Both Scylla and the Sirens were said by some writers to have been their daughters.įinally, the horrible mate of Typhon was their child as well. Two other creatures encountered by Odysseus were sometimes said to be the offspring of Phorcys and Ceto, as well. She was the mother, by Poseidon, of the cannibalistic cyclops of the Odyssey, Polyphemus. This was another trio of sisters, gray-skinned and sharing a single eye and one tooth between them.Īccording to Homer, another of their daughters was a nymph named Thoosa. Little is written about the pair other than the fact that they were the parents of some of the most terrible monsters of Greek mythology.Īlong with the Gorgons, Perseus also encountered the Graeae on his quest. Their mother was also his sister, the sea goddess Ceto. Her father was Phorcys, a primordial god of the sea. Even in the later stories in which she was once beautiful, the identities of her parents remained the same. Medusa was one of the few monsters in Greek mythology for whom there was an almost total consensus regarding her parentage. With the help of Hermes and Athena, who in the later versions of the story was responsible for Medusa’s transformation into a hideous monster, the young hero found the lair of the Gorgons, avoided Medusa’s petrifying gaze, and escaped safely after beheading her.
This was the task given to the hero Perseus. While the other Gorgons were immortal, Medusa could be killed. She had one weakness that was not shared by her sisters, however.
The Gorgons were all terrifying, but Medusa was so hideous and fearsome that a single glimpse of her face could turn a man to stone. While some later traditions claimed that she had been born in the form of a beautiful woman, most myths painted Medusa simply as a monster. Medusa was one of three Gorgons, monstrous sisters who shared a cave at one of the far edges of the world. From natural hazards of the sea to an allegory about a forgotten religion, they have created many theories to explain the “real” Medusa. Later historians continued to follow the Roman train of thought to uncover the real story behind Medusa and the Gorgons. Even in the ancient world, however, there was doubt as to whether Medusa really existed in the form she was described. Greek legend said that she was the child of two primordial deities who created the monsters that haunted the ancient seas. Her head retained its powers and was used by both Perseus and Athena in later myths. She was eventually beheaded by Perseus, with the aid of Athena and Hermes. While her face was pictured often in the Greek world, it was said to be so terrifying to behold that even a brief glimpse of it would turn a man to stone. Medusa is one of the most identifiable and iconic monsters of Greek mythology.
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