Medusa was one of the Gorgon sisters. She was originally a golden-haired, fair maiden, who, as a priestess of Athena, was devoted to a life of celibacy. She fell in love with and married Poseidon, an offence she was punished for in a most terrible manner. Each lock of her hair was changed into a venomous snake; her once gentle, love-inspiring eyes turned into blood-shot, furious orbs, which excited fear and disgust in the mind of the onlooker.
Seeing herself transformed into such a repulsive creature, Medusa fled her home, wandering about, abhorred, dreaded, and shunned by the rest of the world. In her despair, she fled to Africa, where, while wandering restlessly from place to place, young snakes dropped from her hair; that is how, according to the ancient Greeks, Africa became a hotbed of venomous reptiles. With the curse of Athena upon her, she turned into stone whomever she gazed upon, till at last, after a life of nameless misery, deliverance came to her in the shape of death, at the hands of Perseus
Greek Mythology
www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Creatures/Medusa/medusa.html
My Medusa sits in some dark corner, coiling her body around and whipping her tail, spitting in venomous warning and sadness, created using a sound of snakes.
from
Imaginary Creatures,
released November 20, 2019
O Johnson / museleon (2019)
Artwork by O Johnson
Rattle_Snake by 7h3_lark on Freesound (
freesound.org ) used under the Creative Commons 0 Licence