WRATH OF THE GODS
Glancing into our next painting, we go further back in history, way before the Victorian and turn-of-the-century era. The next portrait in our grim gallery depicts a young maiden named Merina, who hails from ancient Greece. Merina was indeed a most lovely girl, with striking beauty and bright fiery red hair. Here in this painting we see her dressed in a deep red robe, and posing very regally in an ancient temple. This gorgeous maiden was actually a Greek goddess for a brief period of time, before her life would be ridden with fear and sorrow. We present to you the tragic myth of Merina: The Beautiful Gorgon.
MERINA:
THE BEAUTIFUL GORGON
The tale of Merina dates back to ancient Greek mythology. The young maiden was the daughter of Poseidon, god of the sea, and Medusa, a flirtatious Grecian mortal. The girl was conceived in the Temple of Athena, the spiritual house of the goddess of wisdom, where Poseidon and Medusa carried on a brief affair. Enraged at the affair occurring in her temple, Athena appeared and transformed the beautiful Medusa into a serpent-haired creature known as the gorgon. Outcast and feared by her appearance and her ability to turn mortals into stone, Medusa lived in seclusion in a dark cave.
Shortly after, she gave birth to the young lovely Merina. Being a normal mortal child, Poseidon did not want his illegitimate daughter to be raised by Medusa and the other gorgons; so in the middle of the night, Poseidon brought her to a small seacoast village.
Merina was taken in by a middle-aged merchant couple, who raised the young girl as their own. As the years went by, Merina grew up into a beautiful lass, yet had no idea of her bizarre heritage. She would not discover her true past until the day of her 18th birthday, when she wandered into the Temple of Poseidon. There, through an impressive marble statue, the visage of the god appeared to her. He informed the maiden of her past and that she was actually his daughter.
Merina and Poseidon soon grew close to each other. Once a week, she would go to the temple where her father appeared before her, and they would sit and chat together. Poseidon became attached to his estranged daughter and wished that she could go up to Mount Olympus with him - the heavenly land high above the clouds where the gods and goddesses reigned.
Poseidon pleaded with the other gods to allow her to journey up to the divine land. But many of the others were very wary of the idea. Zeus, the god and ruler of Olympus, agreed to his brother Poseidon's request, and Merina was crowned a goddess and ascended up to the holy place.
However, while Merina was a most charming and beloved girl, many of Mount Olympus's other gods and goddesses extremely disliked the idea that a common mortal like her was granted the power of a goddess so easily. In order for a mortal to become a god, they had to show they were worthy through quests and journeys. Yet, Merina was just easily appointed a goddess without having to show why she deserved the royal position. Needless to say, the other gods looked for whatever chance they could to be rid of her.
They finally saw their chance when they discovered that Merina had been secretly visiting Earth, where she was having a liaison with a mortal named Malkas. And with that, the gods and goddesses banished Merina from Olympus forever, sending her back down to Earth. And as punishment for her crime, they transformed her into a hideous gorgon creature like her mother.
Isolated and downtrodden, Merina roamed the Greek countryside, seeking someone to help her undo the curse placed upon her. But at every village she came to, the residents would flee from her in terror, knowing full well that if anyone meets a gorgon's gaze they will be turned into stone. Town after town, the young woman's arrival was met with the same response.
One night, she finally found refuge within the Temple of Poseidon once again. She pleaded and prayed that her father would appear and come to her aide, but nothing happened. The poor creature wept for hours, before deciding to lay down for the night in the temple. Before she headed to sleep however, she glanced at herself in the large fountain in the middle of the open structure. This was the first (and last) time she saw herself after her transformation. Her gaze met the reflection in the pool, and Merina, under her own curse, inadvertently turned herself into stone.
A very sad little mythological tale, indeed. All throughout her life, Merina had felt out of place, and when granted divinity, it would only lead to her unfortunate downfall. No one knows for sure what became of the maiden's stone form; it was believed to have been lost with the Temple of Poseidon in a landside that occurred after an earthquake. There are others out there who dismiss that such an item even exists, classifying it as just a fictional tale. Whether this story is fact or myth, who knows; but Miss Merina's tale will continue to live for ages, as evidenced in this portrait, which is believed to be one of the few pieces of art to depict her likeness.
Next chapter: the story of The Navigator - The Gorlieau Ship