If you carefully study the myths and legends of the ancient Greeks, it becomes clear that there were several Gorgons, but, after millennia, from memory we can reproduce the name of only one of them - Medusa.
Gorgon Medusa. Origin myth
The very first references in literature about snake-headed creatures date back to the eighth century BC. In the Odyssey, Homer writes about Medusa, a monster from the underworld, and in Theogony, Hesiod already talks about three gorgon sisters. In general, there are several options for how the Gorgons appeared and who they were originally.
The first version of the appearance, which adhered to Euripides, is titanic. It says that the mother of the Gorgons was Gaia, the goddess of the earth and the progenitor of the titans. If this is true, then the Gorgon Medusa and her sisters may have originally been monsters.
The second version can be called "Poseidonic". Ovid expounds it in his Metamorphoses.
Once upon a time, in ancient times, Phorkis, who in Greek mythology was the god of the stormy sea, and his sister Keto, a dragon-like sea monster, had three daughters - beautiful water maidens. They received the following names: Stheno (translated fromancient Greek as "mighty"), Euryale ("jumping far") and Medusa ("guardian", "mistress").
The most beautiful of the sisters was the Gorgon Medusa. She so fascinated the god Poseidon with her beauty that he forcibly took possession of Medusa in a temple dedicated to Athena. The goddess became furious when she learned about the desecration of her sanctuary, and turned the sea maiden into a gorgon - a monster covered with thick scales, with hydras and snakes fluttering on her head instead of hair, with yellow teeth sticking out of her mouth. Stheno and Euryale decided to share the fate of their sister and also became monsters. Or maybe it’s not the temple at all, just the powerful Athena envied the beautiful appearance of Medusa and was jealous of the sea god for her.
Gorgon Medusa - the only one of the sisters was mortal, and only she could turn people into stone statues with her eyes. According to some other myths, all three gorgons had a terrible gift to turn people and animals to stone, as well as freeze water. When young Perseus accidentally dropped the phrase that he could kill the Gorgon Medusa, Athena took him at his word. She taught the hero how to defeat the gorgon and not turn into stone, and handed the young man her shield, polished like a mirror. The hero fulfilled his promise and brought the head of Medusa to the goddess, and also returned the shield, on which the image of the gorgon was imprinted.
The ancient Greeks believed that the Gorgon Medusa, or rather her severed head, is an excellent security artifact that protects from evil and the "evil eye". So there wereGorgoneion amulets spread.
Images of Medusa were applied to weapons, armor, medallions, coins and facades of buildings not only in Greece, but also in Ancient Rome, Byzantium and Scythia. At first, the gorgon was painted terribly scary, like a real monster, but over time, Medusa began to be portrayed as a beautiful, albeit terrifying woman with writhing snakes on her head.
