Medusa

The medusa is a snaky-headed monster of Greek Mythology. Medusa was the chief of the Gorgons, and her hideous appearance and hair of snakes turned men into stone.

The medusa was once a fair maiden who was violated by the god Poseidon in a temple of the goddess Athena. Athena punished her by transforming her into a hideous monster with writing snakes for hair.

Perseus, the hero of Greek myth, managed to slay the medusa by cutting her head off in the reflection of a mirror. The hero then carried Medusa’s lethal head on his adventures. It is thought that blood from her head created the horse Pegasus and all the poisonous snakes in Africa.

Surrounding medusa were the bodies of heroes who had tried to slay her before. One look from her eyes was enough to turn any man to stone. Even after her death, the head of medusa retained its petrifying power.