Gorgon

Q: What is the difference between Medusa and a Gorgon?

A Gorgon is a type of monster in Greek mythology, and the best known of the Gorgons is Medusa , who was slain by the hero Perseus . According to Hesiod there were three Gorgons—Medusa (the Queen) and her sisters, Stheno (the Mighty) and Euryale (the Far Springer). In Archaic and early Classical art, the Gorgons were portrayed as winged female creatures; their hair consisted of snakes. They were round-faced and flat-nosed, with tongues lolling out, and had large projecting teeth.

Q: What is a Gorgon?

In Greek mythology the Gorgons are monstrous women. According to Hesiod they were three sisters, of whom Medusa , the most famous, was slain by the hero Perseus . In Archaic and early Classical art, the Gorgons were portrayed as winged female creatures; their hair consisted of snakes. They were round-faced and flat-nosed, with tongues lolling out, and had large projecting teeth.

Q: Are all Gorgons female?

Gorgons are traditionally regarded as monstrous women in Greek mythology. According to Hesiod they were three sisters, of whom Medusa , the most famous, was slain by the hero Perseus . In Archaic and early classical art, the Gorgons were portrayed as winged female creatures; their hair consisted of snakes. They were round-faced and flat-nosed, with tongues lolling out, and had large projecting teeth.

Greek mythology

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History

What is the difference between Medusa and a Gorgon?

What is a Gorgon?

Are all Gorgons female?

Gorgon, monster figure in Greek mythology. Homer spoke of a single Gorgon—a monster of the underworld. The later Greek poet Hesiod increased the number of Gorgons to three—Stheno (the Mighty), Euryale (the Far Springer), and Medusa (the Queen)—and made them the daughters of the sea god Phorcys and his sister-wife, Ceto. The Attic tradition (or myths originating from ancient Athens) regarded the Gorgon as a monster produced by Gaea, the personification of Earth, to aid her sons against the gods. The Gorgons had several siblings, among them the snake-woman Echidna, the dragon Ladon, and the Graiae, a trio of women who shared a single eye and tooth. Earlier traditions mention a single Gorgon named Aix, who was the goat-shaped child of the sun god Helios and who was killed by Zeus in the war between the Titans and the Olympian gods.

In Archaic and early Classical art, the Gorgons were portrayed as winged female creatures; their hair consisted of snakes. They were round-faced and flat-nosed, with tongues lolling out, and had large projecting teeth. Some accounts, such as Ovid’s Metamorphoses (written about 8 ce), explain how Medusa—who in later art is depicted as beautiful although deadly—was transformed into a monster by Athena, in whose temple she had been assaulted by (or engaged in sexual union with) Poseidon. Medusa was the only one of the three Gorgons who was mortal; hence, Perseus was able to kill her by cutting off her head. He was pursued by Stheno and Euryale but evaded them by wearing a helmet or cap that belonged to Hades and granted invisibility. From the blood that ran from Medusa’s neck sprang Chrysaor and Pegasus, her offspring by Poseidon. Medusa’s severed head had the power of turning all who looked upon it into stone.

The gorgoneion, a depiction of Medusa’s distinctive and terrifying post-transformation head of snakes, was frequently used as a talismanic symbol by the ancient Greeks as well as the ancient Romans. It appeared as a motif, carving, or mask in art, architecture, household goods, and weaponry as a protection against the evil eye.