Gorgons
Three winged sisters — Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa — whose faces could turn any living creature to stone. Of the three, only Medusa was mortal.
The Myth of Gorgons
The three Gorgons were daughters of the sea deities Phorcys and Ceto, sisters to the Graeae and Ladon. They lived at the edge of the world, beyond Ocean, in a land of darkness near the realm of the dead. Their appearance varied by source: serpents for hair, bronze hands, golden wings, boar's tusks, and a face so terrible that a single glance turned the viewer to stone. Perseus killed Medusa — the only mortal Gorgon — by using a mirrored shield to avoid looking directly at her. From Medusa's severed neck sprang Pegasus and Chrysaor. The surviving sisters Stheno and Euryale pursued Perseus in fury but he escaped using his cap of invisibility. Gorgon imagery — the gorgoneion, or severed-head motif — was one of the most widely used protective symbols in ancient Greek art.
Parents
Phorcys,Ceto
Symbols
Fun Fact
The gorgoneion — a stylised Gorgon face — appeared on Greek shields, temple pediments, coins, and jewellery as an apotropaic symbol: the terrifying face that wards off evil by facing outward.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Medusa
🐉 creatureSnake-haired Gorgon whose gaze turned men to stone
A winged Gorgon with serpents for hair whose gaze could turn any living creature to stone. Once beautiful, she was cursed by Athena and later beheaded by Perseus.
Stheno
🐉 creatureimmortality
Eldest and most ferocious of the three Gorgon sisters, immortal unlike Medusa, who pursued Perseus after he beheaded her sister.
Ceto
🐉 creatureSea, monsters
Primordial sea goddess known as the Mother of Monsters who bore many of the most fearsome creatures in Greek myth
Phorcydes
🐉 creaturesea creatures
The monstrous children of Phorcys and Ceto, including the Gorgons, Graeae, and other terrors
Echidna
🐉 creatureMother of all monsters
Echidna was half woman, half serpent — called the Mother of All Monsters for bearing the most fearsome creatures of Greek mythology.
Krataiis
🐉 creatureSea, terror
Sea goddess or nymph identified as the mother of the terrifying six-headed monster Scylla
Scylla
🐉 creatureSix-headed sea monster
A terrifying sea monster with six heads on long necks, each with three rows of teeth. She lived in a cliff cave opposite the whirlpool Charybdis, creating an impossible choice for sailors.
Sybaris
🐉 creaturemonsters
A monstrous serpent-dragon that terrorised the region around Delphi until slain by a young hero
Perseus and Medusa
💭 conceptNarrative
The hero's quest to slay the mortal Gorgon and his ingenious use of divine gifts to accomplish the impossible
Hydra
🐉 creatureMulti-headed serpent of Lerna
A monstrous water serpent with multiple heads that grew two more whenever one was cut off. Slaying the Hydra was Heracles's second labor.
Keres
🐉 creaturedeath,underworld
Female spirits of violent death — especially death in battle — depicted as dark, winged creatures that hovered over battlefields and dragged away the dying.
Campe
🐉 creaturemonsters
Campe was the monstrous she-dragon who guarded the Cyclopes in Tartarus — her death gave Zeus the thunderbolt that won the war against the Titans.