Medusa
Queen of the Gorgons
Medusa was a Gorgon queen who fought among the armies of Ares during the siege of Athens. Slain by Kratos at the command of Aphrodite, her severed head granted him the petrifying power of Medusa's Gaze.
Medusa was a Gorgon who bore the title Queen of the Gorgons, a serpentine creature whose gaze could turn flesh to stone. She fought among the armies of Ares during the siege of Athens and was slain there by Kratos, who tore the head from her body and wielded its power against his enemies.
The siege of Athens#
During the siege of Athens, Medusa held the title of Queen of the Gorgons, and she and her race marched among the armies of Ares, for the Gorgons were known to hate Athena. As Kratos pressed through the ruins of the city he met Aphrodite, who charged him to slay Medusa by taking off her head. The hissing Gorgon rose from the shadows to face him, and after a struggle Kratos tore her head from her body with his bare hands. Pleased with the deed, Aphrodite granted him the power of Medusa's Gaze, which he turned at once against a group of Minotaurs, turning them to stone.
With Medusa's death, her sisters Euryale and Stheno were left to lead the Gorgons. Euryale would later fall to Kratos as well, while Stheno endured, suggesting that Medusa had in fact been a later queen of her kind rather than the first. Her connection to the hero Perseus, famed in older tales for slaying her, was never made plain; whether she came to Athens having never met him, or was raised again from the dead by Ares to swell his largely undead host, remained unclear.
Powers#
Like the lesser Gorgons, Medusa could turn her foes to stone with her gaze, and though she was reputed to be more than an ordinary Gorgon, her power was much the same as theirs, save that she was somewhat harder to kill and demanded more blows to bring down. She could vanish and reappear in a cloud of blood-red smoke, as she did when she first confronted Kratos, and she was swift, striking with her serpent's tail. The head Kratos took from her retained its petrifying power as a weapon in his hands, the Gaze of Medusa, and long afterward, in the Norse realms, he would recall her among the opponents whose battle strategies he described to the goddess Freya.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Medusa in God of War?
- Medusa was a Gorgon who bore the title Queen of the Gorgons, a serpentine creature whose gaze could turn flesh to stone. She fought among the armies of Ares during the siege of Athens.
- Why did Medusa fight for Ares?
- Medusa and her race marched among the armies of Ares during the siege of Athens, for the Gorgons were known to hate Athena.
- How did Kratos kill Medusa?
- As Kratos pressed through the ruins of Athens, Aphrodite charged him to slay Medusa by taking off her head. The hissing Gorgon rose from the shadows to face him, and after a struggle Kratos tore her head from her body with his bare hands.
- What did Kratos gain from killing Medusa?
- Pleased with the deed, Aphrodite granted Kratos the power of Medusa's Gaze, which he turned at once against a group of Minotaurs, turning them to stone. The severed head retained its petrifying power as a weapon in his hands.
- What happened to the Gorgons after Medusa died?
- With Medusa's death, her sisters Euryale and Stheno were left to lead the Gorgons. Euryale would later fall to Kratos as well, while Stheno endured.
Gallery
Images via God of War Wiki
Sources
- WikiMedusa — God of War Wiki entry
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Related entries
Euryale
Euryale was an immortal Gorgon and the sister of Medusa, who took the throne of the Gorgons after Kratos slew her kin. From her temple on the Island of Creation she sought to sacrifice the Ghost of Sparta to the Sisters of Fate, until he cut off her head and turned it against his enemies.
Gorgon
The Gorgons were a serpentine race of female monsters whose gaze turned the living to stone. Ruled by three matriarchs, Medusa, Euryale, and Stheno, they marched in the army of Ares and were hunted across Greece by Kratos, who claimed their severed heads as weapons.
Aphrodite
Aphrodite was the Olympian Goddess of Love and Beauty, wife of the smith Hephaestus and one of the few deities to favor Kratos. She aided the Ghost of Sparta in Athens and remained in her chamber through the fall of Olympus.
Ares
Ares was the first Olympian God of War, the eldest son of Zeus and Hera and the most hated god on Olympus. Coveting his father's throne, he tricked Kratos into killing his own family to forge the perfect weapon, and so set in motion the fall of the Gods before dying at that same Spartan's hand.
Athena
Athena was the Olympian Goddess of Wisdom, patron of Athens and chief ally of Kratos through his quests against Ares. She sacrificed herself to save Zeus, ascended beyond the Gods, and in the end turned against the very Spartan she had guided when she sought the power of Hope for herself.
Athens
Athens was the great Greek city of the goddess Athena, a hub of culture and worship. When Ares laid siege to it, Kratos was sent to save the city, a quest that ended with his slaying of Ares and his rise as the new God of War.
Mentioned in6 entries
Aphrodite
Aphrodite was the Olympian Goddess of Love and Beauty, wife of the smith Hephaestus and one of the few deities to favor Kratos. She aided the Ghost of Sparta in Athens and remained in her chamber through the fall of Olympus.
Blades of Chaos
The Blades of Chaos were a pair of fire-imbued chained blades forged in the Underworld for Ares and bound to the arms of Kratos. They became the signature weapons of his Greek era and the symbol of the bloodshed that earned him the name Ghost of Sparta, returning years later in the Norse realms.
Euryale
Euryale was an immortal Gorgon and the sister of Medusa, who took the throne of the Gorgons after Kratos slew her kin. From her temple on the Island of Creation she sought to sacrifice the Ghost of Sparta to the Sisters of Fate, until he cut off her head and turned it against his enemies.
Gorgon
The Gorgons were a serpentine race of female monsters whose gaze turned the living to stone. Ruled by three matriarchs, Medusa, Euryale, and Stheno, they marched in the army of Ares and were hunted across Greece by Kratos, who claimed their severed heads as weapons.
Pegasus
Pegasus was a great winged horse of the Greek world, gray of coat with wings wreathed in flame. Sent forth by Gaia, he carried Kratos through the skies on his second war against Olympus until the Dark Rider struck him from the air above the Island of Creation.
Perseus
Perseus was a Greek demigod hero, a son of Zeus and half-brother of Kratos. Driven mad by his imprisonment on the Island of Creation, where he sought the Sisters of Fate to revive his lost love Andromeda, he was slain by Kratos.
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