Years before the original film, Aphrodite grew jealous of her priestess Medusa, fearing her to be more beautiful than her. Further infuriated when Medusa and Poseidon did away in her own temple, Aphrodite cursed Medusa into becoming a hideous Gorgan while also turning her beautiful hair locks into snakes.
In fact, Athena was jealous of Medusa's beauty and lustrous hair. Poseidon ravaged her and took what she held dearly, her purity. Athena, outraged by this incident, cursed Medusa and turned her wonderful hair into venomous snakes, her beautiful face turned so ugly that any man who gazed upon would turn to stone.
In Greek mythology, Psyche was a mortal woman whose beauty was so great that it rivaled that of the goddess Aphrodite. Aphrodite became so jealous of Psyche that she sent her son, Eros, to make Psyche fall in love with the ugliest man in the world.
Legend states that Medusa was once a beautiful, avowed priestess of Athena who was cursed for breaking her vow of celibacy.
He would use his magic arrows to shoot people's hearts and cause them to fall in love, often under the instruction of Aphrodite. When the news spread of a beautiful mortal woman named Psyche who could compete with Aphrodite's own beauty, the goddess became supremely envious.
Hera was an Olympian goddess in the Greek pantheon, known as the queen of the gods. She was the goddess of marriage, family, childbirth, and women. Hera was the wife, and sister, of Zeus, and many of her most famous myths center around her jealous retributions to Zeus's infidelity.
Hera was goddess of marriage and childbirth. Since Hera's husband was Zeus, king not only of gods, but of philanderers, Hera spent a lot of time in Greek mythology angry with Zeus. So Hera is described as jealous and quarrelsome.
The myth of Medusa carries with it a plethora of issues. Yes, she was a monster, but she was also a victim. Garbati's work is a reminder that monsters are not always villains, and that the characterisation of good or evil is often complex.
She was lovely, according to the poem—until she was raped in Athena's temple by Poseidon. Athena then punished her for this violation, by turning her into the monstrous, stony-glanced creature that we know.
According to Apollodorus' version of the myth, Athena was angry with Medusa because she had claimed to be more beautiful than the goddess. In both cases, however, the result was the same. In the end, Athena turned Medusa into a figure of horror, a Gorgon with venomous snakes instead of hair.
Aphrodite was compelled by Zeus to marry Hephaestus, the god of fire. However, they were an imperfect match, and Aphrodite consequently spent time cheating with the god of war, Ares, as well as a slew of mortal lovers, such as the Trojan nobleman Anchises and the youth Adonis.
Aphrodite held Adonis in her arms as he bled to death. As she cried over her beloved, her tears fell into the pools of blood around them, and they were transformed through her love: from those tears mingled with the blood there bloomed the most beautiful anemone flowers.
Zeus begrudgingly agreed, and so Aphrodite was married off to Hephaestus. Unsurprisingly, Aphrodite was not happy about this trickery, as she had been dating Ares, God of War. This led to a very unhappy marriage with many affairs. Eventually, Hephaestus divorced Aphrodite.
Medusa was very proud of her beauty and thought or spoke only of herself. Each day she boasted of how pretty she was. Medusa even boasted that she was prettier than Athena, goddess of wisdom, who watched over Athens.
Poseidon was enamored by Medusa's beauty, and Medusa returned the same feelings. Medusa and Poseidon engaged in a love affair and would have two children together, but not before Athena discovered the illicit affair.
Medusa's magnificence was so great that the gods themselves not only took notice of her, but also could not control their impulses to be with her. One of the gods, the ruler of the sea, Poseidon, became obsessed with Medusa. He sought her out while she was in Athena's temple.
Her beauty caught the eye of the sea god Poseidon, who proceeded to rape her in the sacred temple of Athena. Furious at the desecration of her temple, Athena transformed Medusa into a monster with the deadly capacity to turn whoever looked upon her face to stone.
Athena and Poseidon entered into a contest to be the patron of Athens. Poseidon produces a spring of water but it was salty. Athena bested Poseidon by producing an olive tree on the Acropolis. Poseidon also raped Medusa—a mortal who had the reputation of being beautiful—in Athena's temple, desecrating it.
Aphrodite's Curse
Myrrha was said to have grown into a beautiful woman who had many suitors, but Myrrha would be cursed by the goddess Aphrodite.
The most common interpretation of Medusa suggests she is an apotropaic symbol used to protect from and ward off the negative, much like the modern evil eye. She represents a dangerous threat meant to deter other dangerous threats, an image of evil to repel evil.
Medusa prayed to Athena for guidance and forgiveness. After all, in those days, the gods claimed their mates as their partner forever, and Medusa was now Poseidon's wife. Athena looked down in anger and cursed Medusa for betraying her. Medusa was sent to a faraway island and was cursed so that no man would want her.
In general, however, Medusa tattoos are a symbol of survival, often from sexual abuse, sexual assault or rape. For some, the significance of Medusa is simply meant to ward off evil and negativity in general.
She has an on-again off-again crush on Ares, the godboy of war. Her dorm is decorated with lots of hearts. Her best friends are Athena, Artemis, and Persphone.
However, Psyche was said to be so beautiful that people began to worship her as the goddess of love and beauty instead of Aphrodite.
Astraea, Astrea, Astria or Austräa (Ancient Greek: Ἀστραία, romanized: Astraía; "star-maiden" or "starry night"), in ancient Greek religion, is a daughter of Astraeus and Eos. She is the virgin goddess of justice, innocence, purity and precision.