38 Medusa Quotes: Stare into the Gaze of This Greek Gordon

Medusa is a famous and iconic figure in Greek mythology, with fictional portrayals of her onscreen and continuous studies of her myth living on. Read the following 38 quotes about the woman/monster below.

Many of us are familiar with the generally accepted mythological tale of how Medusa was turned into a Gorgon. A Gorgon is a reptilian-like creature with live snakes for hair. Beyond this, anyone who looks into their eyes turns into stone.

It is said that Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, found out that the iconically beautiful Medusa was involved in a love affair with Poisedon, who charmed Medusa in the temple of the Goddess herself. Enraged, Athena transformed Medusa into a Gorgon. Read more about this mythological creature from many differing perspectives by going through the 38 quotes below.

Mason Cooley’s quote: “When Medusa looks in the mirror, she sees the Lady of Sorrows." | Image: AmoDays

Quotes on Medusa's Iconic Gaze

"Turn around, and keep your eyes closed shut, For if the Gorgon, Medusa, does appear, and you see her, You would never be able to return upward." — Dante Alighieri

"The look she gave him in reply would have petrified Medusa." — Karsten Knight

"Come with me, the river said; close your eyes and quiet your limbs and float with me into the wonder and mystery of the canyons, see the unknown and the little known, look upon the stone gods face to face, see Medusa, drink my waters, hear my song, feel my power, come along and drift with me toward the distant, ultimate, and legendary sea." — Edward Abbey

"When Medusa looks in the mirror, she sees the Lady of Sorrows." — Mason Cooley

"You may gaze at her reflection in still waters of the lake, but don't look at her directly, or death will be your fate." — Angel Witch

Angel Witch’s quote: "You may gaze at her reflection in still waters of the lake, but don’t look at her directly or death will be your fate.” | Image: AmoDays

"The Gorgon Medusa presents herself to us here and now, requiring us to be fully present, to listen deeply—past the noise of accumulated judgments—to the Ancient Wisdom that is our true inheritance. As the Great Awakener, She reminds us of our mortality and encourages us to reclaim whatever has been silenced or diminished within us while we are privileged to be alive. We are admonished to have the courage to act and speak what is true, to trust ourselves to hold her gaze and know we will not be turned to stone."― Joan Marler

"If a woman shows too often the Medusa's head, she must not be astonished if her lover is turned into stone." — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"I thought Medusa had looked at you, and that you were turning to stone. Perhaps now you will ask how much you are worth?" — Charlotte Bronte

"He stared at Medusa, and Medusa stared at him, and in this moment, that made his dreams come true." — S.J. Kincaid

"Fascinated by the glitter of gain, man gazes at the Medusa-like face of greed and stands petrified." — Manly Hall

Karsten Knight’s quote: “The look she gave him in reply would have petrified Medusa.” | Image: AmoDays

Quotes on Medusa's Reptile Tresses

"My dirty-blonde hair doesn't slither and hiss, but the men around me are as cold and hard as stone." — Skye Warren

"Every part of her was still except her hair, which blew round her face in the damp night like Medusa's serpentine locks rearing to strike." — Katherine Pine

"Think about Medusa, with the snakes. If you shoot a movie in Europe, the financiers are three snakes, and they all have opinions. In Hollywood, there are, like, 20 snakes." –— Daniel Espinosa

"The hair upon the Medusa's head is frequently represented in works of art in the form of snakes." — Sigmund Freud

"You cursed my soul; my mind is dead. Eyes like a weapon, snakes on my head. A priestess I was, the pride of Athena. Now I'm banned to live the life of a beast." — Grave Digger

Funny Medusa Quotes

Evan Kuhlman’s quote: “Pegasus’s dad was Poseidon, the god of the sea, and his mom was Medusa and evil Gorgon who had fangs and lizard skin and living snakes for hair. And you thought your family was weird.” | Image: AmoDays

"I've been prepping for my role as Medusa." — Joaquin Phoenix

"'Hey, Dad, can I borrow the severed head of Medusa tonight? I'm going out with my friends.'... 'Okay, honey, just bring it back by midnight, and don't petrify anyone.'" — Rick Riordan

"'How many times do you see your orphanage roommate be able to turn someone into stone?' 'Every time I look in the mirror.'" — Ana Franco.

"I had to break up with Medusa. I just got sick of buying mice for her hair. I should have ended it sooner, but you try looking into those eyes." ― Alex Bosworth

"Pegasus's dad was Poseidon, the god of the sea, and his mom was Medusa and evil Gorgon who had fangs and lizard skin and living snakes for hair. And you thought your family was weird." — Evan Kuhlman

Medusa Quotes on Beauty

Helene Cixous’ quote: "You only have to look at the Medusa straight on to see her. And she's not deadly. She's beautiful, and she's laughing." | Image: AmoDays

"Athena's jealousy made a monster of fair Medusa. I often wonder what beauty my own demons have destroyed." ― Nichole McElhaney

"They say that Medusa turned men to stone because she was so ugly,' Marcus said wistfully. 'I think the opposite was true: Medusa was beautiful beyond imagining. Her beauty paralyzed men. It was because they became so still when they saw her that people believed they'd been turned to stone." ― Mike Hockney

"The lightning cracked again, this time like it was right on top of us, feet away from arcing through the house, and her skin was white as stone and her hair waving, and I thought about the Medusa I'd seen in an old movie when I was younger, monstrous and green-scaled, and I thought: That's not it at all. She was beautiful as Mama. That's how she froze those men, with the shock of seeing something so perfect and fierce in the world." ― Jesmyn Ward

"You only have to look at the Medusa straight on to see her. And she's not deadly. She's beautiful, and she's laughing." — Helene Cixous

Medusa and Mythology Quotes

"You're probably wondering: why were Medusa's kids a golden warrior and a winged horse? And how had they been stuck in Medusa's body all those years? Heck, I dunno." — Rick Riordan

Donatella Versace’s quote: “In mythology, the Medusa can petrify people with a look—which is a good thing, I think. But the Medusa is a unique symbol—something strong. It’s about going all the way.” | Image: AmoDays

"The luminous winged stallion of the Greeks (Pegasus) emerged from the life force of womanly wisdom in its darkest, most disturbing aspect." — Linda Kohanov

"You read any Greek myths, puppy? The one about the gorgon Medusa, particularly? I used to wonder what could be so terrible that you couldn't survive even looking at it. Until I got a little older and I figured out the obvious answer.Everything." ― Mike Carey & Peter Gross

"In mythology, the Medusa can petrify people with a look—which is a good thing, I think. But the Medusa is a unique symbol—something strong. It's about going all the way." — Donatella Versace

More Quotes from the Mythological Medusa

"The television, that insidious beast, that Medusa which freezes a billion people to stone every night, staring fixedly, that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little." — Ray Bradbury

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, boy! That was Medusa's curse alone. She was the most hideous one in the family." — Rick Riordan

Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s quote: “Fame is a kind of death because it arrests life around the person in the public eye. If one is recognized everywhere, one begins to feel like Medusa. People stop their normal life and actions and freeze into staring manikins.” | Image: AmoDays

"If the delicate flower liked to play Medusa, maybe Karina could take on the role of Perseus." — Lexi Blake

"To meet God or Medusa face to face, even if it means risking everything human in myself. I dream of a hard and brutal mysticism in which the naked self merges with the nonhuman world and yet somehow survives still intact individual, separate. Paradox and bedrock." — Edward Abbey

"The literary scene is a kind of Medusa's raft, small and sinking, and one's instinct when a newcomer tries to clamber aboard is to step on his fingers." — John Updike

"Fame is a kind of death because it arrests life around the person in the public eye. If one is recognized everywhere, one begins to feel like Medusa. People stop their normal life and actions and freeze into staring manikins." — Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Ray Bradbury’s quote: “The television, that insidious beast, that Medusa which freezes a billion people to stone every night, staring fixedly, that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little.” | Image: AmoDays

"Margaret Thatcher has shown that there is power and dignity to be won by defying the status quo and the majority rather than by adapting to them. If the British left, which she froze into immobility like Medusa, could bring itself to learn from this, then we might not have to look upon her like again." — Christopher Hitchens

"Who knows, perhaps poetry travels this route, also the route of art, for the sake of such a breath turn? Perhaps it will succeed, as the strange, I mean the abyss and the Medusa's head, the abyss and the automatons, seem to lie in one direction." — Paul Celan

"Still, Medusa clenched her fists and promised every god still in existence that she would go down fighting this time." ― Barbara Ann Wright

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s quote: "If a woman shows too often the Medusa's head, she must not be astonished if her lover is turned into stone." | Image: AmoDays

Beyond Medusa, humans continue to have a fascination with Greek Mythology, even including them in our popular culture. Examples include Hercules from the Disney Movie "Hercules," "Andromeda" from "Clash of the Titans," and Poseidon in the "Percy Jackson" movies.

One historical icon we also remain fascinated with is Cleopatra, and although she is not strictly part of mythology, her memory holds a mythological essence. Read these 39 quotes Cleopatra quotes on the art of power and seduction