Perseus
Medusa
by John R. Salverda
The main monster in the story of Perseus is Medusa, one of the three Gorgons. It
occurs to me that the most likely origin for the Greek name "Medusa," is that it
derives from the Hebrew word that has come down to us as, "Mitzwah," which
means, "commandments." There were a lot of commandments (a figurative mountain
of laws) but it was the head of Medusa, that symbolized the cut out tablets of
the ten commandments, as opposed to the rest of the commandments, ordinances and
judgments. The head of Medusa, was carried in a magic container which was plated
with a precious metal, and was the Perseid equivalent to the Ark of the
Covenant. "' the head of the monster, the dreaded Gorgo, and the bag floated
about it, a wonder to look at, done in silver, but the shining tassels
fluttered, and they were gold, ..." (Shield of Heracles 220-237) The special
attribute of this magic container was that it could contain anything, no matter
how great, within it's space, without increasing in it's bulk. This was probably
in reference to the unbelievable fact that the ALMIGHTY spoke from the
relatively tiny Ark. Medusa's head was kept in it's magic container because no
one could look upon it and yet live, it was carried into battles, showed to the
enemy, and thus insured the victories for Perseus, in the same way that the Ark
and it's contents was used by Israel (a rare motif indeed). The primary method
of capitol punishment that was prescribed by the Law, was stoning. This, no
doubt, left numerous piles of stones as "monuments" to those who violated the
Law, all along the way of the wandering Zion, just as we imagine the way of
Medusa to be strewn with stone statues of those whom she had put to death. It is
not inconceivable that whenever a violator of the law was discovered there was a
ritualistic reading (looking upon) of the law that was violated which preceded
the stony execution. Thus leading to the myth that it was the "looking upon" of
the object itself that brought about the subsequent death. At any rate, we have
come to a point where I feel that I must remind the reader; that as this series
of intricately interrelated conformities, between the Greek myths and the Hebrew
historic account grows, it leaves less and less room for the, "mere coincidence"
explanation which will be offered by some.
When Moses received the second set of the Ten Commandments, he requested that
God manifest Himself to him. God reminded Moses that no man could look upon His
face and yet live, however God had a plan to protect Moses with His hand while
His face was exposed, removing it only afterwards, so that Moses would only see
Gods' "back," or as some translations have put it, His "afterglow." When Perseus
received the Medusa head he also had an encounter, the face of whom he was
reminded that he could not look upon and yet live. The supreme god in the story
of Perseus was called Zeus, and just as God did in the story of Moses, Zeus
protected Perseus, in this case by lending him his shield. The shield of Zeus
was highly polished, and with it Perseus would not have to look directly upon
the deadly face, but could use it like a mirror, to see only it's, "reflection."
Now that a point has been made concerning a connection between the "hand" of
God, and the "shield" of Zeus, an explanation of the relationship between the
cut off Medusa head, Daniel's cut off Messiah, and the Law, presents itself.
Once Perseus had received the cut off Medusa head, the Greek mythographers have
him showing it to Atlas, which put an end to him. To quote Ovid on the matter,
"'Very well!' he (Perseus) taunted, 'if you (Atlas) rate my thanks so low accept
a gift!' and turned his face away and on his left held out the loathsome head,
Medusa's head. Atlas, so huge, became a mountain; beard and hair were changed to
forests, shoulders were cliffs, hands ridges; where his head had lately been,
the soaring summit rose; his bones were turned to stone." (Ovid, Metamorphoses
4.653). As the reader may recall, Mount Atlas can be shown to be a reasonable
analogy to the Hebrew Mount Sinai, in place because of the sin of Adam, who can
further be identified with Atlas himself.
We all pray for the Kingdom of Heaven to come down to the Earth, but there is
something in the way, it is the sin of Adam, because of which, there needs to be
a "covenant with sin and death" in place, the mountain of the Law. Years before
Christianity, the Greeks also had a mountain in the way of kingdom come, their
"Adam," as Atlas, held up (away, a logical symbolic analogy) the heavens.
When Atlas was cursed to be the impediment to the Kingdom of Heaven, he was told
that he could expect the son of god to come, who would kill the serpent, and
pluck from the tree of the ancient garden. Quoting Ovid again; "Atlas, mindful
of an oracle since by Themis, the Parnassian, told, recalled these words, 'O
Atlas! mark the day a son of Jupiter [Zeus] shall come to spoil; for when thy
trees been stripped of golden fruit, the glory shall be his.' Fearful of this,
Atlas had built solid walls around his orchard, and secured a dragon, huge, that
kept perpetual guard, and thence expelled all strangers from his land." How many
stories contain, the ancient gardener, the highly valued fruit of the tree with
the famous taboo against touching it, an expulsion from the garden, the serpent,
the crime against heaven, and a prediction of an eventual savior' Just these
two. Furthermore, the wife of Atlas was named after the sun setting, "Hesperus"
(Evening, Eve').
Medusa, like the daughter of Zion, wasn't always repulsive, for the Greek myths
make it clear that she was once quite beautiful, but, again like Heavenly Zion's
daughter, her ugliness was inflicted upon her by god. The once beautiful Medusa
brought the condemnation of god upon herself, for the same reason that God's
once faithful city did. For as we are told in the first three chapters of
Isaiah, (a name that incidentally, is much like the Greek name "Hesiod," the
Septuagint has "Esaias,") specifically at Isa. 1:21, 2:6, and 3:16-26, so we are
told in the Greek myth; Medusa had prostituted herself with a foreign god. She
had laid with Poseidon, the Greek version of the Philistine fish god Dagon, (in
Babylon, Dagon was called "Enki," the Sumerian, "Ea," and his regular title was
"Lord of the watery deep," thus, the origin of the well known, but little
understood name, "Poseidon," comes as I have previously said from the Hebrew, "Apsu-Adon.")
in the temple of Athena, (Athena, the reader will recall, is the Ionic
transliteration of the Hebrew name Zion.) Because of Medusa's prostitution, god
had removed her golden tresses, and replaced them with ugliness. To quote Ovid,
"Her beauty was far-famed ' and of all her charms her hair was loveliest; so I
was told by one who claimed to have seen her. She, it's said, was violated in
Athena's shrine by the Rector Pelagi (Lord of the Sea, Poseidon). Jove's
daughter (Athena) turned away and covered with her shield her virgin's eyes. And
then for fitting punishment transformed the Gorgon's lovely hair to loathsome
snakes." (Metamorphoses 4.770) Compare this with Lamentations chapters 1 and 2.
Another of her penalties was that she be doomed to wander in the wilderness,
where Perseus would have to go to find her. Thus another entire series of Medusa's
attributes has a precedent in the story of Earthly Jerusalem. A further
chronological clue can be gathered from this motif, for if we are correct in
applying the symbolism employed herein to the Jerusalem that was castigated by
the prophets, then we must conclude that the story of the "ugly Gorgon" could
not have been imagined much before the days of the prophet Ahijah, when the
northern ten tribes revolted against the post-Solomonic Jerusalem.
It has been suggested that the two episodes of the Perseus myth, one having the
Graeae and the other having the Gorgons, were originally two separate versions
of the same story (a "doublet"). This seems to be a reasonable conclusion, for
the "eye" received from the Graeae could easily have been the equivalent of the
"head" received from the Gorgons. The ancient mythographers, knowing both tales,
may have simply crafted the two versions into the two episodes of the same
story. Ovid combines the two episodes into one by making the Graeae to be twins,
and thus only two, his quote runs as follows; "And Agenorides (Perseus) told him
of the place that lies, a stronghold safe below the mountain mass of icy Atlas;
how at its approach twin sisters, the Phorcides (Graeae), lived who shared a
single eye, and how that eye by stealth and cunning, as it passed from twin to
twin, his sly hand caught," ... (Metamorphoses 4.770). On the other hand, the
scriptural story of Moses and the Law giving, where he gets the Law on one
visit, breaks it and has to make a second visit to receive the Law again, is
never questioned as a "doublet." Regardless, that part of the myth that has
Perseus destroying a sea serpent at Joppa is almost certainly a later addition
that was contributed subsequently by some separate source.
For more articles by John R. Salverda on the Hebraic
Connections of Greek Mythology, see:
"Helleno-Yishurin. The Hebrew Origin of Greek Legends"
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