Medusa
Profile
Medusa definitely isn't going to win any beauty pageants. She and her Gorgon sisters, Euryale and Stheno, are totally revolting. They have snakes for hair, for Pete's sake, and anyone who looks them in the eyes instantly turns into stone. (Yeah, that’s about as ugly as it gets.) Medusa became famous when the hero Perseus chopped off her head (with a little help from the goddess Athena).
Basic Information
Name Medusa
Nickname Medousa, Gorgon Medusa, Dussy, Medussssssa
Sex Female
Current city I refuse to release my current location. Some stupid hero might try to behead me (again).
Work & Education
Occupation Being a hideous monster (but seeking new employment)
Family & Friends (& Enemies)
Parents Phorkys and Keto, or maybe Gorgo and Keto
Siblings The Gorgons
The GraeaeChildren Pegasus
ChrysaorFriends My sister Gorgons, Euryale and Stheno
Anyone who hates Athena, including Arachne and the CrowEnemies Athena, who turned me into a monster
Poseidon, who got me into this monster mess to begin with
Perseus, who beheaded meRelationships
Relationship status Single. I once had a fling with Poseidon, but then Athena turned my hair into snakes. It kind of put a bad taste in my mouth for romance.
Interested in Men to add to my growing sculpture collection
Favorites
Quotations "In this business, until you're known as a monster you're not a star."
– Bette Davis
"All changed, changed utterly:
a terrible beauty is born."
– William Butler Yeats
"Whether life's disabilities
Left you outcast, bullied, or teased
Rejoice and love yourself today"
– Lady Gaga, Born this Way
"A lot of life is dealing with your curse, dealing with the cards you were given that aren't so nice. Does it make you into a monster, or can you temper it in some way, or accept it and go in some other direction?"
– Wes Craven
"Every woman is supposed to have the same set of motives, or else to be a monster."
– George Eliot
"I think you have to know who you are. Get to know the monster that lives in your soul, dive deep into your soul and explore it."
–Tori Amos
"The strictest law sometimes becomes the severest injustice."
– Benjamin FranklinBooks Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Confessions of an Ugly Step-Sister
Grendel
Kafka's Metamorphosis
Frankenstein
Wide Sargasso Sea
Sleeping Ugly
Howl's Moving CastleMusic Anything by Lady Gaga, but especially Born This Way
The Les Miserables soundtrack, especially I Dreamed a Dream and At the End of the Day
The Phantom of the Opera soundtrack, especially Learn to Be Lonely and No One Would Listen
The soundtrack to Wicked, the musical
The Funny Girl soundtrackMovies Shrek
Monsters, Inc.
Beauty and the Beast
X-Men: First Class (I like Mystique)
BeastlyActivities & Interests
Likes The Cookie Monster
Versace (they use my face as their symbol!!!)
My snakes (they're actually pretty friendly)
Pretty flowers (Really. I like them, but nobody ever brings me any. It’s depressing.)
Ugly dollsDislikes Mirrors and other reflective surfaces
Heroes
Meddling, self-righteous goddesses
Swords
Athena's aegis
Pumpernickel bread
The Percy Jackson series (okay, mainly just The Lightning Thief)
The 1981 Clash of the Titans movie
The 2010 Clash of the Titans movieInterests Feminist studies
Herpetology
Revisionist fairy tales and mythsGroups Deadly Greek Monsters
Card-carrying member of he AAV (Athena's Angry Victims)
Poseidon's Ex-Lovers
Snakes are so misunderstood
"Hero" Haters
Decapitation SurvivorsSpotter's Guide
You want to find Medusa? Wow, that’s a seriously bad idea. She’s a Gorgon, a horrible monster with the snakes for hair. If you look her in the eyes, you’re immediately turned to stone. If you really want to find her, look for a crowd of suspiciously realistic statues, surrounding a particularly slimy sea cave. Of course, legend says that she was beheaded by the hero Perseus a long time ago, so you might not be able to find her at all.
Physical Description
Sex: Female
Age: Young-ish
Build: Fit
Complexion: Generally a bit pale to grayish due to blood loss (her head is severed)
Hair color: Green (snakes)
Facial hair: Occasionally a beard and tusks
Scars/marks/tattoos: Headless (or, more often, bodiless)
Jewelry and accessories: Do snakes for hair count?
Clothing: None
Armor: She is a bit scaly
Type of weapon: Her transfixing stare, which turns living things to stoneTypical Companions
Other Notes
Known hangouts: These days, you're most likely to find Medusa's head stuck on Athena's battle gear. The goddess of war uses it to terrify, even petrify, her enemies. Previously, Medusa lived in a cave with her sister Gorgons.
Sightings
Dec 20, 2019
The Libation Bearers
While Medusa isn't necessarily a character in Aeschylus' Libation Bearers, she gets a ton of shout outs. Characters refer to Clytemnestra as a Gorgon. Also, at lines 831-832, the Chorus tells Orestes that "[You must be brave], and in your heart / keep up the courage of Perseus." What these references are getting at is clear: Clytemnestra is one mean lady.
Dec 20, 2019
The Metamorphoses
Relive all of the gory details of Medusa's death as Perseus gives a blow-by-blow account in Ovid's Metamorphoses. We also watch as Perseus turns Atlas to stone using his trusty Gorgon head. And did you know that coral comes from Medusa? When Perseus wanted to take a break and get his party on, he placed Medusa's head in the sand and rested it on a bed of plants that he had picked. The plants sucked up Medusa's poison. When Perseus threw them into the sea later on, they became coral. Read all about it here.
Jan 1, 1970
"Medusa" by Louise Bogan
In this poem by famous American poet Louise Bogan, the speaker describes an encounter with Medusa. If reading this doesn't give you goosebumps, we don't know what will.
Jan 1, 1970
All the King's Men
In Robert Penn Warren's famous 1946 novel All the King's Men, we follow one of the most fascinating politicians you'll ever meet – Willie Stark. At one point Willie Stark describes his "secretary" and lover, Sadie Burke as a "plaster-of Paris mask of Medusa which some kid has been using as a target for a BB gun" (3.320). We soon learn that her face is pockmarked because she and her brother had small-pox as children. Her brother died, but Sadie lived; her scarred face documents forever her battle. Sadie later makes Willie Stark aware that she is only a Medusa on the surface. She can't turn men into stone, and her powers are purely political.
Jan 1, 1970
Marvel Comics
Medusa made her first appearance in the Marvel universe in the Fantastic Four comics. Her superhero outfit includes a pretty scandalous jumpsuit and knee-high boots.
Jan 1, 1970
The Lightning Thief
Medusa's alive and well in The Lightning Thief, only this time, she's disguised herself as Aunty Em – owner of a roadside curio-shop full of statues. Just like his namesake Perseus, Percy Jackson must battle Medusa and decapitate her once more. Apparently, Medusa is really hard to kill. She always finds a way to come back.
Jan 1, 1970
God of War
The Greek gods make it onto the PlayStation in the God of War video game trilogy. The mortal hero of the games, Kratos, dukes it out with Medusa.
Jan 1, 1970
Clash of the Titans
Clash of the Titans is a 1981 film about the adventures of Perseus. Check out a clip of the famous Medusa sequence here.
Jan 1, 1970
Clash of the Titans (Remake)
In this 2010 remake of the classic Clash of the Titans, Perseus once again battles it out with Medusa. This time, though, there is some super sweet CGI involved.