How Ovid's Metamorphoses Transformed Medusa from Protector to Tragic Victim

Key facts

• Hesiod's Theogony describes Medusa as one of three Gorgon sisters born to Phorcys and Ceto.
• Medusa was mortal while her sisters Stheno and Euryale were immortal.
• In early Greek art, Medusa was depicted as a hideous beast with boar tusks, lolling tongue, and golden wings.
• The Gorgoneion, Medusa's severed head, was used as an apotropaic symbol on shields, armor, coins, and temple pediments.
• Athena wore Medusa's head on her Aegis for protection, not to turn enemies to stone.
• The petrifying gaze of Medusa is attested from the 5th century BC in Pherecydes, Pindar, and Aeschylus.
• Perseus killed Medusa with divine aid from Athena and Hermes, using a bronze shield, winged sandals, and Hades' helm.
• From Medusa's neck sprang Pegasus and Chrysaor after her decapitation.
• Ovid's Metamorphoses (early 1st century AD) recast Medusa as a beautiful maiden raped by Poseidon in Athena's temple, punished by Athena.
• Ovid added the detail that Medusa's head created the first coral reefs when placed on seaweed.
• Ovid's version was preserved in monasteries and popularized during the Renaissance, influencing Shakespeare and many artists.
• Modern artists like Luciano Garbati (2008) have reclaimed Medusa as a symbol of female empowerment.
• Caravaggio, Cellini, and Bernini are among the artists who depicted Medusa as a tragic victim.
• Ovid was exiled by Emperor Augustus for 'a poem and a mistake.'