According to the seventh-century BCE poet Hesiod, they could be found “beyond glorious Ocean in the frontier land towards Night.” Later sources, however, usually placed them in Libya. They lived together in a remote part of the world. Medusa and her sisters were called the Gorgons. In one of his poems, Pindar applied the epithet euparaos (“fair-cheeked”) to Medusa. This root also appears in other Greek names, including Medea, Medon, and Diomedes.
The name Medusa was likely derived from the Greek verb medein (“to guard, protect”). Medusa’s head was finally given to the goddess Athena, becoming part of the armor she wore into battle. He then used her severed head as a weapon during his travels, turning his enemies to stone. With the help of several gods, Perseus tracked Medusa down to her remote lair and beheaded her. Medusa was eventually killed by Perseus, one of Zeus’ heroic sons. But the young Medusa offended Athena and was therefore cursed to be a terrible monster, forever hunted by men. Many later versions of the myth claimed that she was once a beautiful maiden loved by Poseidon. Medusa was often depicted as a terrifying winged female with snakes instead of hair. It was said that anyone who looked directly at her was immediately turned to stone. Medusa, the daughter of the sea gods Phorcys and Ceto, was the most feared of the Gorgons.
