Myth & LegendGreek → English
Gorgon
/ˈɡɔːɡən/noun
One of three snake-haired sisters of Greek myth whose gaze turned onlookers to stone.
The Greek roots
γοργός
gorgós
grim, fierce
Literally: “the fierce one”
Follow a root:γοργός1 word
The story of the word
Stheno and Euryale were immortal; Medusa was not, which is why Perseus had something to do. Greeks fixed the gorgon's face, the gorgoneion, on shields, roof tiles and city gates as a charm against harm, working on the principle that the worst thing you can see should be facing outward. Athena wears one on her aegis.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 14th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
gorgonianmedusa
In a sentence
A gorgon's head glared out from the pediment, tongue out, eyes wide.