Gorgons

Features: Woman's upper half, fangs, snakes for hair and a serpent's body

Source: Greek Mythology

Habitat: Greece



Gorgons were essentially human women with a serpent’s body. Instead of hair, they modeled a large cluster of poisonous live snakes that slithered about their faces and necks.

They had large fangs, long pointed nails at their fingertips and forked tongues. Sometimes they were also described as having golden wings and a boar’s tusks.

They would move about by sliding and slinking around just as a snake would.

Once the very beautiful daughters of Ceto and Phorcys; Stheno, Euryale and Medusa were transformed into these horrible creatures because of their excessive vanity.

Goddess Athena also stripped Medusa of her immortality for claiming she was more attractive than she, and for seducing Poseidon.

Even though all three sisters had been horribly punished by being transformed into these ugly and hideous beings until the end of time, they were also given the power to turn anyone who looked at them in the eyes to stone.

They used this power to satisfy their complete hatred for humans.



Medusa was killed by Perseus who used a polished shield as a mirror to avoid her stony stare and cut off her head. The blood that Queen Medusa spilled at her death then gave birth to the winged horse Pegasus and his brother Chrysaor.