DLTK's Countries and Cultures - Greek Mythology
The Story of Medusa and Perseus
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After Athena changed her to a Gorgon, many years passed before anyone dared to speak openly of Medusa again. Maids spoke in whispers about rumors of the beautiful, young woman who had once lived in their city. Wide-eyed merchants told tales in the shops about heroes who had set out to the Gorgon caves never to be heard from again. Sailors whispered of Medusa's lair at the edges of the known world, where stone statues stood like frozen men in the garden. Few believed the stories, and fewer still would have wanted to see them for themselves.
But one day, a brave young man named Perseus set out on a dangerous quest. He had been challenged by the King to bring back the head of Medusa as a gift. Perseus was the son of Danaë and as her son rejected the king's advances on her behalf. Though he was still very young, his courage was already known throughout the land. The King hoped to do away with the boy by giving him an impossible task, the boy hoped to prove himself a man... to his mother, to the King and to himself.
Perseus prayed to the Greek gods for help.
The goddess Athena appeared in shining armor, her gray eyes calm but stern. “Perseus,” she said, “you must be clever, not just brave. Do not look at Medusa’s face, for one glance will turn you to stone. Take this polished shield and use it as a mirror to see her reflection instead.”
Most of the gods of Olympus ignored young Perseus, for matters related to Medusa were Athena's domain. But beside Athena appeared Hermes, the swift messenger god. Hermes was a young god, much different than his stern sister, Athena. He saw in Perseus some of his own youthful traits and so he handed him a curved sword and a pair of winged sandals. “You must be brave, not just clever,” Hermes laughed, winking at Athena, “These sandals will fly you safely over land and sea and the sword will never fail to land a blow you wish it to.”
With their gifts and guidance, Perseus began his long journey. He flew over mountains and oceans, over deserts and valleys, over forests and rivers, until he reached the gloomy land of the gorgons. Stones and statues, frozen men and hunters, lay silent all around him, still and waiting, watching. In the center of the cave, Medusa lay sleeping, her once-beautiful face shadowed by the writhing snakes that hissed softly in her dreams.
Holding Athena’s shield before him, Perseus crept closer, careful and quiet. His palms were slick with sweat. The cave smelled of damp stone and the faint metallic tang of Medusa's serpentine hair. Perseus gripped the curved sword Hermes had gifted him, took a step forward, then froze. His heart thumped with hesitation. What did it mean to be wise? To be brave? To be clever? To be merciful? The hissing snakes, soft in their dreams, seemed almost gentle.
He thought of his mother, Danaë, and knew that she would approve of the mercy stirring in his chest. Slowly, he turned away, heart heavy. He could not will his sword to strike.
Medusa stirred, eyes opening. Her voice, soft and filled with concern rather than anger, echoed in the quiet cave: “Please… don’t look at me. I... I don't want to hurt you.” Perseus held his position, staring only at her reflection in the shield.
Medusa had lived long enough to see herself first adored for the beauty she foolishly bragged about and later feared as a Gorgon who would turn all who looked at her to stone whether she willed it or not.
Now she longed only for peace. Medusa's eyes, once full of pride and vanity, softened as she guided Perseus to act not out of fear but of mercy. “End my suffering,” she whispered, head bowed. “End my suffering, and do it well.”
With reverence and trembling hands, Perseus obeyed her request. And from this painful act of mercy -- from her acceptance and his courage -- the gods, or perhaps the fates themselves, gifted the world with a marvelous creature: the winged horse, Pegasus. Without hesitation, Pegasus shook his wings... sparkling like stars, and rose slowly, testing the wind, before soaring into the sky to become the creature of legend that we still remember today.
And why was Pegasus born? Was it because of the heroism of Perseus? Or the monstrous power of Medusa?
Was it because of compassion? Bravery? Humility, perhaps. After all these years, we still don't know. Or perhaps it's up to each of us to find that meaning for ourselves.
When Perseus returned to show Athena what he had done, the goddess took Medusa’s head and set it upon her mighty shield, the Aegis, so that its power to terrify and protect would never fade.
In Olympus, the kingdom of the gods, time is different so I cannot say if it was days or years or centuries that passed for mortals between that moment and the next...
Hermes quietly approached the goddess Athena, placing a hand gently on her shoulder, "Is that a tear I see, dear sister?" Athena's lip quirked into something as close to a smile as she ever managed, "Of course not, I learned long ago not to shed tears for mortals."
Hermes, messenger of the gods, grinned and nodded, "She was a beauty, that one. Before she made an enemy of you, that is."
"Medusa? That was her name, yes?" Hermes sighed, his face growing serious, "An ugly heart, but a pretty face. Amazing how those both changed... in the end."
Athena's smile grew a tiny bit wider, "Teaching lessons again are we, little brother? I thought that was my job."
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