Medusa is a cursed woman with snakes for hair. She used to be a beautiful woman until Neptune raped her and Minerva punished the act by cursing Medusa and giving her the power to turn people to stone with her stare. Perseus cuts off Medusa’s head while she sleeps and uses it as a weapon.
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Medusa Character Timeline in Metamorphoses
The timeline below shows where the character Medusa appears in Metamorphoses. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 4: Perseus (1)
...his grandson Perseus is Jupiter’s son. Perseus flies around in exile, carrying the head of Medusa—a maiden with snakes for hair—as a trophy. Where drops of blood from the head fall,...
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...trees, tells Perseus to leave. Perseus holds his ground and pulls out the head of Medusa. Instantly, Atlas turns into a huge mountain jutting up into the clouds.
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...vital organs. The kingdom rejoices, and Andromeda’s parents give Perseus their daughter. Perseus puts the Medusa head on a bed of seaweed. The seaweed hardens into a new plant which populates...
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...Minerva, and Jupiter. He and Andromeda have a regal wedding. Perseus tells how he obtained Medusa’s head: he stole a seeing eye from two sisters in Atlas, then went to the...
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Book 5: Perseus (2)
Losing his courage, Perseus pulls the Medusa head out of his bag. His opponents all attack him in turn but freeze to...
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...grandfather’s brother who had taken over Acrisius’s kingdom by forcing him to stare into the Medusa head. Perseus’s grandfather now believes that Perseus is Jupiter’s son, but a nearby king still...
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