GREEK MYTHOLOGY: THE STORY OF MEDUSA!

Haunted by many warriors who tried to claim the price of her head, many tried and failed, turned to Stone just a glance at her hideous face.

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Medusa was not always considered a monster infact it was quite the opposite, she was the only mortal of 3 sisters born to Phorcys and Ceto two of the primordial sea gods,
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she possessed great beauty and many men lusted for her but out of respect for the Athena(goddess of wisdom and war)
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she remained pure and eventually became the priestess of Athena's temple.

There were thousands who visited Athena's temple just to have a glance of Medusa's beauty they even claimed that her hair rivaled that of Athena's, it wasn't long before Athena's jealously for Medusa turned to resentment.

One day when Medusa was walking along the shore,she caught the eye of Poseidon(god of the sea)
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and he was instantly infatuated with her, Medusa rejected multiple approaches from Poseidon because if she wished to remain the priestess of Athena's temple she must remain a virgin.

Poseidon was in a middle of a conflict with Athena and he saw Medusa as a possession he could take from the goddess he grew tired of being rejected by Medusa and decided to take her by force,Medusa in fear of her life ran into Athena's temple for protection, there was no protection given that evening and Poseidon had his way with Medusa, when Poseidon had finished, Athena appeared in rage by the events that have taken place, she decided that she will purnish Medusa as punishment against a god such as Poseidon was considered unthinkable.

Athena cursed Medusa, the hair that she was once so envious of she turned into a hair of venomous snakes, anyone who looked into her eyes willbbe petrified and turned to stone.

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Word spread of the monster she had become and many warriors sort to hunt her down and add her head to a list of trophy, all that tried met the same faith,being turned into stone until the hero Perseus, son of Zeus was tasked with retrieving her head.

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In other to complete the task he required aid from the gods; he was given an helmet from Hades that made him invisible from Medusa, a pair winged sandals to reach Medusa Athena gave him a shield to reflect the gaze from Medusa and lastly he was given a sword sharp enough to cut the head of Medusa. With all of these divine gifts Perseus was able to defeat Medusa, at the time of her death she was pregnant with the offspring of Poseidon and from her severed neck sprung the winged steel, Pegasus.
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Perseus used the head of Medusa to aid him in several adventures and it played a good role in defeating the Titan(Atlas).

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Medusa is probably one of the most misunderstood character in Greek mythology, she is often regarded as a cruel monster, she had only the best intentions and placed her trust in the goddess Athena, who ultimately failed her and punished her for factors that were beyond her control.