Pagan symbolism: Gorgons

The Gorgons are in Greek mythology three monstrous daughters of the sea gods Phorcys and Ceto: Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. According to the myths, these sisters could petrify anyone who looked at them with their gaze. Gorgons were depicted on many diverse objects and in art throughout the entire Greek classical world: in this blog, we look at the significance these monstrous Gorgons had in the culture of Antiquity.

The tradition of depicting Gorgons on shields was often used by Greek and Etruscan hoplites. This decoration to ward off evil forces also draws inspiration from Greek mythology: the legendary Aegis, a mythological armor or shield to which the head of the Gorgon Medusa was attached. The Gorgon frightened every enemy, could protect the user from all dangers, and was worn in the myths by the gods Zeus (as a shield) and Athena (as armor). 

According to Pherecydes, the face of Medusa could turn people into stone. Pindar describes her severed head as the source of "stone death".

In Greek mythology, the blood of Gorgons was considered both a powerful means of healing and an instrument of destruction. It was said that this blood, depending on the situation, could perform miracles or cause great harm. In Prometheus Bound, it is mentioned that no mortal is able to look at the Gorgons and survive, as their gaze was deadly. According to the ancient authors Apollodorus, Pherecydes, and Aeschylus, all three Gorgons had the power to turn their victims into stone. Among them, Stheno and Euryale were immortal, but Medusa was the exception; she was the only Gorgon who was mortal. 

The name 'Gorgons' comes from the Ancient Greek adjective gorgós, which means 'grim, fierce, awe-inspiring, dazzling'. It is thought to trace back to the Sanskrit root garğ, associated with sound. In Germanic and Romance languages, there are related words referring to the throat (such as 'gorge') or throat sounds (such as 'gargle', 'gurgle' gorgelen). Some scholars suspect that the original proto-Indo-European meaning is related to a growling or roaring creature. Possibly with bears because they were so feared that it was taboo to speak their name (bear means brown). However, this is speculation.

According to Hesiod and Apollodorus, the Gorgons were daughters of the primordial sea god Phorcys and the sea monster Ceto, as well as the sisters of the Graeae. However, Hyginus claimed they were daughters of "the Gorgon," a descendant of Typhon, Echidna, and Ceto. In Euripides' tragedy Ion, "the Gorgon" was presented as a child of Gaia, created to aid the giants in their war against the Olympian gods.

Medusa had two children with Poseidon: Pegasus, the winged horse, and Chrysaor, a mighty warrior.

According to Apollodorus, Perseus was tasked by his enemy Polydectes to retrieve the head of Medusa. With the help of Hermes and Athena, he sought out the Graeae, three sisters who shared only one eye and one tooth. Perseus managed to steal these and only returned them after they showed him the way to the nymphs.

• Winged sandals, which allowed him to fly,
• The helmet of Hades, which made him invisible,
• An adamant sickle (harpē), gifted by Hermes.

Flying, Perseus reached Oceanus, where he found the Gorgons sleeping. By looking at their reflection in his bronze shield, he managed to behead Medusa. From her neck sprang Pegasus and Chrysaor. Stheno and Euryale pursued Perseus, but could not see him due to his helmet of invisibility.

When Perseus showed the Gorgon head to Polydectes, he turned into stone. He then returned the magical items to the nymphs and Hermes, but he gave the Gorgon head to Athena. In this version of the myth, she had the aforementioned Aegis (protective armor with Gorgon head) made by Hephaestus.

According to a fragment, Pindar describes how the lament of a flute was created to imitate the sharp, piercing shriek that emanated from the swift jaws of Euryale, while her slow, fearful wail flowed from beneath her horrendous snake hair.

In the Dionysiaca of Nonnus, it is mentioned that the fleeing Perseus "listened to no trumpet, except to the roaring scream of Euryale". The desire to represent this Gorgon cry may explain why Archaic Gorgon depictions often show a wide-open mouth.

The oldest literary mentions of the Gorgons are found in the works of Hesiod and Homer (circa 700–650 BC).

Homer only mentions "the Gorgon" without giving her name. In the Iliad, she is called a "terrible monster". Her head appears on the aegis shield of Athena and on the shield of Agamemnon, described as "grim in appearance, terribly staring".

In the Odyssey, Odysseus is determined to remain in the underworld to meet other great dead, but as soon as he thinks he might encounter "the head of the Gorgon, that dreadful monster", he flees immediately.

In the Hesiodic Shield of Heracles, it is told how the Gorgons pursue Perseus, described as "terrible and unspeakable", with two snakes wrapped around their waist. On their "fearsome heads raged the Great Fear" – possibly a reference to the snakes coiling around their head.

Pindar explicitly mentions snake hair, describing how the severed Gorgon head of Perseus "glittered with hair of snakes".

In Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, all three Gorgons are described not only with snake hair but also as winged.

Their legendary ugliness became so well-known that the Athenian comic playwright Aristophanes in 405 BC mocked the women of the Athenian deme Teithras by comparing them to Gorgons.

The mythographer Apollodorus provides the most detailed description of the Gorgons.

"The Gorgons had heads wrapped with the scales of dragons, huge tusks like those of boars, bronze hands, and golden wings with which they could fly."

These descriptions emphasize the horrific physical features of the Gorgons. Yet, their image evolved over the centuries. In the fifth century BC, Pindar describes Medusa as a "beautiful woman," despite her snake hair. The Roman poet Ovid tells that Medusa was originally a beautiful maiden, but was punished by an encounter with Neptune (Poseidon) in the temple of Minerva (Athena). Minerva transformed her beautiful hair into terrifying snakes as punishment for this sacrilege.

Images of Gorgons, both in full form and just their face, were popular motifs in Ancient Greek, Etruscan and Roman art. In Etruscan culture, the Gorgon was even a symbol of royal or aristocratic power and is often seen on shields from Etruria. In the Archaic period, Gorgons were invariably depicted as hideously ugly, but later they sometimes began to appear as beautiful young women.

In the Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, more than six hundred depictions of Gorgons are documented. Besides vase paintings, they also appear in architectural decorations, on shields, cuirasses, and on coins. 

Fully depicted Gorgons are usually shown in connection with the story of Perseus and Medusa. The earliest depictions of this story date from the middle of the seventh century BC.

Gorgoneia: these are representations of only their terrifying face, such as those on Athena's s aegis and on the shield of Agamemnon in the Iliad.

The earliest examples of both styles date from the middle of the seventh century BC.

These depictions are particularly recognizable by their snake hair, which sometimes consists of stylized curls and sometimes of real snakes. They have enormous, threatening eyes that stare directly at the viewer, a three-part, scroll-shaped nose (volute), and a wide mouth with a grimace or protruding tongue. Sometimes the Gorgons have tusks, like those of boars. Some show a beard, especially in early depictions.

A striking feature of archaic Gorgon depictions is that, unlike gods and heroes who were usually shown in profile, the Gorgons are always depicted frontally. Even when their bodies are shown in profile (usually running), their head is always directed straight at the viewer, enhancing their terrifying appearance.

Although the Gorgon on the Boeotian pithos is depicted as a female centaur without wings or snakes, and the Gorgons on the Eleusis amphora have a beehive-like torso without wings, by the end of the seventh century BC, a human body shape with wings and snakes became the norm.

From the fifth century BC, the depiction of Gorgons began to change. Where they were first depicted as hideous monsters, they gradually evolved into beautiful young women. This shift became common in the fourth century BC.

One of the earliest examples of a "beautiful" Gorgon is a red-figure pelike from the middle of the fifth century BC. On it, Perseus is depicted as he beheads the sleeping Medusa, with his head turned away. After the fourth century BC, fully depicted Gorgons disappeared from art, but gorgoneia (only the face) remained popular throughout antiquity.

A particularly famous example is the Medusa pediment of the Temple of Artemis on Corfu (early sixth century BC). Here, a winged Medusa is depicted in the typical Knielauf posture (kneeling and running at the same time), with two snakes around her waist. This corresponds to the descriptions in the Hesiodic Shield of Heracles.

Among all depictions of ancient Greek demons, the gorgoneion appears by far the most frequently. This protective (apotropaic) symbol was often used on architectural elements, such as temple pediments, decorative antefixes, and acroteria, but also on round objects, such as shields, coins, and the undersides of bowls and cups. The earliest examples date from the mid-sixth century BC.

The victory of Athena over the giant Enceladus—with a gorgoneion on her shield—was said to have been depicted on the Temple of Apollo in Delphi (late sixth century BC). In Euripides' Ion (ca. 412 BC), the chorus describes how they see Athena on the stone walls of the temple "wielding her gorgons-shield" against Enceladus.

The Greek traveler Pausanias mentions that he had seen a golden votive shield, dedicated by the Spartans and their allies after the Battle of Tanagra (457 BC), on which a gorgoneion (or possibly a full Gorgon) was depicted in relief. This shield was displayed in the Temple of Zeus in Olympia.

Later among the Romans, Gorgoneia were also frequently depicted, as many wall paintings in Pompeii show temple architecture combined with Gorgoneia.

 The Gorgon motif was probably also used as a ritual mask. This is evident from Homer's description of Agamemnon's shield in the Iliad.

“The Gorgon, grim of visage, stared terribly, and around her were Fear and Panic.”

Two groups of terracotta masks from the seventh century BC also show faces resembling Gorgons. Non-wearable Gorgon masks have also been found in the sacred city of Orthia in Sparta. These masks resemble the style of the oldest Gorgon depictions and possibly indicate that Gorgons played a role in rituals or theatrical performances. The votive masks from Sparta have deep S-shaped grooves on the sides of their wide grimaces, similar to much older terracotta plaques of Humbaba.

Some scholars expect that Kronos, Rhadamanthys, and Menelaos were derived from Yemo in the Proto-Indo-European cosmic creation story. Yemo was the twin brother who was sacrificed, from whose body the earth and the three different societal classes were founded. His brother Manu became the first priest and taught mankind to sacrifice in order to maintain the cosmic relationship with the sky god (Zeus).

In the cosmic creation story, the hero *Trito (third man) stands for the first warrior. This is represented in Greek mythology, as told by Hesiod, by Herakles. The three-headed serpent can be seen in Geryon, the grandson of Medusa (the snake-haired Gorgo). This monster had to be killed to retrieve the stolen cattle.

The Greek hero is aided by the sun god Helios, from whom he borrows a cup to cross the western Ocean and reach the island of Erytheia. Together with his cattle herder Eurytion and his dog, Herakles eventually overcomes the monster and brings the herd back to Greece.

Roman versions of the myth, based on earlier Greek texts, are reformed around a contrast between Hercules and a fire-breathing man-eater named Cācus, who lives in a cave on the Aventine. Nevertheless, they retain some features of the original three-headed monstrous adversary: Hercules' club, with which he kills Cācus in three blows, is said to have three knots; and Hercules runs around the mountain three times after finding the monster's cave, strikes the door three times, and rests three times before finally breaking in. As in the Iranian and Greek versions, Cācus is portrayed as the one who initially stole the cattle that rightfully belongs to the hero, Hercules.

Medusa and her sisters Stheno and Euryale have been continuously depicted in art and culture—from ancient Greece to the present. Of the three, Medusa is by far the best known, and her image has acquired various meanings.

Namely that of a monster and protective symbol in Antiquity. The Gorgons do not represent the relationship between good and evil as the Christian leather knows it; instead, a dharmic approach must be adopted. What is meant by this is that the Gorgons should be understood within a more complex system of order and harmony, where what is perceived as "good" or "bad" depends on context, perception, and the interaction between different forces.