Medusa

Description

Medusa, one of the most important symbols of Didim; She is one of the three Gorgona, the female monster of the underworld in Greek mythology. Of these three sisters, only the snake-haired Medusa is mortal and has the power to turn those who look at her into stone. For this reason,  Medusa reliefs and pictures were used to protect large structures and private places from evil in the ancient period.

There are several different stories in mythology about the life of Medusa. We will publish all of these rumors in this section. The common point in all Medusa rumors is that Medusa was beheaded by Perseus and that the winged horse Pegasos and Khrysaor were born from Medusa's blood. This topic is covered in the picture above.

Medusa figures were also desired to be used in the Temple of Apollo, however, since the construction of the temple was never finished, many Medusa figures were left unfinished and reached today in this way. However, one of the most beautifully engraved and preserved Medusa figures is on the right side of the entrance in the garden of the Temple of Apollo in Didim. We publish the Medusa photos in Didim here, especially in small sizes, the opportunity is under your feet, we want you to travel and see this beauty with your eyes. In addition, many Medusa figures left unfinished in the temple for various reasons will be important for you to see the methods and techniques used in the making of the reliefs.

In our country, which is a paradise in terms of historical riches, two of the impressive Medusa figures are located in Istanbul Basilica Cistern. Under the two columns in the northwest corner of the cistern, there are two Roman Medusa heads used as pedestals. IV. Although it is not known from which works these heads belonging to the 19th century were taken, it is accepted by the researchers that they were removed from an ancient structure belonging to the Young Roman Age and brought here and used only as a column base in the construction of the cistern. It is believed that it will be protected from evil in this way. Two Medusa heads in the Basilica Cistern were placed on the column bases, one upside down and the other sideways. Here, we would like to draw your attention once again that the Byzantines were the people who used the ancient historical buildings the most and caused the most damage.