Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) Webmythology and iconography. Berber itself isnt a grouping by skin colour, it originated as a linguistic grouping. Thanks for the comment and the Quora link. Hades players can get Perseus as a hero in the Mythic age. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) : Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 14 (trans. [80][81] Scylla is a creature depicted variously as anguipedal or serpent-bodied. These could be one goddess with three forms, such as the Morrigan and Brigid in Ireland, or three closely related goddesses who worked together, like the Norns in Norse mythology. Ancient people were racist too, but they tended to think of ethnicity in terms of homeland, language, clothing, religion, and other customs, all in a bundle. WebMedusa was a Libyan Goddess who was worshiped by The Amazons. As I see it, Medusa could just as easily become Maasai as she could become Berber. It alludes to Plutarch's use of the term in De curiositate, where the Greek writer suggests that the term Lamia is emblematic of meddlesome busybodies in society. These did not all immediately help him kill Medusa, but it did allow him to escape her sisters. Northern Africa with modern names and borders (top), and with ancient Greek names (bottom). [30], The Byzantine lexicon Suda (10th century) gave an entry for lamia (), with definitions and sources much as already described. Available via Live Chat Monday - Friday 9am - 6pm EST Email Us anytime at info@aweinspired.com. [99], Lamia, also known as Ramia, also appears as a boss in the Nintendo DS action role-playing game Deep Labyrinth.[100]. Horace makes a related joke, referring to the aforementioned Lucius Aelius Lamia the praetor as "Lamus", in this instance regarded as the founding figure of the city of the Laestrygonians. Diodorus Siculus (fl. A gypsy curse associated with him has Lamia torment the victim for three days before having its minions drag them into Hell to burn in its fires for all eternity. [19][b][c], Aristophanes wrote in two plays an identically worded list of foul-smelling objects which included the "Lamia's testicles", thus making Lamia's gender ambiguous. 1st century BC) gave a de-mythologized account of Lamia as a queen of Libya who ordered her soldiers to snatch children from their mothers and kill them, and [37][36], A representative example is Philostratus's novelistic biography Life of Apollonius of Tyana.[37]. Aristotle says there is a shark called "lamia". Reading example essays works the same way! [3] Modern scholarship reconstructs a Proto-Indo-European stem *lem-, "nocturnal spirit", whence also comes lemures. [38] The last statement has led to the surmise that this lamia/empusa was a sort of blood-sucking vampiress. Please note: Now, I cant speak from a position of authority on this, but in my limited experience, Berbers arent keen on this pigeonholing. Lamia's possible kindred kind appear in Classical works, but may be known by other names except for isolated instance which calls it a lamia. In the anime Monster Musume, the character Miia is a lamia. to view the complete essay. Why are we down voting someone who sharing an opinion that was the topic of the thread. [103], Later traditions referred to many lamiae; these were folkloric monsters similar to vampires and succubi that seduced young men and then fed on their blood. banished Medusa to an island and cursed her to have snakes for hair and a face so revolting it would turn the onlooker to stone. In some versions, the removable eye belonged to the three Gorgons, Medusa and her sisters. Thats why Ovid, for example, has Perseus flying eastward over Libya to reach the Mediterranean. WebMedusa was originally a Libyan Goddess, worshiped by The Amazons as their Serpent-Goddess. How the West made Arabs and Berbers into races.. Historian Herodotus also stated that she was in Libya. Because she is a reminder to be unapologetically ourselves and fierce in the face of oppression, Add gift message and Deluxe Gift packaging, Liquid error: include usage is not allowed in this context. Learn what works (and what doesn't) from the reader's perspective. By Sarah Crocker / Aug. 24, 2021 12:30 am EST. Anthropologists and historians regularly tell us, in fact, that Berber as an overarching ethnic category is a comparatively recent phenomenon. Originally a character in Classical Mythology, Medusa has taken a life of her own, and now exists in all kinds of fantasy sometimes as a person, sometimes as an entire species. So don't look at that illustration. 180 (trans. Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses. [67], A second example is a colony of man-eating monsters in Libya, described by Dio Chrysostom. Other myths say that Medusa retained her mortal beauty, as a cruel Irony. There exists a genus of horned dinosaur named after Medusa called. [31] The lexicon also has an entry under mormo () stating that Mormo and the equivalent mormolykeion[f] are called lamia, and that all these refer to frightful beings. xsai 11/19/2011. [88], Close comparison is also made with the serpentine Medusa. Doraemon: Nobita's Great Adventure into the Underworld, Nadeko imbibing the remnants of a snake oddity and transforming into a Snake Goddess, long hair that could be used as tentacles to grab people, using a piece of the snake-mane to squirt acidic venom into her own eyes, demanding certain kinds of people not be let into the Watch, regret her decision to turn her into a monster, a giant snake's body in lieu of humanoid legs, many monsters are immune or highly resistant to, she was turned into a monster as punishment, Brothel for the Slaking of Intellectual Lusts, the monster she eventually became at the end of her life at the cost of her sanity, giant monster made of snakes that can shoot lasers from its single eye, that at least he can still move this time, One of the first major villains faced by the heroes of, The little known 1978 anime film Metamorphoses, which is based on, One that deserves particular mention is the, Gorgons have a particular presence on Theros, a plane directly inspired by, Several runs earlier Diana faced a much-less intelligent (but only slightly less deadly) Medusa imitation during a tournament to choose a new Wonder Woman. Depending on the version of the story, she either reciprocated, and (with a little help from her sisters) let Poseidon into Athena's temple and slept with him on the altar, or was simply raped by the god. The Berber myth and Arab realities., Rouighi, R. 2019b. They took care of the young goddess Athena after her birth from the head of Zeus beside the lake. The loss of her children drove Lamia insane, and in vengeance and despair, Lamia snatched up any children she could find and devoured them. [9] Diodorus, Duris of Samos and other sources which comprise the sources for building an "archetypal" picture of Lamia do not designate her as a dragoness, or give her explicit serpentine descriptions.[82]. This allows our team to focus on improving the library and adding new essays. 144 (trans. Like many Greek monsters in mythology, killing Medusa was a task assigned to a semi-divine hero. Lamia is the main antagonist in the 2009 horror movie Drag Me to Hell voiced by Art Kimbro. [64], In Pausanias's version, the monster is called Poin (), meaning "punishment" or "vengeance", but there is nothing about a snake on her forehead. And then there are some that offer a compromise and state that she was both beautiful and terrible at the same time. Medusa (Metis) was the destroyer aspect of the Great Triple Goddess also called Neith, Anath, Athene or Ath-enna in North Africa and Athana in 1400 c. BC Minoan Crete. This is given in the concluding paragraph of the chapter. When citing an essay from our library, you can use "Kibin" as the author. It is later revealed that Modest is a special Medusa who will fortunately not turn into a hydra. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) : It can be used to destroy or overwhelm any other power. In Greek: " , ", Cupid refers to Psyche's sisters as Lamiae, Apul. A space to share and talk about theistic paganism. 133163; 2019b). WebHesiod describes her as a Goddess Queen who delights in war cries, onslaughts, and battles. Hephaestus served as the midwife who birthed her using a smiths hammer as an obstetric tool. Kibin, 2023. http://www.kibin.com/essay-examples/the-views-on-medusa-goddess-in-mythology-u4hTw2Vu. She was perhaps also identified with Benthesikyme a North African sea-nymphe who like Tritonis was married to a local sea-god (Enalos) and had two daughters. The monster in the heroic story could symbolize a pre-Greek religion. In the movie, Lamia is described as "the most feared of all Demons" and having the head and hooves of a goat. But I don't see any reason why, if Maasai people were to adopt Medusa into their own mythology and start telling stories about her having been Maasai, she couldn't become Maasai in their mythology. "), "The Views on Medusa Goddess in Mythology." To protect Perseus from this danger, the gods gave him special items to help him on his quest to kill the monster. The story of Medusa is one of the most well-known in Greek mythology. [8], Diodorus Siculus (fl. [90][81] The identification has also been built (using transitive logic) since each name is identified with empousa in different sources. One interpretation of the Medusa myth, therefore, is that she represents the priestesses of an unknown pre-Greek goddess. One day they'll use my head, but cleave and leave the rest of me behind, which seemsunkind.". You may have heard that Medusa was originally a Libyan goddess or alternatively, that the Greek myth of Medusa was designed to demonise black women. When a woman's child is well grown, the men assemble within three months and the child is adjudged to be that man's whom it is most like. But that doesnt mean there arent any. Medusa's appearance varies depending on what source you're reading. And those analogues that exhibit a serpentine form or nature have been especially noted. The story of Medusa seems to obviously be one of a terrible monster. 180 (trans. No books written in ancient Berber languages have survived to the present day (though we do have a bit over a thousand inscriptions). [96], From around the mid-15th century into the 16th century, the lamia came to be regarded exclusively as witches. The sisters Sthenno and Euryale were immortal but the third, Medusa, was mortal. [73] Pope Gregory I (d. 604)'s exegesis on the Book of Job explains that the lamia represented either heresy or hypocrisy. [4], In the myth, the Lamia was originally a beautiful woman beloved of Zeus, but Zeus's jealous wife Hera robbed her of her children, either by kidnapping and hiding them away, killing them, or causing Lamia herself to kill her own offspring. You can't really say you are "reviving" her worship, rather I think it would be more appropriate to say that you are creating her cultus. And, of course, as a son of Zeus Perseus was directly connected to the king of the gods. "On the return trip [of the Argonauts] Eurybates, son of Teleon died, and Canthus, son of . Athena was once part of the Trinity of Snake Goddesses however the Grecos wanted to separate themselves from other regions so they demonized the Goddess Neith Athena Feather Studied the myths extensively Author has 168 answers and 111.6K answer views 2 y Im not sure what answer you want. In some versions, her hair-snakes are venomous. Her most monstrous attribute, however, was the determination of the gods to have her killed. He carries a Medusa head that he similarly uses to petrify enemy units. Medusa heads are a recurring enemy in the games, with the gold variant able to inflict a. Medusas appear as mooks in many of the games, particularly the earlier ones. My name is Mike and for as long as I can remember (too long!) Medusa was one of the most iconic monsters of Greek mythology, but could her story also be one of a goddess? [84][85] Daniel Ogden argues that one of her possible reincarnations, the monster of Argos killed by Coroebus had a "scaly gait", indicating she must have had an anguipedal form in an early version of the story,[86] although the Latin text in Statius merely reads inlabi (declension of labor) meaning "slides". Hes entirely wrong about Greek gods names, for example: we know now that theyre mostly Indo-European. Athena was one and the same with Pallas and Medusa. [22], John Keats's Lamia in his Lamia and Other Poems is a reworking of the tale in Apollonius's biography by Philostratus, described above. Perseus beheaded Medusa while she slept, but her severed head retained its power to paralyze and turn viewers to stone. There are some variations of the myth in which, despite what wad done to her by Athena, Medusa continued to be faithful and committing rituals for Athena in private since she's, In 2nd edition, medusas are a race resembling elven maidens with serpents for hair and the ability to petrify with their gaze, even affecting creatures on the Ethereal or Astral Planes (into which they can see). The story of her beheading is an allegory for how an ancient cult was destroyed by the ancestors of the Greeks. When we look for data on the origins of the Medusa legend, we have to look at Greek sources. [94], Renaissance writer Angelo Poliziano wrote Lamia (1492), a philosophical work whose title is a disparaging reference to his opponents who dabble in philosophy without competence. She may be Athenas mother, a closely related spirit, or possibly even the identity Athena left behind when she moved from North Africa to Greece. WebTHE TIMEOROI LIBYES were three goddess-nymph guardians of the wilds about Lake Tritonis in Libya (in North Africa). 2. [11], Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (vii.5) refers to the lore of some beastly lifeform in the shape of a woman, which tears the bellies of pregnant mothers and devours their fetuses. The oldest story known to feature Medusa is the adventures of Perseus. (Yes, Ive seen this claimed.). Kibin, 2023, www.kibin.com/essay-examples/the-views-on-medusa-goddess-in-mythology-u4hTw2Vu. The intercourse of men and women there is promiscuous; they do not cohabit but have intercourse like cattle. In Keats's version, the student Lycius replaces Menippus the Lycian. Hermes helped directly by lending Perseus his sandals and Hephaestus gave him a sword. In some versions, we'll never know if it was consensual. She also happens to be the source of the cast's eye powers and creator of the Kagerou Daze world. Judika Isles has her as a living Goddess in her Encyclopedia of spirits. Image i - A wooden door panel intended to guard the house from an unwelcome guest (Thomas Regnaudin, c. 1660). In ancient Greece and modern times throughout the world, Medusas portrait is recreated on shields, temples, coins, pottery, and pendants as a symbol of protection to ward off evil.. Rhod. Although, in the most well known myth written by the Roman poet Ovid, Medusa was born extremely beautiful and human-like. To protect the anonymity of contributors, we've removed their names and personal information from the essays. Contains spam, fake content or potential malware. He did so with the help of many of the pantheons powerful gods. Jason Williams, The story of Medusa is about European fear of African spirituality, melanin and black women with power, an answer I wrote over a year ago on Quora, Classics at the Intersections (Rebecca Futo Kennedy), The Philological Crocodile (@PhiloCrocodile), Tales of Times Forgotten (@spencemcdaniel), Late antique mosaic of Medusa from Hadrumetum, Tunisia (Sousse Archaeological Museum), beyond the Ocean, at the edge of night, in the same region as the Hesperides (nymphs of the west), three days flight (for Perseus) west of the Atlas Mountains. Before the girls are set fighting, the whole people choose the fairest maid, and arm her with a Korinthian (Corinthian) helmet and Greek panoply, to be then mounted on a chariot and drawn all along the lake shore. We look for data on the return trip [ of the Medusa legend, have... Stem * lem-, `` nocturnal spirit '', whence also comes.. And Euryale were immortal but the third, Medusa, was the determination of the most well known myth by. 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