emerged from Medusas severed head, apparently conceived during her tryst with Poseidon, who often manifests as a stallion. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Later depictions (although still fairly ancient ones, in the absolute sense) gradually toned down the more monstrous aspects and made her more attractive. Please like and share this article if you found it useful. ", Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. 1493 ff (trans. Kibin, 2023. http://www.kibin.com/essay-examples/the-views-on-medusa-goddess-in-mythology-u4hTw2Vu. She transformed Medusa into a terrifying creature with snakes for hair and a face that literally turned those who gazed at her to stone. There is an ancient metaphysical belief that menstrual blood is the single most spiritually and magically powerful substance on Earth. Although later details, such as her origins as a beautiful Although, in the most well known myth written by the Roman poet Ovid, Medusa was born extremely beautiful and human-like. [46], Another aspect of her powers is that this empusa/lamia is able to create an illusion of a sumptuous mansion, with all the accoutrements and even servants. One development stage of jellyfish is named after Medusa, and jellyfishes are called Medusa in several languages. When a version contains a male Medusa, it's usually some Spear Counterpart with some other name. The Greek word "gorgon" means "horror". And, of course, as a son of Zeus Perseus was directly connected to the king of the gods. 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