Discovered the 2,000-year-old solid hair goddess Medusa

Archaeologists discovered the head of marble Medusa hair goddess at 2,000-year-old ancient ruins in Turkey.

Discovered the first 2000-year-old Medusa goddess

The marble head of Medusa , the famous snake-haired goddess in Greek mythology with the ability to kill only by a look, is found in the ancient city of Antiochia ad Cragnum , Cragnus mountain, Anatolia, Turkey.

Live Science said on October 20, the Medusa head is not part of the complete Medusa statue, but most likely the architectural part of a building's wall, guessed by archaeologists as a small temple. .

Medusa head in marble discovered at 2,000-year-old ruins in Turkey.(Photo by Michael Hoff, University of Nebraska-Lincoln).

Legend of Medusa

The first text mentions Medusa and their cousins ​​Gordon, both snake-haired monsters, Hesiod's Theogony. According to this ancient author, the three Medusa sisters are children of Phorcys and Ceto gods. While the Sthenno and Euryale sisters are immortal, Medusa is the only one who can kill and is also the most famous of the three sisters.

In his work, Hesiod tells the origin of Medusa and the death of this snake-hair goddess at the hands of Perseus, the first hero in Greek mythology, but does not describe the life of Medusa. Further details about Perseus and Medusa can be found in Metamorphoses by the poet Ovid.

Medusa artwork of Caravaggio.(Photo: Wikimedia).

In this work, Ovid describes Medusa as originally a graceful beauty nun. Fascinating the beauty of Medusa, the sea god Poseidon forced her right at the temple of the goddess Athena. Out of anger, Athena turned the Medusa's floating hair into frightening snakes, so anyone who directly looked into Medusa's eyes would immediately petrify.

Though mentioned as a ferocious monster, Medusa's head was still used as an amulet to ward off evil. Therefore, the first image of Medusa often appears in many Greek and Roman artifacts later on such as shields, chest armor, mosaics and statues. Many coins of this period in addition to the image of Perseus raised the head of Medusa in his hand and there was also the image of the head of the evil-haired snake on the right.

Ad Cragum Antiochia ancient city

The marble Medusa head was part of a treasure trove of excavated remains in the ancient city ruins of Antioch Ad Cragum, built by Antiochus IV Ephiphanes, a Seleucid king, around 170 BC.

"There is still a clear vestige of the baths, a market, the high pillar road and the entrance, a great early Christian church, the great tombs, a temple along. with unidentified architectures , " the site of Antioch Ad Cragum Archaeological Research Project, launched in 2004, describes.

Archaeologists work in archaeological area in 2012. (Photo: Antiochia).

"Antioch is mentioned in many ancient documents as an important commercial center of the Roman Empire and under the Byzantine dynasty, this city is considered the cradle of a Christian stake."

Michael Hoff, Nebraska-Lincoln University, USA, art history expert and excavation project director, said it was surprising to find the head of a snake-haired god at the ancient ruins of Antiochia ad Cragum. . The reason is that Medusa is often considered by Christians to be idols out of faith. Any object considered to be pagan will be completely destroyed. However, it is unclear why the first statue of Medusa still exists today, despite this devastation.