Medusa
Goddess from Greek mythology / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In Greek mythology, Medusa (/mɪˈdjuːzə, -sə/; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα, romanized: Médousa, lit. 'guardian, protectress'),[lower-alpha 1] also called Gorgo (Ancient Greek: Γοργώ)[lower-alpha 2] or the Gorgon, was one of the three Gorgons. Medusa is generally described as a woman with living snakes in place of hair; her appearance was so hideous that anyone who looked upon her was turned to stone.[4] Medusa and her Gorgon sisters Euryale and Stheno were usually described as daughters of Phorcys and Ceto; of the three, only Medusa was mortal.
Medusa | |
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Personal information | |
Parents | Phorcys and Ceto |
Siblings | The Hesperides, Sthenno, Euryale, The Graeae, Thoosa, Scylla, and Ladon |
Consort | Poseidon |
Children | Pegasus and Chrysaor |
Medusa was beheaded by the Greek hero Perseus, who then used her head, which retained its ability to turn onlookers to stone, as a weapon[5] 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.
According to Hesiod and Aeschylus, she lived and died on Sarpedon, somewhere near Cisthene. The 2nd-century BC novelist Dionysios Skytobrachion puts her somewhere in Libya, where Herodotus had said the Berbers originated her myth as part of their religion.