Medusa

Medusa
Classical Greek gorgoneion featuring the head of Medusa; fourth century BC
Personal information
Parents	Phorcys and Ceto
Siblings	The Hesperides, Sthenno, Euryale, The Graeae, Thoosa, Scylla, and Ladon
Consort	Poseidon
Children	Pegasus and Chrysaor

Part of a series on
Greek mythology
Deities
Primordial Titans Olympians Nymphs Water Chthonic
Heroes and heroism
Heracles Labours Achilles Hector Diomedes Trojan War Odysseus Odyssey Jason Argonauts Golden Fleece Perseus Medusa Gorgon Oedipus Sphinx Orpheus Orphism Theseus Minotaur Bellerophon Pegasus Chimera Daedalus Labyrinth Atalanta Hippomenes Golden apple Cadmus Thebes Aeneas Aeneid Phaethon Triptolemus Eleusinian Mysteries Pelops Ancient Olympic Games Pirithous Centauromachy Amphitryon Teumessian fox Narcissus Meleager Calydonian boar hunt Otrera Amazons
Related
Satyrs Centaurs Dragons Demogorgon Ancient Greek religion List of Mycenaean deities
Ancient Greece portal Myths portal
v t e

In Greek mythology, Medusa (/mɪˈdjuːzə, -sə/; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα, romanized: Médousa, lit. 'guardian, protectress'),^[a] also called Gorgo (Ancient Greek: Γοργώ)^[b] 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 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.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).