Freaks A-Z. Letter "M"
Size: 210mm x 297mm
Material:Charcoal pen
In Greek mythology Medusa (Greek: Μέδουσα (Médousa), "guardian, protectress") was a Gorgon, a chthonic monster, and a daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. The author Hyginus, (Fabulae, 151) interposes a generation and gives Medusa another chthonic pair as parents. Gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone. She was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who thereafter used her head as a weapon until he gave it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. In classical antiquity the image of the head of Medusa appeared in the evil-averting device known as the Gorgoneion.
梅杜莎，是希臘神話中的一個女妖，戈耳工三女妖之一。她的父親是福耳庫斯，母親則為海妖怪刻托。她的頭髮都是蛇。根據詩人奧維德的《變形記》（Metamorphoses 4.770）所述，她原是一位美麗的少女，因為與海神波塞冬私自約會（也有一些版本稱因美杜莎自恃長得美麗，竟然不自量力地和智慧女神比起美來，而被雅典娜詛咒），雅典娜一怒之下將美杜莎的頭髮變成毒蛇，而且給她施以詛咒，任何直望美杜莎雙眼的人都會變成石像，因此成了面目醜陋的怪物。
美杜莎最後被珀耳修斯取下首級，獻給雅典娜，雅典娜將美杜莎的頭嵌在神盾埃癸斯的中央。後來美杜莎一詞有「極度丑怪的女子」之含意。此外，傳說美杜莎與波塞頓有兩名子女，而這兩名子女在美杜莎被殺後，從她的身體走出來。他們分別是：飛馬珀伽索斯（後來成了飛馬座）及巨人克律薩俄耳（Χρυσάωρ）。
