Medusa was originally a
golden-haired, fair maiden, who, as a priestess of Athena, was devoted to
a life of celibacy; however, after being wooed by Poseidon and falling for
him, she forgot her vows and married him. For this offence, she was punished by
the goddess in a most terrible manner. Each wavy lock of the beautiful hair
that had charmed her husband was changed into a venomous snake; her once
gentle, love-inspiring eyes turned into blood-shot, furious orbs, which excited
fear and disgust in the mind of the onlooker; whilst her former roseate hue and
milk-white skin assumed a loathsome greenish tinge.
Seeing herself transformed into such a repulsive creature, Medusa fled her home, never to return. Wandering about, abhorred, dreaded, and shunned by the rest of the world, she turned into a character worthy of her outer appearance. In her despair, she fled to Africa, where, while wandering restlessly from place to place, young snakes dropped from her hair; that is how, according to the ancient Greeks, Africa became a hotbed of venomous reptiles. With the curse of Athena upon her, she turned into stone whomever she gazed upon, till at last, after a life of nameless misery, deliverance came to her in the shape of death, at the hands of Perseus.
Seeing herself transformed into such a repulsive creature, Medusa fled her home, never to return. Wandering about, abhorred, dreaded, and shunned by the rest of the world, she turned into a character worthy of her outer appearance. In her despair, she fled to Africa, where, while wandering restlessly from place to place, young snakes dropped from her hair; that is how, according to the ancient Greeks, Africa became a hotbed of venomous reptiles. With the curse of Athena upon her, she turned into stone whomever she gazed upon, till at last, after a life of nameless misery, deliverance came to her in the shape of death, at the hands of Perseus.
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