A study of the Gorgons in myth, history, and art.
This paper discusses the different Gorgons, different myths, and various art pieces. The Gorgons were once powerful snake goddesses who were transformed into hideous monsters once Christianity became dominant. In particular, it examines how the history of Gorgons is symbolic of the history of women, since their myth and art are the physical manifestation of ideas about women. It also shows how the Gorgon, being alternately a monster and a mortal, is a direct reflection of the female within the mind and within a culture and how, therefore, she can be alternately hideous and beautiful. The depictions of Gorgons in Greek and Roman art embody the history of those cultures’ subjugation of women.
The Gorgons in Greek mythology are the three daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. Phorcys, their father, is the old man of the sea and his sister/lover, Ceto, is a female sea monster. The two live just beyond the edges of the Earth where the sun and the moon are unable to reach. The Gorgon’s grandmother is Gaia (the personification of Earth, born of Chaos) and their grandfather is Pontus, who birthed also the Graiae. These three aunts of the Gorgons, the Graiae, are the personification of age (literally grey ones), with a single eye between them. Their names are Dino, Enyo and Pemphredo. The Gorgon’s names are Stheno (Might), Euryale (Wide Flowing Sea), and Medusa (Queen). Medusa is the only mortal and the only Gorgon with a mythology. Medusa’s children, with Poseidon as father, are Pegasus and Chrysaor. Chrysaor is the father of Geryon.