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Petrification is associated with the legends of Medusa and the Svartálfar among others. In fairy tales, characters who fail in a quest may be turned to stone until they are rescued by the successful hero, as in the tales such as The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body, The Water of Life and The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird, as well as many troll tales.
Medusa was beheaded by the Greek hero Perseus, who then used her head, which retained its ability to turn onlookers to stone, as a weapon [5] 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.
Such depictions can show Gilgamesh with head turned away looking behind him for a goddess to pass him a weapon. [100] In particular, a bronze shield strap from Olympia (mid-sixth century BC), which shows Perseus with his head turned away about to decapitate Medusa, assisted by Athena, [ 101 ] bears a striking resemblance to a seal impression ...
Mercury was outraged at her presumption and turned her to stone. [7] It is in reference to this myth that Dante places her on the second terrace of Purgatory, alongside Cain, to serve as God's reins against jealousy.
According to Apollodorus' version of their story, all three Gorgons had the ability to turn to stone anyone who looked upon them. And when Perseus managed to behead Medusa by looking at her reflection in his bronze shield, Stheno and Euryale chased after him, but were unable to see him because he was wearing Hades' cap , which made him invisible.
Iodame was a priestess at the temple of Athena Itonia built by her father. When she trespassed the precinct one night, Athena appeared in front of her; at the sight of Medusa's head which was worked in the goddess' garment, Iodame turned into a block of stone.
The Gorgons are best known by their hair of living venomous snakes and ability to turn living creatures to stone. Medusa herself is an ancient icon that remains one of the most popular and enduring figures of Greek mythology. She continues to be recreated in pop culture and art, surpassing the popularity of many other mythological characters. [1]
In one version of Proetus's tale, he was turned to stone by Perseus. Propoetides: Flints: Aphrodite The Propoetides sisters dared to claim that Aphrodite was no real goddess, so she proved them wrong by turning them into flints. Pyrrhus: Stone Rhea Pyrrgus was a mortal man who tried to force the goddess Rhea, so she turned him into stone ...