- published: 10 Apr 2015
- views: 7569
In Greek mythology Medusa (/məˈdjuːzə, məˈdʒuː-, -sə/, US /məˈduː-/; Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress") was a monster, a Gorgon, generally described as a winged human female with a hideous face and living venomous snakes in place of hair. Gazers on her face would turn to stone. Most sources describe her as the daughter of Phorcys and Ceto, though the author Hyginus (Fabulae Preface) makes Medusa the daughter of Gorgon and Ceto. According to Hesiod and Aeschylus, she lived and died on an island named Sarpedon, somewhere near Cisthene. The 2nd-century BCE novelist Dionysios Skytobrachion puts her somewhere in Libya, where Herodotus had said the Berbers originated her myth, as part of their religion.
Medusa was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who thereafter used her head, which retained its ability to turn onlookers to stone, as a weapon until he gave it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. In classical antiquity the image of the head of Medusa appeared in the evil-averting device known as the Gorgoneion.
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. The word derives from Latin harena, a particularly fine/smooth sand used to absorb blood in ancient arenas such as the Colosseum in Rome. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the lowest point, allowing for maximum visibility. Arenas are usually designed to accommodate a large number of spectators.
The term arena is sometimes used as a synonym for a very large venue such as Pasadena's Rose Bowl, but such a facility is typically called a stadium, especially if it does not have a roof. The use of one term over the other has mostly to do with the type of event. Football (be it association, rugby, or gridiron) is typically played in a stadium while basketball and ice hockey are typically played in an arena, although many of the larger arenas hold more spectators than do the stadiums of smaller colleges or high schools. There are exceptions. The home of the Duke University basketball team would qualify as an arena, but the facility is called Cameron Indoor Stadium. Domed stadiums, which, like arenas, are enclosed but have the larger playing surfaces and seating capacities found in stadiums, are generally not referred to as arenas in North America. There is also the sport of indoor American football (one variant of which is explicitly known as arena football), a variant of the gridiron-based game that is designed for the usual smaller playing surface of most arenas; variants of other traditionally outdoor sports, including box lacrosse and futsal/indoor soccer, also exist.
It's just a matter of course now
Like some ritual or formality,
that's guiding me
Violent flows the venomous dance
Chasing through the system in a frenzy
of enhancement
Addicted to your belladonna kiss
I am running in the shadows
Anonymous, invisible to all the world but you
How can you be so proud of the
things you do
Medusa! Hollow words and promises
Bow down in servitude before this throne
Medusa! You always know my weaknesses
Only with a heart of anger
Could you freeze the lifeblood in my veins
Only with a heart of anger
Could you bleed the strength,
put out the flame
Poisoned by your belladonna kiss
I am trapped in the web
I am drowning in the bitterness
and all that I can pray
Is that I die in your embrace again
Medusa! Hollow words and promises
Bow down in servitude before this throne
Medusa! You always know my weaknesses
I turn to stone
All I need is a bloodstained jewel
Or a poisonous flower
All I yearn for is the siren's cry
Or the torment and endurance
in the final hour
Medusa! Hollow words and promises
Bow down in servitude before this throne
Medusa! You always know my weaknesses
Oh! I'm paralyzed before this vision
Medusa! Hollow words and promises
Bow down in servitude before this throne
Medusa! You always know my weaknesses
I turn to stone
Addicted to your belladonna kiss
I am running in the shadows