25 Medusa Quotes about the Guardian from Greek Mythology

Powerful and dangerous or beautiful and betrayed—decide for yourself with the help of these Medusa quotes.

In Greek mythology, Medusa is known as being one of the gorgons. She was a protector and unlike her family, she was known for being beautiful and a mortal.

However, the story goes that after a love affair with Poisedon, Athena turned Medusa into a mythical creature who had snakes instead of hair. If anyone looked into her eyes, they were turned into stone.

The mythology shares that she was eventually beheaded but her eyes still held the power to turn people into stone and were used as a weapon.

Medusa quotes about the unique guardian from Greek mythology

1. “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

2. “Beauty is that Medusa’s head which men go armed to seek and sever, and dead will starve and sting forever.” – Archibald MacLeish

3. “A beautiful mortal, Medusa was the exception in the family, until she incurred the wrath of Athena, either due to her boastfulness or because of an ill-fated love affair with Poseidon. Transformed into a vicious monster with snakes for hair, she was killed by Perseus, who afterward used her still potent head as a weapon, before gifting it to Athena.” – greekmythology.com

4. “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

5. “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

6. “Medusa – whose name probably comes from the Ancient Greek word for ‘guardian’” – greekmythology.com

7. “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

8. “Medusa was fascinating to work with because I gave her a snake’s body so that she could pull herself with her hands which gave her a very creepy aura. I didn’t want to animate cosmic gowns. Most Medusas you see in the classics have flowing robes which would be mad to even try to animate.” – Ray Harryhausen

9. “She was usually represented as a winged female creature having a head of hair consisting of snakes; unlike the Gorgons, she was sometimes represented as very beautiful.” – Britannica

10. “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

Insightful Medusa quotes

11. “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

12. “The look she gave him in reply would have petrified Medusa.” – Karsten Knight

13. “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

14. “Writer’s block results from too much head. Cut off your head. Pegasus, poetry, was born of Medusa when her head was cut off. You have to be reckless when writing. Be as crazy as your conscience allows.” – Joseph Campbell

15. “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

16. “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

17. “You’re going native! Now, put down that ridiculous tray and help me kill this demigod. Or have you forgotten that he’s the one who vaporized Medusa?” – Rick Riordan

More Medusa quotes

18. “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

19. “Tom just stood there, sword in hand, a huge grin on his lips. He stared at Medusa and Medusa stared at him, and in this moment that made his dreams come true, Tom could only think of one thing to say.” – S.J. Kincaid

20. “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

21. “We must kill the false woman who is preventing the live one from breathing.” – Helene Cixous

22. “Fascinated by the glitter of gain, man gazes at the Medusa-like face of greed and stands petrified.” – Manly P. Hall

23. “I’ve been prepping for my role as Medusa.” – Joaquin Phoenix

24. “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. I’m just telling you how it was. You want stuff to make sense, you’re in the wrong universe” – Rick Riordan

25. “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

Medusa quotes from a variety of sources

26. “I don’t even remember killing Medusa. I don’t remember anything.” — Rick Riordan

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

28. “Turn bad thoughts into concrete so you can build a strong foundation.” — Antonia Perdu

29. “The terror of the Medusa is thus a terror of castration that is linked to the sight of something.” — Sigmund Freud

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

31. “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

32. “I saw the rocks where long ago, Above the sea that cries and breaks, Swift Perseus with Medusa’s snakes, Set free the maiden white like snow.” — Sara Teasdale

33. “Freud was a hero. He descended to the Underworld and met there stark terrors. He carried with him his theory as a Medusa’s head which turned these terrors to stone.” — R. D. Laing

34. “The hair upon the Medusa’s head is frequently represented in works of art in the form of snakes, and these once again are derived from the castration complex.” — Sigmund Freud

35. “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

What did you learn from these Medusa quotes?

Medusa is a popular character from Greek mythology. She has often been portrayed in movies and television.

There’s just something about a woman with snakes for her hair that seems to draw people in and want to see what’s going to happen. Plus, the power to turn people into stone with simple eye contact is enticing.

However, as myths and legends go, they tend to change over time. There are some versions of the story that claim Medusa was a hideous beast from the beginning just like her sisters.

One story even shares that when some of her blood was spilled onto the ground it turned into venomous snakes and killed someone. But whether the story says she started as a beast or was turned into one, her image is one that people find intriguing.

What’s your biggest takeaway from these Medusa quotes and sayings? Let us know in the comment section below.