Medusa

Perseus turned his gaze towards the polished shield and followed Medusa’s reflection. Athena guided his hand. He saw the snakes coiled around her head, writhing and biting one another until blood ran over her forehead. The stench of death weakened him, but he gripped the sickle Hermes had given him and struck. The blade cut through Medusa’s neck, and her head rolled away from her body. Perseus lifted it by the limp snakes and placed it in his wallet.

As Medusa’s blood fell, two beings sprang from her dead body. Pegasus, a magnificent white stallion, emerged with a golden mane, golden hooves, and golden wings. Chrysaor also emerged, fully grown and holding a golden falchion. In another telling, the two rose from the ground where Medusa’s blood had fallen. Poseidon had fathered both of them on Medusa before her death.

Perseus did not challenge Pegasus or Chrysaor. He left quickly with Medusa’s head. Stheno and Euryale woke and pursued him, but the dark helmet of invisibility hid him from their sight. He escaped and flew southwards. At sunset, he landed near the palace of Atlas. Because Atlas had refused him hospitality, Perseus showed him Medusa’s head, and Atlas changed into a mountain. The next day, Perseus flew east across the Libyan desert while Hermes helped him carry the heavy head. He later dropped the Graeae’s eye and tooth into Lake Triton.

Medusa sat on a rock and plaited her beautiful hair. She sang with the sounds of the sea in her voice. Her song carried the cries of gulls, the splash and sigh of water, the wind’s lament, and the chuckle of the tide among pebbles. Her hair held the sunlight and shone like fire and moonlight. Its brightness lured sailors towards the rocks, where their ships broke and they drowned.

One night, Poseidon rode across the sea in his dolphin chariot. He heard Medusa’s song and rose from the water. He saw her plaiting her hair and knew that she was beautiful. Medusa lay with Poseidon in Athena’s temple. Athena heard what had happened and grew angry.

Athena flew from her mountain in a chariot drawn by eight white arctic owls. She crossed the water and found Medusa on her rock. She made herself invisible and watched Medusa wind a necklace into her hair. Athena knew that Medusa was the most beautiful creature in the world, and jealousy seized her. She spoke to Medusa and said that she would make her uglier than her sisters.

Athena snatched Medusa’s comb from her hand. Medusa looked into the sea and saw her changed face. Athena transformed her beautiful hair into snakes and made her face monstrous. She gave Medusa glaring eyes, huge teeth, a protruding tongue, brazen claws, and wings. Her gaze turned men to stone. Medusa became the ugliest of her sisters and hid herself beyond the North Wind, in a foul, icy swamp where neither the sun nor the moon shone. Poseidon returned to her and saw the change, but his heart froze, and he became a marble figure beneath the sea. His bones turned to coral and his eyes became black pearls.