Greece: Medusa in Greek Art

The Topic:

Medusa, one of the Gorgon sisters who had snakes for hair, came into Greek art in the Orientalizing period. She was imported with a variety of other monsters from the Ancient Near East when influence from Mesopotamia and Egypt came into Greece. Scholars have debated her precise origins, how much of her story and style of representation was Greek and how much Ancient Near Eastern, what parallels she has, and why she looks the way she does in various representations. Medusa appears in many manifestations and in many different media, and is quite an enigmatic and interesting figure to examine.

Key to the American Journal of Archaeology’s bibliographic format:

Journal Articles: Author. Date. “Title.” Journal title Vol.: Pages. [or] Vol. (no. ): Pages

Books: Author. Date. Title. City: Publisher.

Chapters in books: Author. Date. “Chapter title.” In Book title, edited by Authors, pages. City: Publisher.

Key to AJA Abbreviations used in this bibliography:

AJA – American Journal of Archaeology

JHS – Journal of Hellenic Studies

Rev. Arch. – Revue Archeologique

Local availability is indicated at the end of each bibliographic listing.

Barnes, H.E. 1974. The Meddling Gods: four essays on classical themes. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. (You will need to pick a section.)

Belson, J.D. 1982. The Gorgoneion in Greek Architecture. Ann Arbor, Diss. Bryn Mawr. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Bibb, D. 1973. The Origin and Function of the Gorgon and its Significance on the Corfu Pediment. Charlottesville, Diss. University of Virginia. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Blinkenberg, C. 1924. "Gorgonne et lionne." Rev. Arch., Ser. 5, no. 19, 267-279.

Dawkins, R.M. 1929. The Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia at Sparta. London: Macmillan. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Deacy, S. and A. Villing. 2009. "What was the colour of Athena's Aegis?" JHS 129: 111-129. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Dunn, L. 1994. Embodied Voices: Representing Female Vocality in Western Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Ask me for a copy, somewhat difficult source.)

Feldmann, T. 1965. “Gorgo and the Origins of Fear.” Arion 4: 484-94. (Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20162978) (Suitable for Review of Scholarship)

Frothingham, A. L. 1911. "Medusa, Apollo, and the Great Mother." AJA 15 (3): 349-377. (Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/497414) (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Gandelman, C. 1991. Reading Pictures, Viewing Texts. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. (A section addresses Medusa)

Garber, M.; Vickers, N.J. ed. 2003. The Medusa Reader. New York: Routledge. (Choose a chapter)

Goldman, B. 1961-3. “The Asiatic Ancestry of the Greek Gorgon.” Berytus 14: 1-23. (Suitable for Review of Scholarship. Ask me for a copy)

Gombrich, E.H. 1970. "The mask and the face: the perception of physiognomic likeness in life and art." In Gombrich, E.H.; Hochberg, J.; Black, M, Eds. Art, Perception, and Reality, 1-46. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Hartswick, K.J. 1993. “The Gorgoneion on the Aegis of Athena.” Rev. Arch.: 269-92. (Suitable for Review of Scholarship. Ask me for a copy)

Holloway, R.R. 1971. “The Reworking of the Gorgon Metope of Temple C at Selinus.” AJA 75: 435-6 (Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/502978) (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Hopkins, C. 1961-3. “The Sunny Side of the Greek Gorgon.” Berytus 14: 25-35. (Suitable for RoS. Ask me for a copy)

Howe, T.P. 1952. An Interpretation of the Perseus-Gorgon Myth in Greek Literature and Monuments Through the Classical Period. New York: Thesis, Columbia University. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Howe, T.P. 1954. “The Origin and Function of the Gorgon-Head.” AJA 58: 209-221. (Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/500901) (Suitable for RoS)

Hulst, C. 1925. Homer and the Prophets. Chicago and London: Open Court Publishing Co. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Jesi, F. 1959. “The Gorgon.” EastWest 10: 88-93. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Korshak, Y. 1987. Frontal Faces in Attic Vase Painting of the Archaic Period. Chicago: Ares Publishers, Inc. (Choose a chapter. Portions will address Medusa)

Marx, P.A. 1993. “The Introduction of the Gorgoneion to the Shield and Aegis of Athena.” Rev. Arch.: 227-68. (Suitable for RoS, Ask me for a copy)

Napier, D. 1992. Foreign Bodies: performance, art, and symbolic anthropology. California: University of California Press. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

---. 1986. Masks, Transformation, and Paradox. California: Univ. of Calif. Press. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Phinney Jr.,E. 1971. “Perseus’ Battle with the Gorgons.” Transactions of the American Philological Association 102: 445-63. (Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2935950) (Suitable for RoS)

Riccioni, G. 1960. “Origine e Sviluppo del Gorgoneion e del Mito della Gorgone-Medusa nell’Arte greca.” Rivista dell’Instituto Nazionale d’Archeologia e storia dell’Arte 9: 127-206. (Suitable for RoS)

Scheffer, C. 1986. “Some Further Comments on the Gorgoneion Skyphoi.” Opuscula Atheniensia 16: (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Schefold, K. 1966. Myth and Legend in Early Greek Art. New York : H. N. Abrams (Choose a chapter. Portions address Medusa)

Wilk, S. 2000. Medusa: Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Choose a section with approval)

Woodword, J.M. 1937. Perseus: A Study in Greek Art and Legend. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Portions address Medusa)

For Further Reading (All Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship):

Filomia, C. 1992-4. “La Tipologia del Gorgoneion nelle Coppe Attiche a Figure Nere.” Miscellanea di studi storici 9: 21-57

Graf, F. 1997. Magic in the Ancient World. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Guliano, A. 1960. “L’Origine di un Tipo di Gorgone” Annuario della Scuola Archaeologica di Atene e delle Missioni Italiane in Oriente 38: 231-7.

Mazzei, M. 1995. Arpi: l’Ipogeo della Medusa e la Necropoli. CITY: Edipulia.