And after Perseus beheaded her in her sleep he gifted it to Minerva. Before her head is gifted however Perseus must travel back to gift Minerva and receive praise and glory for his actions. He travels to ‘Western Limit of the Earth’ and seeks food and shelter under King Atlas. However when he claims his victory and parentage King Atlas disregards them and demands he leaves. This upsets Perseus and rather than leave he chooses to show King Atlas Medusa’s severed head, averting his own gaze, and turns the king to stone. However it is also said that when he was changed more occurred as stated:
‘Atlas, with all his bulk, was changed into stone. His beard and hair became forests, his arms and shoulders cliffs, his head a summit, and his bones rocks. Each part increased in bulk till he became a mountain, and (such was the pleasure of the gods) heaven with all its stars rests upon his shoulders.’
Many would argue that he should have only turned to stone but seeing as Medusa’s curse was used on a giant the effects were completely different. In Greek mythology the Gods and Goddesses are very strong and outgoing, however they are never the smartest in most cases. Minerva cursed Medusa for her beauty and in most accounts disgracing her temple with Neptune willingly or not. Rage, jealousy, and spitefulness is usually their motives when cursing and taking from mortals so in this moment the idea was no one would ever look upon her as a beautiful woman but a horrid creature. I like the ideas I see surfacing around, that the idea of a mortal unable to see her does not fall under the same umbrella that most mortals and animals did.
Write what you believe, because that’s all mythology is, bits and pieces of the past that we chose to interpret how we desire. So write your heart out!
