Medusa’s Past Tragedy and New opinion

矦婷婷

【Abstract】Medusa was Greece myth of the gorgons. She was a very beautiful girl， but she was turned into the gorgons with long full head of snake sent due to excessive arrogance and confidence at the front of Athena shouting aloud his beautiful than God. So the word of Medusa has the meaning of extremely ugly woman with the frightening image. The fate of Medusa in the dust of history was bitter and unfortunate， but with time going by， Medusa has become an extremely charm and magic. People are interested in her with an enormous imagination. The so-called danger and fear have long been forgotten.

【Key words】Medusa； Greece myth； the frightening image； charm and magic

1. Introduction

Medusa was Greece myth of the gorgons. She was once a very beautiful girl， but she was turned into the gorgons with long full head of snake sent and the pair boar of fangs， on even neck Shang are long full has snake of scales， even down also into has snake of like due to excessive arrogance and confidence in the front of Athena， shouting aloud her more beautiful than God. Athena as the goddess of wisdom was angered and so she cast her spells into head of Medusa's hair into countless snakes. Beauty became a monster. Even more frightening is that both of her eyes blazed with lurid light， a person would immediately become a lifeless piece of rock even just because of catching a glimpse of her； the word of Medusa has the meaning of extremely ugly woman.

2. The frightening image

Medusa was a priestess of the ancient Greek god of war Athena， a pure young girl， a virgin. As a priest， she can't have human marriage. Her fate is doomed to a tragedy when the Medusa was selected as the priest. Although Athena is the goddess， she has the characteristics of male god. Athena takes permanent possession of the beautiful girl Medusa from the spiritual level although she does not physically occupy Medusa. From the point of view of people， it is unfortunate and she is the victim of god and man. Thus， the authority of men is based on the right of women. The existence of Medusa is a threat to them， so they try thousand ways to find ways to destroy her. The female image of ancient Greek myth mostly is the victim of the patriarchal repression. Medusa's example really illustrates their attitude toward women. So， the sufferings of the Medusa are the bitter fruits she brings herself. In ancient Greek mythology， the head of the Medusa was used by Athena on their shields as a deterrent to the enemy's talisman. In fact， Athena gave Medusa the rebellious gorgon banshee image， which is closely related to the western culture. Snake this image is a sin， and it is the rebellious seed of Adam and Eva. So the person's sin is associated with the snake because of the snake. Since then， in the history of mankind， the snake was endowed with the symbol of evil and darkness， horror. Medusa's snake image is derived from it.

3. Charm and magic

Today， it seems to forget the frightening image bringing the death disaster of the snake lady of the ancient Greek mythology. People see the Medusa and more are showed in fashion， magazines， furniture， food utensils and the gorgeous image above. The image of Medusa is frequently used in the animation industry， relief and jewelry box， military surveillance system， even the computer security plug-in which is also known as a sign of medusa. In the context of contemporary consume， Medusas symbol as “death， danger， and fear” has gone， replaced by a new aesthetic experience and feelings. For the real Medusa， people know little and even despise her. For her suffering， people also know nothing， and this moment Medusa has become an extremely charm and magic.

Baidu， China's new a security plug-in “Baidu.Medusa” apparently borrowed the name of “Medusa”， which actually plays a role of psychological hint， showing that the powerful features of its products.

4. Conclusion

Hence， Medusa became a symbol of “totem worship” with the meaning of evil guardian. Later， Medusa became the symbol of expression of darkness and evil， thoroughly reduced to villains. In modern consumer society， she again becomes the great force of evil spirit be puzzled， appearing in all kinds of images， such as clothing and equipment. In the era of consumption， we saw all sorts of fatal attraction associated with Medusa. She became the existence and pronoun of temptation. People would rather be a prisoner for the sake of a so-called peak experience in the pursuit of so-called aesthetic bliss.

References：

[1]（德）古斯塔夫·施瓦布.希臘神話故事（第二版）.2007.10.

[2]李韶麗，崔東健.從希臘神話看女性意識的萌動和發展[D].牡丹江大學，2011（11）.