00:00In the eerie caverns deep beneath Olympus, close to the entrance of the underworld, resided three female monsters of untold
00:07hideousness. Monsters with awful scaly skin, hands made of brass, fangs more like tusks, talons of ire, serpent coils as
00:17legs, poisonous snakes as hair, and eyes of death itself.
00:21So horrifying were they, that a mere gaze upon them, petrified anyone to death, and turned them into stones. The
00:31Gorgons, children of the sea, daughters of the deep.
00:50Medusa, guardian of the caves, the Gorgon queen, reigning supreme, not by might, nor by power, but by wits, by
01:00wisdom, by charm and beauty.
01:03The most famous Gorgon in all of Greek mythology, Medusa is seen in many different lights.
01:09To some, she was a terror of nature, a hideous creature with glaring eyes, evil, dreadful, and terrifying, with hatred
01:17for mortal man.
01:19And to some, she was a victim of ill fate, the one who was both a monster, and a beauty,
01:25the fairest of the Gorgons.
01:27Medusa was the daughter of forces, the old man of the sea, and Ceto, the monster goddess of the deep.
01:34And the sister to Steno, Uriali, the Gryhi, Skyla, Laiden, Thusa, and the Hesperides.
01:42She was also the youngest of the three Gorgons.
01:46According to early myths, Medusa was a born monster, deadly, and hateful, hideous in appearance, the most terrifying of her
01:55sisters, with hair of living snakes, hands and claws of bronze, or tusks, as fangs, the lower body of a
02:02snake, and a gaze so piercing that it turned people to stones.
02:06While according to later poets like Ovid and Pindar, Medusa was not born a Gorgon, but was very different from
02:13her monstrous sisters and family.
02:16In these myths, she was born a fair maiden, and not a monster, lovely to behold, and not frightful, greatly
02:24attractive, and not repulsive.
02:26With hair of golden locks, a face so charming, and eyes which sparkled like stars, she was a ravishing beauty,
02:34the desire of many suitors.
02:37A common detail shared by these various myths though, was that, alas, Medusa was a mere mortal, the only one
02:45among her sisters, who was not gifted with immortality, thus, she could be killed, by the weapons of man.
02:52The fair Medusa was once the servant of Athena, serving in the temple of the virgin goddess.
02:58Wherever she went, she was admired for her beauty, praised for her pretty looks.
03:04Soon, the showers of praises began to get to her head, and Medusa gradually became boastful, likening herself to Athena,
03:12comparing her beauty to that of the goddess.
03:15She believed her hair was prettier, and her face was lovelier.
03:19One day, her golden locks, caught the attention of the sea god Poseidon, who immediately lusted after her.
03:26At the coming of dusk, Poseidon quietly crept into the temple, and seduced Medusa, mating with her, in the sacred
03:34temple, defiling her, in front of the virgin goddess's statue.
03:39When dawn came, Athena appeared before Medusa, ready to unleash her wrath.
03:45The lord of the seas was blameless, and could not be punished.
03:49So Athena directed her anger, towards her defiled servant, the mortal Medusa.
03:54She turned Medusa's golden hair into poisonous snakes, and made her face so terrible to behold, that the mere sight
04:01of it, would turn anyone into stones.
04:04Medusa became uglier than her sisters, doomed to hide her ugliness, away from the world, for the rest of her
04:11days.
04:12In some stories however, even as a gorgon, Medusa remained beautiful.
04:17Even as a monster, her charms could still not be resisted, tempting men to meet her gaze, and luring them
04:24to their deaths.
04:25In another version of the myth, Medusa's sisters, Steno and Euryale, were also once beautiful maidens, and served alongside her,
04:34in the temple of Athena.
04:36After turning Medusa into a gorgon, as punishment for being defiled, and being boastful, the goddess also turned Steno and
04:44Euryale, into gorgons, for standing with their sister.
04:48Medusa became pregnant with Poseidon's children, after the incident at the temple.
04:53The gorgon would later be slain, by the hero, Perseus, and from her headless body, the winged Pegasus, and the
05:01giant, Chrysoua, would be born.
05:03The gorgon would later be slain.
05:05The gorgon would later be slain.
05:10The gorgon would later be slain.
05:20The gorgon would later be slain.
05:21The gorgon would later be slain.
05:21The gorgon would later be slain.
05:21The gorgon would later be slain.
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