Greek Gods and the story of Medusa

I realized about a week ago as I sat on the couch watching the history channel, that I love Greek history. (I figured this out while history channel ran a Greek Mythology day.. And if you're interested in this stuff too, I was excited to learn History Channel has a series called Clash of the Gods, it's on Mondays at 10 PM, which is where I heard Medusa's story).
As many are already aware, the Ancient Greeks held respect and fear for more than one god. They believed there were multiple gods for the Heaven, Earth and sea. The gods who were part of each category were thought to live in different places: i.e, the gods who govern the heavens were thought to dwell on Mt. Olympus, in Thessaly. Gods of the earth and sea -(they are typically both thought as of the Earth)- were, as it says on history.com

"thought to dwell on or under the earth, and were closely associated with the heroes and the dead."

The gods were believed to have control over forces of nature and the world, but with restraint. Even the gods had a higher being: Ananke, who was in charge of the gods.
Indeed, the ancient Greeks had an almost ridiculous amount of gods. A few of the more well known ones are listed below:

"At the head of the divine hierarchy was Zeus, the spiritual father of gods and men. His wife was Hera, queen of heaven and guardian of the sanctity of marriage...Athena, the virgin goddess of wisdom and war, preeminent as a civic goddess; Apollo, deity of light, poetry, and music, and his sister Artemis, goddess of wildlife and, later, of the moon; Ares, god of war, and his consort, Aphrodite, goddess of love; Hermes, the divine messenger, later, god of science and invention"

Among the lesser deities (however, still well known), were Poseidon, ruler of the seas; the worship of whom was often accompanied by worship of his wife, Amphitrite. Also, Hades, ruler of the underworld and his wife, Persephone.
Aside from these, there are still many gods who played very specific roles in the Ancient Greek culture, alongside both the higher and lower gods.

The Ancient Greeks were most certainly dependent on the mercy of their gods, who they believed controlled all forces of nature. The relation between the mortals and their gods was cordial, but divine wrath was used when necessary. With relation to that idea, the show I happily stumbled upon the other day was the misconception of Medusa, which I find terribly interesting.

Before Medusa was what we picture in our minds today, she was actually a priestess of Athena, and she was beautiful. The typical cliche that all men want her and all women want to be her. Being the priestess, she was bound by her role to her purity.
But one alone refused to let this be: Poseidon. Inside of Athena's temple, Medusa was raped, which was a sacrilegious act given Medusa's role, and where it happened. Because she was no longer a virgin, she was no longer allowed to be a priestess and was devastated. And, since Athena's temple was desecrated, she was angered. However, the twist of the story is Athena does not punish Poseidon, but Medusa, because as the explanation goes, as a powerful male god, his actions should have been expected. Medusa is cursed by Athena without warning, and thus begins the transformation of what we accept as Medusa today; she is a gorgon, named for an ancient Greek word meaning terrible, it is mythical monster with scaly skin, large staring eyes and can turn people into stone with a single gaze. Tragically, she went from being a beautiful woman to one impossible to look at. Their gods were as merciful as they were complicated, this much is clear.

If you liked my post, you can check out where my information came from: Read more!

Also, you can watch the Clash of the Gods episodes online, here: Watch them!