| Title: | Medusa |
| Medium: | Digital |
| Tools: | Photoshop, Wacom tablet |
| Dimensions: | 3544×5316 pixels, 50x70cm @ 200 ppi (including borders) |
(click the thumbnails below to view the close-up detail images of the above painting)
Medusa mythos
There are two versions of the myth surrounding the ancient greek mythological character known as Medusa. The PG-rated version claims she was a beautiful maiden with curly hair which made even the goddess Athena jealous. In her rage, Athena cursed Medusa by taking away her beautiful looks and turning her hair into serpentine snakes. She became a monster so hideous that anyone who looked directly at her would be turned into stone. (Mythography – The Greek Creature Medusa in Myth and Art)
What this version of the story does not mention is the part where Medusa gets raped by the god Poseidon. (Marks, Tracy. Medusa in Greek Mythology)
“Medusa was astonishingly fair;
she was desired and contended for -
so many jealous suitors hoped to win her.
Her form was graced by many splendors, yet
there was no other beauty she possessed
that cold surpass the splendor of her hair -
and this I learned from one who said he’d seen her.
Her beauty led the Ruler of the Sea
To rape her in Minerva’s sanctuary
(so goes the tale). Jove’s daughter turned aside
chaste eyes: the goddess hid her face behind
her aegis – but she made Medusa pay:
she changed that Gorgon’s hair to horrid snakes.
And to this day, Minerva, to dismay
and terrify her foes, wears on her breast
the very snakes that she herself had set -
as punishment – upon Medusa’s head.”
from Ovid, Metamorphoses, book 4:1181-95. Translation: Mandelbaum.
So she gets raped by Poseidon, and is punished for it – by the goddess she herself worshipped (she was in Athena’s temple). To me it seems the Medusa which we usually think of as the monster antagonist is actually the victim here.
Not only is she raped and cursed, but she is later killed by the “hero” Perseus, who manages to cut off her head by using a mirror (his shield) so as not to look directly at her.
So, with this tragic story of Medusa in mind I set forth to bringing her an inch of justice in my own depiction of her. In my research I looked at images from the antiquity and renaissance era. I noticed a few reappearing themes. The first was of course Medusa as a monster, often depicting just the beheaded head.
Floor mosaic depicting the head of Medusa. Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome, Italy.
The second theme, which I found more interesting was the melancholical representation, with a sorrowful or sad expression, often with head bowed down as if in shame.
Bust of Medusa.
I decided early on to focus on the idea of Medusa as a beautiful or even “perfect” woman. I also wanted to include a reference to Poseidon (the God of the Sea).
In my interpretation of the Medusa mythos I used the fact that the snake represent the sinful man (after Biblical mythos) or simply our sins, particularly of sexual nature. In this case the snakes would represent the crime which Poseidon committed. But in medusas case they also symbolize her beauty, which was described with her curly hair. So to emphasize this symbolism I decided to draw 12 snakes in her hair to symbolize her beauty. The 13th snake, on the other hand, which was not part of her body, would then represent both Poseidon and the sin which was committed.
To tie in Poseidon even more in the image I drew a simple design on the wall behind her with waves symbolizing the sea.
I also wanted to pay my homage to the greek culture from which I got my inspiration, so I made the design on the wall appear to be made from mosaic. Now that I look at it it’s as if she emerges from the mosaic itself. It then becomes a painting of a painting in a sense, which is a duality I like. The fact that mosaic is made from stone ties nicely to the part where anyone who would gaze upon Medusa would be turned into stone.
I have saved a few snap-shots of my progress while working on this piece in a WIP (Work In Progress) series. Below are links to each part of the WIP if you wish to read more about my progress.
Thanks, i learnt pretty much more about medusa. but i was actualy looking for some very beautiful pictures of athena, do you know any good fotos?
Thanks, from Justin
PS: if you do please send it to just.ver@hotmail.com
I just wanted to leave a note and tell you that I think you’ve done some beautiful work here. I was searching for original image takes on Medusa and I love what you’ve done. I also appreciate the explanation on her mythos that you’ve provided, as I wasn’t completely aware of it before this. I don’t think I’d ever heard she was raped and then punished for it. This definitely offers more depth to her character.
Again, beautiful work – thanks :-)
Amanda
did vere good work
ah thanx :)
Hi Sam,
This is such a strong and beautiful image! I’d been looking for something that represented female rage for part of my ongoing tattoo on my arm (it’s all about lessons from my past I really need to learn!)and this is perfect. As artist (and copyright owner) I thought it only polite to get in touch. Depending on when my tattooist can fit me in, it should be finished in the next month or so – I’ll send pictures to your e-mail.
So thanks for your art – truly an inspiration
Cheers
Andy (in Wales, UK)
oh that’s totally ok. I do appreciate that you asked for my permission though. :)
Looking forward to seeing the results, Cheers!
/Sam
I love this image of Medusa you have created. I have been looking for a beautiful representation of Medusa for some time. I am in total agreement with you that Medusa was the victim not the villian in the story as all the depictions and ideas that the Gorgans were hideous monsters came from the Athenians who would naturaly side with their patron Goddess. This is the version I read. Medusa and her sisters were high priestesses of Athena and due to her great beauty was persued by poseidon who seduced her while still in Athenas temple. Athena (a virgin goddess)ouraged at the betral cursed Medusa and her sisters with turning all who looked upon them to stone and Medusa’s hair to snakes. The myth that any woman who could turn a man to stone by looking at him must be hideous monster seems to me to have been propagated to encourage warriors to try to kill her. All the men she killed were probably in self defence. There is no proof she was ugly as anyone who saw her would never live to tell what she looked like and there is no reason to believe she was a monster other than people treating her as 1. The sad expression on her face in the picture bust of Medusa representation seems to highlight this.
Very nice work.
That is a beautiful bust! I like to think of her expression as taking on my sorrow that the once reviered and worshiped medusa was twisted eventually into an evil monster with the morphing of religion and culture. The paper I read said that figures of her were once worshiped as a triple goddess (life,death,rebirth) in different places but eventually in greek mythology as the culture changed there was transformed into a terrible thing. Maybe because of the change in focus to males and male gods in society? Here is the site if anyone is interested. http://old.perseus.tufts.edu/classes/finALp.html
or you can get to it here that has the classic greek myth. http://www.webwinds.com/thalassa/medusa.htm
the link for the other page is called “online medusa paper.” It’s not the most professional but it looks as if this person did their research. If any of those don’t work then just type in search engine medusa+myth it was the first on the list. This is a great site that I just stumbled upon!
This -> http://www.samimatilainen.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/medusa1000x1500v2.jpg
..is the highest resolution version I have uploaded. I am not giving away the full size version, sorry :P
/Sam
I really like the final painting of Medusa.
How can I get it in a full size ???
Thanks a lot ;)
Too bad…
I’d like to frame it and hang up in my living-room.
How can I buy it in full size ???
I’ve always been intrigued by Medusa and decided to look for images to hang above my bed. This picture is absolutely beautiful and exactly how I envision Medusa to be; beautiful and powerful. How do I get ahold of the print?
Thank you!
I am sorry but I can not provide prints of my work at this time.
/Sam
omg!!
A few things that I would like to say:
First, no Greek god ever “Raped” a mortal. It was easy for them to seduce using their powers over the mortal mind. Also Greek women, back in the days of gods, found it an honor to couple with a god.
Secondly, Medusa was a Gorgon, not a mortal woman, who was born the way she was. She was never a beautiful maiden. I got this from wikipedia:
The three Gorgon sisters—Medusa, Stheno, and Euryale—were children of the ancient marine deities Phorcys and his sister Ceto, chthonic monsters from an archaic world. Their genealogy is shared with other sisters, the Graeae, as in Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound, who places both trinities of sisters far off “on Kisthene’s dreadful plain”:
Near them their sisters three, the Gorgons, winged
With snakes for hair— hated of mortal man—
While ancient Greek vase-painters and relief carvers imagined Medusa and her sisters as beings born of monstrous form, sculptors and vase-painters of the fifth century began to envisage her as a being both beautiful as well as terrifying. In an ode written in 490 BC Pindar already speaks of “fair-cheeked Medusa”.[5] In a late version of the Medusa myth, related by the Roman poet Ovid (Metamorphoses 4.770), Medusa was originally a beautiful maiden, “the jealous aspiration of many suitors,” priestess in Athena’s temple, but when she and the “Lord of the Sea” Poseidon lay together in Athena’s temple, the enraged virgin goddess transformed her beautiful hair to serpents and made her face so terrible to behold that the mere sight of it would turn any man to stone. In Ovid’s telling, Perseus describes Medusa’s punishment by Athena as just and well-deserved.
I trust this version a little more than most, though I think some of the original myth was lost in the translation.
And lastly, I just need to let it be known that the Greeks worshipped their gods, even the evil ones, so anything that was socially unacceptable, ie rape, would never have been committed by a god.
I don’t know which translation of Ovid you are referring to but the one by Mandelbaum does specifically use the word “rape” and this is the version I am quoting. It’s quite possible something was indeed lost in translation and I appreciate the input on this matter as I am not a scholar on Greek mythology.
While I don’t want to offend anyone, especially not the awesome Greeks of old, however, it is difficult for me to judge a man (or even a fictional character or a god in this case) based on what used to be socially acceptable thousands of years ago, versus what is socially acceptable today and my own sense of morality. Art is always a reflection of the artist himself and he is of course influenced by the present world around him. This is why it is called “contemporary”. Just as you say, sculptors and painters throughout history has depicted and interpreted Medusa and the myths surrounding her in different ways in different times, and so do I. This, however should not take anything away from the original form or meaning from which the art was derived.
wow i liked it but i think u should put MORE COOL pics!
That was great! I love Greek Mythology! I just love myths and all. I live in Japan, and so I try my best to get my hands on good material on Greek mythology. Oh, and Wikipedia isn’t reliable since anyone can change whatever is in the text. No offense!
KEEP GOING SAM!
I wonder if they have Medusa water tattoos in Japan?
Hi Sam. What a powerful image that Medusa is. I was wondering what your views are on copyrighting and licensing of your art, specifically this piece? My band Stone Black has a song called Gorgons on diskfaktoryjams.com and I would like to put a thumbnail image next to the song on the site, with all your copyright and website info on it of course. Also would you be interested in licensing the image for an album cover? Thanks. Beautiful art. Lee.
Lee, your questions have already been answered in the FAQ: http://www.samimatilainen.com/faq/
ok thanks anyway. lee.
i am so angry at poseidon for raping medusa,because she wouldn’t have turned into this creature.oh and athena you are a wicked son of a bitch not for being jealous of medusa cause i know i would’ve been jealous of her, but for cursing medusa and turnining her into a snake-headed beast.Oh and Athena should have been the one to turn into a fucking snake-headed beast cause the fact is MEDUSA STILL LOOKS BETTER THAN YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Now Perseus i hate you cause medusa was never meant to be killed she wanted to have a life the same fucking thing you had,but no cause u had to go fucking kill her, you should have been the to die!!!!!!!finished!!!!!
Medusa i love u and i miss u so fucking much!!!!!
wow, this was refreshing. a very unique view point. greek culture is truly fascinating, very well done! :)
i am doing a project in school do you have any tips?
thanks i like the background
i like her tits
i like her hear. wow! thats a masing photos.by kylee