Like all mythological tales, the story of the Gorgons underwent lots of changes over time, even long before they were ever written down. The three Gorgons were originally the offspring of two ancient sea monsters — Phorcys and Ceto — a brother-sister combo who birthed a whole bunch of horrifying creatures like the sailor-killing monster Skylla, the hundred-headed sea dragon Ladon, and more. Early descriptions depicted the Gorgons as winged women with tusks and brass hands, of all things. The whole snake-haired thing came later, as did Medusa’s mortality and a revised origins story that differentiates her from her sister Gorgons, Stheno and Euryale.
The Collector explains that in one version of Medusa’s revised origins story Medusa considered herself to be more beautiful than the goddess Athena, while in another version she was raped by the god Poseidon inside Athena’s temple. Either way, Athena took her revenge on Medusa and made her into a Gorgon like Stheno and Euryale. Medusa, however, remained mortal. This is why King Polydectes dispatched the hero Perseus to behead Medusa and not her sisters.
With the help of Athena, Hades’ helmet of invisibility, some winged sandals, and more, Perseus killed Medusa in her sleep. After that, the poet Hesiod in “Shield of Heracles” (via Tufts University) very vividly describes Stheno and Euryale chasing Perseus, who escaped with Medusa’s head strapped to his back.
[Featured image by Peter Paul Rubens via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled]
