Percy Jackson Reread: Mythology Wednesday!
Happy Wednesday, guys!
As part of Caroline (from the terrific Just Another Bookish Blog) and my Percy Jackson re-read, we are doing posts on Greek mythology every Wednesday!
This week's topic for Caroline is Poseidon, and for myself Medusa.
Medusa
No, this is not a wikipedia page! This retelling is in my own words, thank you very much. Copyright by me and myself!
For those of you who do not know, Medusa is a mythological monster in Greek mythology, famous for having snakes for hair and the deadly power to turn people into stone if they look into her eyes. But exactly how did this all come about?
The story begins with Poseidon fighting with Athena. Athena gains the upper hand when she turns the woman Poseidon is trying to seduce, Coronis, into a raven. Furious, Poseidon goes looking for a way to exact his vengeance, and finds it in the form of his new lover, Medusa.
Medusa is actually the daughter of Phorcys (god of hidden dangers of deep water) and Keto (common mother of sea-based monsters). She was a priestess of Athena, which makes what happens next all the more worse...
There are different versions of what happens next, but the bottom line is that with the help of her two sisters Euryale and Stheno, Medusa made her way into one of Athena's virgin temples to meet Poseidon. That was an act of extreme disrespect, and Athena, obviously enraged, turned Medusa and her sisters into a trio of monsters known as the gorgons, who are known for their snakes for hair. She also placed another curse on Medusa, so that anyone who looked into her eyes would immediately turn into stone.
The story of Medusa comes to a seeming end when she's killed by the hero Perseus, son of Zeus and Danae, who uses a polished spear to approach her sleeping form and behead her. But as we all know, monsters have a tendency to not stay eternally dead...
And that it for this week's Mythology Wednesday! Don't forget to check out Caroline's blog for her post on Poseidon this week!
Our next order of events will be a review on Friday! See you all then :)
Yay that’s great! I’m writing mine now :)
ReplyDelete(Also, ‘Aunty Em’ is really a pain to defeat. -.-“ And she’s scary. Not a good mix)
Very true. But on the bright side, at least we know she CAN be defeated! Honestly, she gives me the creeps. And don't get me started on her sisters! They're equally as bad, with their persistence! Some people (er, monsters) just don't understand what "leave me alone" means...
DeleteI never had the joy to meet her sisters, and I’m not planning to!
DeleteAs long as they stay away, we can cooperate.
I never knew that about Medusa, I always just knew her as the chick with snake hair, lol!
ReplyDeleteAlso I did the tag you nominated me for!
http://lessrealitymorebooks.blogspot.ie/2015/10/tags-book-boyfriend-one-lovely-blog.html
Awesome! I'm checking it out right now! :)
DeleteHm.. She was one creepy chick with snakes for hair, I wonder how she was before the change. I mean her former occupation was a priestess fo Athena. O_o
ReplyDeleteI know, right? She was priestess for Athena, yet she was in Athena's temple with Poseidon. How's that for abusing her role? What a scandal!
DeleteYep, I guess she couldn't resist the charm of Poseidon xD But like seriously she was a priestess of Athena and shw agreeded to meet him in her godess' temple, thats like one the worst offenses ever!! Why do you think Athena chose snakes as Medusa's curse? Well I guess its better then turning her into a spider woman.
DeleteI honestly don't know why she chose snakes as hair! Maybe it's to remind Medusa that she can never be seen beautiful, that unless someone is blind, she's never be loved. Hard to say!
DeleteI never read this series. I think I pretty much aged out, but I might--might, read this. I'm thinking about it. :)
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, I'm over the intended audience for this series! But it's a very light and refreshing series, so I think it's worth a try!
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