The Stony Gaze in Modern Day

Chapter 1: Origin

Everyone has an understanding of Greek Mythology in one way or another. There were the Titans, then the Gods came after the Titans. The main Gods consisted of Zeus, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Demeter, and Hestia, all children of the king of the Titans, Kronos. Together, they all assumed their roles on Mount Olympus after imprisoning their father and his fellow Titans and became the Gods that the ancient peoples of Greece came to worship. Many tales and legends were crafted from there to celebrate the Gods, their children, and their chosen heroes. You all know the legends of Theseus, Achilles, Odysseus, Perseus, etc. But did you ever look deep into the tragedy of Medusa, the enemy gorgon of Perseus whose gaze could turn all who meet it to stone? To further understand her tragedy, we must look to her humble beginnings.

Before Medusa was turned into a Gorgon, she was once a humble priestess of the Goddess of War and Wisdom, Athena. For her duties, she was to spend her time in prayer, maintain the temple with her fellow sisters, and collect offerings to her goddess. She must also preserve her purity and her virginity in order to keep the favor of Athena, who, in her wisdom, appointed Medusa to High Priestess. There were many times when Medusa would meet with the Goddess and the other Gods in her dreams, consulting with them and reporting any and all who came into worship and any who were suspected of blasphemy.

During these times, she had gained the attraction of Poseidon, the brother of Zeus and God of the sea. Like Zeus, he also possessed a s*x drive that would persist until he got what he wanted. Many times, he would attempt to court and seduce the Priestess, despite her connection to his niece, but many times, she would reject him and refuse his advances towards her. After so many attempts, Poseidon became frustrated with her rejection and formulated a sinister plan to take her for himself, even if it would strip her of her status.

One night, as she was in the middle of her prayer to Athena, Poseidon came into the temple disguised as a beggar. She looked at the beggar and went to welcome him into the temple. She offered him food and a place by the fire and began to notice an increase of rain within the temple itself. She felt a sickening feeling of dread and when she turned away from him, she took a hit to the back of the head. Poseidon drops his disguise and takes the dazed priestess to the altar as if to mock Athena by offering a show. Medusa regained consciousness as Poseidon stripped her of her robes and began his violation of her there on the altar. Medusa did her best to fight back, even when she felt the inevitable pain of her purity being stripped from her. She prayed to Athena in hopes she would receive help and cursed Poseidon for his crime against her. When he finishes, he simply lets out a snide chuckle and leaves her in anguish on the altar of Athena.

The rain in the temple lets up when he leaves and Medusa breaks into pained tears. It was then that Athena made her appearance before her, but she wore a look of disappointment. Medusa had a feeling it was for her not putting up more of a fight against the God of the Sea.

“My dear Medusa… violated in my own temple… for such a crime, I will give you the ability to drive people away… No man will ever place their hands on you ever again, as they will become those of stone when they meet your gaze. No one…. Will ever come close to you ever again….”

And with that, Athena takes her leave and Medusa begins to feel an itch on her skin. When she goes to scratch, she feels something rough and inspects herself quickly, finding she was sprouting scales. She tries to rip them out as her own nails fell from her fingers, jagged claws taking their place. She begins to panic as she looks upon her reflection in the blessing water. Her eyes become red and yellow with slits for pupils. Her hair fell from her head as she whimpered, rubbing along her head and feeling the hair slip off. She began to hear hissing as she looked around before meeting the eyes of a snake. She cried out, but she was not harmed. She felt as if her whole head was crawling as she felt it again, feeling only the scales and bodies of snakes had replaced her hair. She groaned, dropping to her knees as she felt pain all along her spine, as if it was extending itself. She grows a long, scaly tail that whips around in her panic, causing any nearby objects to crash onto the floor.

In all the commotion, a sister comes to check on the Priestess. Medusa quickly hides behind a column, knowing her sister would be repulsed by her appearance.

“Lady Medusa? Is everything alright? I heard a loud noise…”

“D-Don’t come closer… I’m… I’m hideous…”

The sister gulps and starts approaching the column. “Lady, what’s the matter? Are you not yourself? Why make such a silly assumption about yourself? I’m sure you are still as beautiful as the day you entered the-” She looks around the column and sees the reptilian creature that had Medusa’s voice as she lets out a shriek. When she looked into its eyes, she felt herself stiffen up and all feeling was gone. She froze in her place and her warm human skin was replaced with stone.

Medusa looked at the sister, seeing she had become a statue. The shriek had attracted the rest of the temple staff, all coming to investigate the noise and they all came face to face with the Gorgon. They all shout and scream in a panic, trying to run from her only to be frozen into stone when they look at her eyes.

“No…. N-No… What…. What have I done?” Medusa collapsed to her knees, overwhelmed with sorrow and fear as she looked at the many lifeless statues that now filled the temple. She quivers as she quickly grabs her robes and slips them on. They had become snug against her body as she had grown several feet during her transformation. She makes a run out of the temple and many people have spotted the creature fleeing.

News of the creature and its power to turn people to stone spread. These rumors and stories of her hideousness fueled her hatred towards humans and many would-be heroes and soldiers who were sent to slay the beast only met their stony demise in her lair. Perseus came close when he used his reflective shield to alleviate the effects of her gaze on him. However… when he meets her gaze, all he sees was the pain and loneliness she had to endure over the years as a Gorgon. He takes pity on her and sheathes his weapons. When he turned to meet her gaze, she had taken notice of what he was about to do and grabbed a stray cloth, blindfolding him so he wouldn’t turn. She knows he cannot return empty-handed and grabs the head of one of the statues, concealing a part of her power in it so he can use it in defense. In the story, he had taken her head and used it against the Kraken. But the truth was much simpler… She knew about his mission and knew her power would become useful in the hands of a good man. While her hatred for men had waned a bit because of this interaction, she would still allow herself to be isolated. Now that many believed her to be dead, she would evacuate her lair and take to the cliffs of Mount Olympus, where she would remain for a few millennia, watching all of Greece progress and advance into the modern-day. While some adventurous climbers managed to find her cave within Mount Olympus, she knew she couldn’t let anyone know of her existence. She turns them to stone and hides them away. Soon, she took notice of the lack of worship of the Gods nowadays and could only pity those who have strayed from their heritage. But this pity would only be overshadowed by her disgust for them and her loneliness would follow. She couldn’t understand why Athena would punish her so cruelly rather than comfort her in her time of need and, because of this, she would feel a burning hatred for the Goddess she had devoted herself to. She was the one who made her into this. She was the one who turned her into an eternal outcast. She was the one who…… Someone’s coming… But who? Another climber? An adventurer? Another disgusting man? …….Who?