The Medusa mosaic at Bignor Roman Villa
Bignor Roman Villa was a large Roman courtyard villa which has been excavated and put on public display on the Bignor estate in the English county of West Sussex. It is well-known for its high quality mosaic floors, which are some of the most complete and intricate in the country.
This Medusa's head is still so fresh and clear that it could have been constructed recently. If you did not know better, the coloured tessarae pieces could have been laid a few days before. She stares out at us from a long distant past. The hands that so carefully made her are long gone but the ancient mythology she represents reminds us of tales still handed down to today's generations. Especially in the two versions of the 'Clash of the Titans' films.
In Greek mythology Medusa , was a Gorgon, a chthonic (spirits of the underworld) monster, and a daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. Gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone. She was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who thereafter used her head as a weapon until he gave it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. In classical antiquity the image of the head of Medusa appeared in the evil-averting device known as the Gorgoneion.
In a late version of the Medusa myth, related by the Roman poet Ovid, Medusa was originally a ravishingly 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 Athena transformed Medusa's beautiful hair to serpents and made her face so terrible to behold that the mere sight of it would turn onlookers to stone. In Ovid's telling, Perseus describes Medusa's punishment by Minerva (Athena) as just and well-deserved.
The Medusa mosaic at Bignor Roman Villa
Bignor Roman Villa was a large Roman courtyard villa which has been excavated and put on public display on the Bignor estate in the English county of West Sussex. It is well-known for its high quality mosaic floors, which are some of the most complete and intricate in the country.
This Medusa's head is still so fresh and clear that it could have been constructed recently. If you did not know better, the coloured tessarae pieces could have been laid a few days before. She stares out at us from a long distant past. The hands that so carefully made her are long gone but the ancient mythology she represents reminds us of tales still handed down to today's generations. Especially in the two versions of the 'Clash of the Titans' films.
In Greek mythology Medusa , was a Gorgon, a chthonic (spirits of the underworld) monster, and a daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. Gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone. She was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who thereafter used her head as a weapon until he gave it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. In classical antiquity the image of the head of Medusa appeared in the evil-averting device known as the Gorgoneion.
In a late version of the Medusa myth, related by the Roman poet Ovid, Medusa was originally a ravishingly 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 Athena transformed Medusa's beautiful hair to serpents and made her face so terrible to behold that the mere sight of it would turn onlookers to stone. In Ovid's telling, Perseus describes Medusa's punishment by Minerva (Athena) as just and well-deserved.