In Greek mythology, the Gorgons; Stheino, Buryale, and Medusa, were daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. Two of them were believed to be immortal, while the third. Medusa, the youngest and most beautiful of them, was mortal. She loved Poseidon, and having met him once in the temple of Athene, to the desecration of that building, was punished by having her beautiful hair turned into snakes, thus making her appearance more ghastly than that of her sisters. Her face was terrible to behold, turning the spectator into stone. At last Perseus, finding her asleep, cut off her head with his curved sword, and presented it to Athene, who had assisted him in the enterprise, to be worn on her aegis or shield as a terror to her enemies.
The ancient poets describe the Gorgons generally as horrid, aged women, and frequently place them by the side of the Furies. In early times there was only one Gorgon - Medusa - instead of the three of later times. The winged horse, Pegasus, was the offspring of her and Poseidon. In art Perseus is represented standing with sword in one hand and the head of Medusa in the other, turning his face away to avoid seeing it. The subject of Perseus cutting off the head of Medusa occurs in one of the earliest examples of Greek sculpture - one of the metopes of the oldest temple at Selinus, in Sicily; and from the conventional manner in which her face is represented, compared with the other parts of the sculpture, it is agreed that the type must have been familiar for some time to Greek art. To possess a representation of a Gorgon' s face was to be provided with a charm against ills, and accordingly it was frequently employed as a personal ornament. Research Gorgons
In Greek mythology, the Graeae were three daughters of Phorcys and Ceto: Deino, Pephredo, and Enyo; their names meaning respectively 'alarm', 'dread', and 'horror'. They were sisters and at the same time guardians of the Gorgons, they were conceived as misshapen hideous creatures, hoary and withered from their birth, with only one eye and one tooth for the common use of the three, and were supposed to inhabit a dark cavern near the entrance to Tartarus. The belief in their existence seems to have been originally suggested by the grey fog or mist which lies upon the sea and is a frequent source of danger to the mariner. It is said that Perseus obtained from them the necessary information as to the dwelling of the Gorgons by seizing; their solitary eye and tooth, and refusing to return them until they showed him the way. Research Graeae
Medusa was the youngest and most beautiful of the Gorgons. She loved Poseidon and desecrated the temple of Athene by meeting Poseidon there. For this she was punished by having her hair turned to snakes. The result was her appearance was so hideous to behold that it would turn the viewer to stone. Research Medusa
Abbreviations
Research Buryale
