She doesn't appear that often in media made before the 80s. Medusa's popularity is somewhat Newer Than They Think. In both versions, Athena, pissed that her priestess not only broke her vows but did the nasty in her temple, punished her by turning her into her new hideous form and banished her to a desolate island until Perseus slew her. Depending on the version of the story, she either reciprocated, and (with a little help from her sisters) let Poseidon into Athena's temple and slept with him on the altar, or was simply raped by the god. Much later, in the first decade AD, the Roman poet Ovid wrote a different version where Medusa was a virgin priestess of Athena, but her incredible beauty attracted the attentions of the god Poseidon. Note that the Erinnyes (Furiae) were depicted very similarly as hideous snake-haired women. Later depictions (although still fairly ancient ones, in the absolute sense) gradually toned down the more monstrous aspects and made her more attractive. Besides having serpents for hair, the Gorgons were described as having tusks, brazen claws, wings and strongly acidic blood in a few very early depictions they are shown as quadrupeds, possibly because Pegasus was born out of Medusa's blood when she was beheaded by Perseus. In this origin, the Gorgons are typically three sisters, the other two being Stheno and Euryale. The ancient Greek origin is that she and her fellow Gorgons were simply created/born that way. When Medusa is used in fiction as a unique being rather than as a species, she is typically given either one of these two origins, or no origin at all. There are two different such prequel myths regarding the origins of the original Medusa. Myths and stories with background for Medusa were added later. In this story she is a powerful monster whom Perseus defeats by decapitating her (and later using her head to petrify enemies) without looking at her - he sticks to looking at her shadow or looking through a mirrored shield, depending on the version. The oldest story known to feature Medusa is the adventures of Perseus. And then there are some that offer a compromise and state that she was both beautiful and terrible at the same time. Other myths say that Medusa retained her mortal beauty, as a cruel Irony. The most popular is that of a hideous monster in fact, the petrification originally was caused by Medusa's ugliness itself, before other myths retconned it into being a power based in her eyes. Medusa's appearance varies depending on what source you're reading. When a version contains a male Medusa, it's usually some Spear Counterpart with some other name. In others, they are not literal snakes but rather hair that supernaturally behaves as if it were made of living snakes. In some versions, her hair-snakes are venomous. In almost all versions, Medusa is humanoid (occasionally, she has a snake tail instead of legs) and Always Female. Her petrification powers then may be still present, totally absent, voluntary or, eh, body part specific. note All bets are off, though, if she is of the Gorgeous Gorgon resp. Medusa's main characteristics are snakes for hair and that people turn to stone just by seeing her face. Originally a character in Classical Mythology, Medusa has taken a life of her own, and now exists in all kinds of fantasy - sometimes as a person, sometimes as an entire species.
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