In Greek mythology, Medusa (/mɪˈdjuË zÉ™,-sÉ™/; Μέδουσα
"guardian, protectress") also called Gorgo, was one of the three
monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with
living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those who gazed into her eyes
would turn to stone. Most sources describe her as the daughter of
Phorcys and Ceto, although the author Hyginus makes her the daughter
of Gorgon and Ceto.Medusa was beheaded by the Greek hero Perseus, who
thereafter used her head, which retained its ability to turn onlookers
to stone, as a weapon until he gave it to the goddess Athena to place
on her shield. In classical antiquity the image of the head of Medusa
appeared in the evil-averting device known as the Gorgoneion.Medusa
was beheaded by the Greek hero Perseus, who thereafter used her head,
which retained its ability to turn onlookers to stone, as a weapon
until he gave it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. In
classical antiquity the image of the head of Medusa appeared in the
evil-averting device known as the Gorgoneion.According to Hesiod and
Aeschylus, she lived and died on an island named Sarpedon, somewhere
near Cisthene. The 2nd-century BC novelist Dionysios Skytobrachion
puts her somewhere in Libya, where Herodotus had said the Berbers
originated her myth, as part of their religion. She remained a
priestess to Athena after her death and was risen with fresh
hair.[citation needed]The three Gorgon sistersâ€"Medusa, Stheno, and
Euryaleâ€"were all children of the ancient marine deities Phorcys (or
"Phorkys") and his sister Ceto (or "Keto"), chthonic monsters from an
archaic world. Their genealogy is shared with other sisters, the
Graeae, as in Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound, which places both
trinities of sisters far off "on Kisthene's dreadful plain": Medusa Top Movies & Young Movies