If you enjoy mythology, you won’t want to miss out on these Medusa quotes to help you expand your imagination and learn more about the world of the gods and goddesses.
Medusa is one of Greek mythology’s most famous evil monsters. She is generally described as a winged human female with venomous snakes in her hair.
We’ve collected some of the most exciting and informative quotes that will help you learn about her tales, powers, and more. If you want to know more, add this to your reading list now!
Start reading here.
Best Medusa Quotes
1. “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
2. “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
3. “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
4. “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.” – Hélène Cixous
5. “Beauty is that Medusa’s head which men go armed to seek and sever, and dead will starve and sting forever.” – Archibald MacLeish
6. “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
7. “When Medusa looks in the mirror, she sees the Lady of Sorrows.” – Mason Cooley
8. “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
9. “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
10. “My dirty-blonde hair doesn’t slither and hiss, but the men around me are as cold and hard as stone.” – Skye Warren
11. “Athena’s jealousy made a monster of fair Medusa. I often wonder what beauty my own demons have destroyed.” – Nichole McElhaney
12. “You cursed my soul, my mind is dead. Eyes like a weapon, snakes on my head.” – Grave Digger
13. “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.” – Ray Harryhausen
14. “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.” – greekmythology.com
15. “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
Interesting Medusa Quotes to Show How She’s Described and Portrayed in Greek Mythology
16. “Fascinated by the glitter of gain, man gazes at the Medusa-like face of greed and stands petrified.” – Manly Hall
17. “A priestess I was, the pride of Athena. Now, I’m banned to live the life of a beast.” – Grave Digger
18. “You’re glad your dad is alive. You feel good that he’s claimed you, and part of you wants to make him proud. That’s why you mailed Medusa’s head to Olympus.” – Rick Riordan
19. “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
20. “If the delicate flower liked to play Medusa, maybe Karina could take on the role of Perseus.” – Lexi Blake
21. “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
22. “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
23. “Aunty Em’s Garden Gnome Emporium—the lair of Medusa. She’d talked with that same accent, at least until Percy had cut off her head.” – Rick Riordan
24. “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
25. “Most people know who Pegasus is, for instance, but few realize that he was born from the blood of snake-headed Medusa immediately after she was slain by Perseus.” – Linda Kohanov
26. “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
27. “I don’t even remember killing Medusa. I don’t remember anything.” – Rick Riordan
28. “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 and Peter Gross
29. “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
30. “The luminous winged stallion of the Greeks, Pegasus, emerged from the life force of womanly wisdom in its darkest, most disturbing aspect.” – Linda Kohanov
Medusa Quotes From Well-Known Literary Pieces and Personalities
31. “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
32. “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
33. “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
34. “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 individuals, separate. Paradox and bedrock.” – Edward Abbey
35. “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
36. “The terror of the Medusa is thus a terror of castration that is linked to the sight of something.” – Sigmund Freud
37. “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
38. “We must kill the false woman who is preventing the live one from breathing.” – Hélène Cixous
39. “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
40. “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
41. “The sinister, the terrible never deceive: the state in which they leave us is always one of enlightenment.” – Thomas Ligotti
42. “The Medusa of Turritopsis nutricula is biologically immortal and this little creature is a big inspiration for us! He who thinks positively reaches his target!” – Mehmet Murat İldan
43. “Through the empty archway a wind of the spirit enters, blowing insistently over the heads of the dead, in search of new landscapes and unknown accents: a wind with the odour of a child’s saliva, crushed grass, and Medusa’s veil, announcing the endless baptism of freshly created things.” – Federico Garcia Lorca
44. “Anything else in the way of ‘mysticism’ was a sign of deviation or distraction, and a heresy to the obvious.” – Thomas Ligotti
45. “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. We can never catch people or life unawares. It is always looking at us.” – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Funny Medusa Quotes to Make You Laugh
46. “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
47. “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
48. “I’ve been prepping for my role as Medusa.” – Joaquin Phoenix
More Medusa Quotes
49. “Most Medusas you see in the classics have flowing robes which would be mad to even try to animate.” – Ray Harryhausen
50. “Turn bad thoughts into concrete so you can build a strong foundation.” – Antonia Perdu
51. “‘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
52. “Medusa, whose name probably comes from the Ancient Greek word for ‘guardian.’” – greekmythology.com
53. “The look she gave him in reply would have petrified Medusa.” – Karsten Knight
54. “Applied Science is a conjuror, whose bottomless hat yields impartially the softest of Angora rabbits and the most petrifying of Medusas.” – Aldous Huxley
55. “Algol is the name of the winking demon star, Medusa of the skies; fair but deadly to look on, even for one who is already dying.” – Elizabeth Redfern
56. “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
57. “The world, as it is organized, is a conspiracy against truth. Individuals, communities, nations, they are all afraid of the truth as if it were a Medusa head which froze men to stone, even as it froze them to virtue.” – Francis Beauchesne Thornton
58. “My eyes felt like they’d been splashed with acid. I looked for Thalia and instead found myself staring at the bronze face of Medusa.” – Rick Riordan
59. “A little voice in the back of my head said, Don’t trust him! You’re not special! You’re weird and awkward and a bigheaded Neanderthal freak with Medusa hair! He’s confused you with someone else! Almost immediately, I told that voice to eat shit and die.” – Penny Reid
60. “You have more baggage than United Airlines. Cross that out. You have more issues than Medusa, and that woman makes the inside of a cat lady’s thoughts seem like a calming place.” – Jennifer L. Armentrout
What Do You Think of Medusa’s Characteristics?
Medusa is known as one of the Gorgons in Greek mythology. She was a protector, and unlike her family, she was known for her beauty and mortality.
Because she violated her oath of celibacy, Athena turned her into this monster. As part of her curse, anyone who looks into her eyes instantly turns to stone.
Medusa was the only mortal Gorgon, allowing Perseus to kill her by chopping off her head. Athena was then given the severed head, which she placed in her shield.
Because of the many unfortunate events in her life, she’s considered a symbol of both strength and sorrow. More than this, she’s also looked to as a symbol of female empowerment and freedom by some. Regardless of whether she was born a beast or was transformed into one, her image is one that people find enticing.
Which Medusa quotes are your favorites? Please, leave a comment below.