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Recommended: Character of medea
Natalie Moore
Mrs. Windish
English II
28 September 2016 Medusa
Evil, selfish, and ugly - what do these three words have in common? These three words all describe a single individual from mythological times named Medusa. Medusa was a young and beautiful single woman who thought very highly of herself. She knew she was beautiful and she wanted to make sure that everyone else knew it also. Medusa consistently told everyone she met that she was beautiful and intelligent and that everyone should want to look like her. She was one of the Gorgon sisters and was the daughter of Phorkys and Keto. (Greek Mythology) Medusa was the only sister who was mortal. Their parents were Gaea (Earth) and Oceanus (Ocean).
Medusa was a priestess of Athena and she was to obey all the rules Athena had. (Greek Mythology) Medusa knew she was beautiful and tried taking advantage of her beauty by trying to get Athena to put up a photo of her because she was way more beautiful than Athena in her own mind. “Originally, Medusa was a ravishingly beautiful maiden, “the jealous aspiration of
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“Perseus receives the Cap of Invisibility from hades, a pair of winged sandals from Hermes, a reflective bronze shield from Athena, and a sword from Hephaestus. With these divine gives Perseus sought out Medusa and decapitated her whilst she was asleep.” (Ancient Origins) Stories then suggest that once Perseus brought back Medusa’s head he was recognized as a hero. Immediately after Medusa was beheaded, the winged horse Pegasus sprang out from her neck. It is also mentioned that Chrysaor, who was born with a golden sword in his hand, emerged from the suburb neck from
Perseus was born to Danae and the Greek god Zeus. Acrisius, the father of Danae, was told by the oracle of Apollo that Danae’s son would kill him. After finding out that Danae had her son, Perseus, Acrisius shut Perseus and Dane up in a large chest cast the chest out to sea. After a while out in the sea, they landed on the island of Seriphos, where they were saved by the king Polydectes’s brother, Dictys. Polydectes, after hearing about Danae, wanted her to marry him. In order to get rid of Perseus, so that no one would be able to stop him from marrying Danae, Polydectes came up with a plan. He pretended to be marrying the daughter of one of his friends and required everyone to bring him a wedding gift. Polydectes knew that Perseus, being very poor, would arrive empty-handed. Perseus vowed that he could bring Polydectes anything that he wanted and so Polydectes demanded Perseus to bring him the head of the gorgon Medusa, hoping that he would be killed. Perseus set off on his adventure to kill Medusa and while stopping to rest one night in an unknown land, Perseus realized how hopeless the adventure seemed to be. “Gorgons were horrible, instead of hair they had black serpents that writhed on their head, they had brazen hands that could...
Medusa had once been a beautiful women and was a normal person. She was not beautiful until she was turned into a gorgon by goddes Athena, because she caught her with poseidon in the temple. Medusa was killed by poseidon's son Percy Jackson, by killing her with a riptide sword and cutting off her head. Medusa was born during the Bronze age, and was ancient in that time. Her age was unknown, but she was a mortal in her existence.
The story of Medusa and Perseus is known as one of the top thriller tales in Greek Mythology. To begin, Medusa is one of three sisters, Sthenno and Euryale. However, she is the only mortal one. Originally, Medusa had golden, long, beautiful hair. She was Athena’s Priestess and swore to a celibate life. Later on, Medusa met Poseidon, fell in love with him and completely forgot about her vows to Athena. The Goddess Athena was so infuriated that she turned Medusa into a hideous looking monster. Her golden locks became venomous snakes and her face became so grotesque that any God or immortal to look into her eyes would become a statue of stone. Athena did this so Medusa would not attract any man. The same came for her sisters because Poseidon
In the original myth, Medusa was raped by Poseidon. In Sweet Venom, it simply says that Athena thought that Medusa seduced Poseidon. Athena’s role with Medusa is overall the same, aside from a few differences. She was jealous of Medusa and sought revenge because of Poseidon. One thing that stays very true to the original myth, is Medusa’s sisters, Stheno and Euryale.
The tragic play Medea is a struggle between reason and violence. Medea is deliberately portrayed as not a ‘normal woman’, but excessive in her passions. Medea is a torment to herself and to others; that is why Euripides shows her blazing her way through life leaving wreckage behind her. Euripides has presented Medea as a figure previously thought of exclusively as a male- hero. Her balance of character is a combination of the outstanding qualities of Achilles and Odysseus.
Terrible Gorgon Medusa. Nobody was able to kill her because if you looked directly at her
Perseus grew up to be a strong fearless lad. One day he claimed to King Polydectes, “Oh, Host and Benefactor, I owe you too much gratitude to repay you with the common gift of a horse. I shall bring you the head of Medusa!”(Evslin.110) Perseus set off for his mission, he encountered the gray sisters and the apple nymphs forcing them to give him information about Medusa’s location. Then he went to Medusa with three gifts from the apple nymphs: a sword, a shield, and the Cap of Darkness. Successfully Perseus killed Medusa and while bringing Medusa’s head towards the island of Sephiros. He encountered a sea serpent who was creating trouble by the nearby town of Cepheus. Perseus drew out Medusa’s head and turned the sea serpent into stone. Throughout Perseus’s mission he encountered many obstacles and he handled each challenge in a smart and clever way, unlike King
Most people would define a great female protagonist as intelligent, strong minded and willing to fight for what she believes in. Both Bernarda Alba from Federico Garcia Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba and Medea by Euripides fit this description. One is a tyrannical mother who imposes her choices on her five daughters, the other is arguably the strongest non-Olympian woman in all of Greek mythology. If we take a closer look, we notice that these two characters have many things in common. From their positions of strength, to the masculine aspects of their personalities; from the way they deal with situations to the part they play in the deaths of their children. In this essay we will attempt to seek out their similarities, as well as discover how two playwrights, who wrote for distinct audiences millennia apart, could have created two women so alike.
Lawall, Sarah N. “Medea.” The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. 8th ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 690-720. Print.
Although many people have decided to hate Medea by the end of the play, most could not help but feel sorry for her in the beginning. There is almost an immediate connection for the reader when Medea’s husband leaves her for another woman, but this quickly changes to revulsion when the children are killed. Love her or hate her, at the very least people can relate to something about her character. People are able to connect, and even pity her situation. Regardless of personal feelings toward the character, there is no doubt that she is a pathetic character.
What's more, in classical Greek culture, the snake is likewise a wily and tricky animal, savvy yet to be doubted in every way. This matches well with Greek perspectives on women. Historical relevance Medusa was not only a fantastical brute, but rather part of a shared past and present in the minds of ancient watchers. She implied a historic hazard—the narrative of Perseus vanquishing and outfitting her energy was not only a story, but rather a part in the common metaphorical and historical record of the Greeks.
Medusa was once very beautiful but she was cursed by Athena. The goddess Athena gave her snakes for hair and made her so ugly that anyone that stared at her turned to stone. It was Poseidon who seduced Medusa and raped her in one of Athena's temples. Violating the sanctity of any temple called for punishment, and so
In ancient Greece, women lacked many of the fundamental rights held by men. Medea feels that this is unjust. These feelings are shown on page 195 when Medea states “...we must pay a great dowry to a husband who will be the tyrant of our bodies; and there is another fearful hazard: whether we shall get a good man or a bad. For separations bring disgrace on the woman and it is not possible to renounce one’s husband…” After being rejected by the one she loved, she beings to question the morals of those around her. She assumes that Greek women are weak and naive for allowing men to treat them this way; allowing men to cast them away at their heart’s content.
...eable quality in a woman is her beauty. In addition, Duffy makes the protagonist annihilate her husband even though in the original myth, Medusa was decapitated, thereby challenging the speculations that a characteristic of women is to be defend less and insubstantial, dating back to ancient times, by showing that women too are vengeful conquerors.
Medea is a tragedy of a woman who feels that her husband has betrayed her with another woman and the jealousy that consumes her. She is the protagonist who arouses sympathy and admiration because of how her desperate situation is. I thought I was going to feel sorry for Medea, but that quickly changed as soon as I saw her true colors. I understand that her emotions were all over the place. First, she was angry, then cold and conniving. The lower she sinks the more terrible revenge she wants to reap on Jason.