🐍

Medusa

The Snake-Haired Gorgon Whose Gaze Turned All to Stone

Small Roles, Famous Names · Mortal Passersby

PetrificationSnake HairVictim and Monster

Who they are

The only mortal of the three Gorgon sisters. In Ovid’s version she was once a beautiful priestess in Athena’s temple, assaulted by Poseidon within the temple and then punished by the goddess into a snake-haired monster — all who met her eyes turned to stone. Even beheaded, her head kept working: set into Athena’s shield.

Primary sourcesHesiod, TheogonyOvid, Metamorphoses (source of the victim backstory)

Key stories

After the Beheading

Medusa · Caravaggio, c. 1597, the Uffizi

As Perseus’s curved blade fell, from her neck sprang the winged horse Pegasus and the giant Chrysaor — her children by Poseidon. Her head petrified a sea monster, the Titan Atlas, and a whole army along the way, and finally became the emblem at the center of Athena’s shield. As a monster she was hunted by all; as a weapon the gods fought to use her.

Relationships

Lover

🔱Poseidon　The perpetrator of the temple assault

Nemesis

🦉Athena　Punished by her into a monster

Slain by

🛡️Perseus

Echoes today

Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.

The Versace logoThe classic Medusa-head logo is taken directly from her — the designer said it stands for "a petrifying attraction you can’t look away from."

The Clash of the Titans filmsMedusa is a major figure in both versions.

Appears in

The Age of HeroesPerseus Beheads Medusa

← Back to Figures