DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.656#0052
the object of his horror, while with his right arm,.guided by the
goddess, he thrusts his sword into the throat of the Gorgon.
• Pegasus, a winged foal, springs from her blood, and Medusa
presses him to her side with apparent solicitude.
The Gorgon herself is a monstrous figure, above the human
size; her large round head and hideous face' rise from her
shoulders, without any appearance of neck. All her features
are frightfully distorted ; her projecting ears are placed close to
her eyes, which are large and staring, and, in order to render
them still more frightful, are painted red ; her nose is flat and
spreading, and her mouth, extending nearly the whole width of
the face, is armed on each side with two immense tusks, with
the tongue protruding itself between them. Her hair over the
forehead is curiously shewn, and almost appears to have been
intended to represent the serpents which her beautiful locks are
said to have been changed into, while at the same time it falls
down in abundance over the shoulders, without any indication
1 The most ancient representations of Medusa ;ill present lis with this monstrous head;
it is seen upon many of tile ;ineient cuius and medals, partii uhrly those of Parium, Abydos,
Pnpulonia, Camariua, and Syracuse (see Coomlx's Description of tin- Hunterian Collection,
Miculi Italia avanti il domiuio del Koniani. and Sicilia/ Yelcres Nnmini). It is most fre-
quently represented upon the .d'lgis of Minerva, and upon many ancient patera:, gems and
tcrra-eottas. Dr. Clarke, in his account of a marble ex voto representing the head of
Medusa, which he found at Delphi, thus ingeniously remarks : - The Oorgouian head has
been supposed by some to denote lubricity, but its real signification is death, and it is one
of the most remarkable circumstances concerning this image that, long after its original
signification as a ' memento mori' was lost, it should have found its nay from the oldest
temples of the pagan world into Christian churches, where it yet appears, either in their
painted windows or carved roofs, as it also does upon heraldic ornaments."
In Argos the head of Medusa was buried, and in the same place was a tomb of Perseus
Gorgoplioue. Pans, in Covin thiacis, c. xxi.
goddess, he thrusts his sword into the throat of the Gorgon.
• Pegasus, a winged foal, springs from her blood, and Medusa
presses him to her side with apparent solicitude.
The Gorgon herself is a monstrous figure, above the human
size; her large round head and hideous face' rise from her
shoulders, without any appearance of neck. All her features
are frightfully distorted ; her projecting ears are placed close to
her eyes, which are large and staring, and, in order to render
them still more frightful, are painted red ; her nose is flat and
spreading, and her mouth, extending nearly the whole width of
the face, is armed on each side with two immense tusks, with
the tongue protruding itself between them. Her hair over the
forehead is curiously shewn, and almost appears to have been
intended to represent the serpents which her beautiful locks are
said to have been changed into, while at the same time it falls
down in abundance over the shoulders, without any indication
1 The most ancient representations of Medusa ;ill present lis with this monstrous head;
it is seen upon many of tile ;ineient cuius and medals, partii uhrly those of Parium, Abydos,
Pnpulonia, Camariua, and Syracuse (see Coomlx's Description of tin- Hunterian Collection,
Miculi Italia avanti il domiuio del Koniani. and Sicilia/ Yelcres Nnmini). It is most fre-
quently represented upon the .d'lgis of Minerva, and upon many ancient patera:, gems and
tcrra-eottas. Dr. Clarke, in his account of a marble ex voto representing the head of
Medusa, which he found at Delphi, thus ingeniously remarks : - The Oorgouian head has
been supposed by some to denote lubricity, but its real signification is death, and it is one
of the most remarkable circumstances concerning this image that, long after its original
signification as a ' memento mori' was lost, it should have found its nay from the oldest
temples of the pagan world into Christian churches, where it yet appears, either in their
painted windows or carved roofs, as it also does upon heraldic ornaments."
In Argos the head of Medusa was buried, and in the same place was a tomb of Perseus
Gorgoplioue. Pans, in Covin thiacis, c. xxi.