Perseus contemplated exactly what just happened. Almost none of the legends about Medusa turned out to be true. She did have snakes for hair...THAT much was factual, but she wasn’t ugly in the slightly. On the contrary, she was quite beautiful -- well, if you could ignore the snakes. Nor did her appearance turn anyone to stone, though she was still cursed.
She even tried to warn him, but her sweet voice lured him in. He couldn’t help but look upon her. He was smitten by her beauty yet felt a pain for the unfortunate state of her hair. This was a pain that he would soon share, as Medusa’s curse did not turn men to stone -- it turned them into fellow gorgons.
After Perseus’s transformation, Medusa adopted him as a sister. He was nearly as beautiful, but also shared her curse. No shortage of men came to their island to slay them, but unlike Perseus, they were horrified by their transformation and fell on their own sword. And thus the distorted myths of Medusa persisted with tales of the bravery of Perseus eventually weaved in. They were far from the truth, but the myths were often all that remained.
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