Cultural Depictions of Medusa and Gorgons

Cultural Depictions Of Medusa And Gorgons

The mythological monster Medusa and other Gorgons have featured in art and culture from the days of ancient Greece to the modern day. She has been variously portrayed as a monster, a protective symbol, a rallying symbol for liberty and a sympathetic rape victim.

Perhaps best-recognized by her head of living snakes and ability to turn living creatures to stone, Medusa is an ancient icon that remains "one of the most popular and enduring figures of Greek mythology" and "continues to live on in the popular imagination" though other figures are forgotten.

Her likeness has been immortalized by numerous artists including Leonardo da Vinci, Peter Paul Rubens, Pablo Picasso, Auguste Rodin and Benvenuto Cellini.

Read more about Cultural Depictions Of Medusa And Gorgons:  Ancient Times To Renaissance, 19th Century, Modern Use

Famous quotes containing the words cultural, depictions and/or medusa:

    At times it seems that the media have become the mainstream culture in children’s lives. Parents have become the alternative. Americans once expected parents to raise their children in accordance with the dominant cultural messages. Today they are expected to raise their children in opposition to it.
    Ellen Goodman (20th century)

    Surely, of all creatures we eat, we are most brutal to snails. Helix optera is dug out of the earth where he has been peacefully enjoying his summer sleep, cracked like an egg, and eaten raw, presumably alive. Or boiled in oil. Or roasted in the hot ashes of a wood fire.... If God is a snail, Bosch’s depictions of Hell are going to look like a vicarage tea-party.
    Angela Carter (1940–1992)

    When Medusa looks in the mirror, she sees the Lady of Sorrows.
    Mason Cooley (b. 1927)