Collection Publications: The Centaur's Smile: Gorgons

The Centaur's Smile: The Human Animal in Early Greek Art

Gorgons

The Gorgons, whose name derives from the Greek word gorgos, meaning terrifying or fearful, were monstrous female hybrids defined by an inherent duality: deadly, yet also serving as powerful protective figures. Born to the sea monster Keto and the sea god Phorkys, the Gorgons were three sisters--Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa whom Athena turned into monsters after Medusa lay with Poseidon in a grove sacred to the goddess. Medusa was the only one of the three who was mortal, but she also possessed the power to petrify anyone who gazed upon her. Apollodoros tells us that King Polydektes commanded Perseus to kill Medusa and bring back her head. With the help of Athena and Hermes, who provided him with winged boots and a special sack (kibisis) to carry off the head, the young hero was able to complete this seemingly impossible task. In the Iliad, Athena wears Medusa's head on her goatskin aegis, while Agamemnon carries it on his shield, both, therefore, transforming the head of a dreaded demon into an apotropaic device capable of averting evil. Of all the composite "human-animals" in Archaic Greek art, Gorgons are among the most prevalent, appearing everywhere from precious gems to the pediments of monumental temples, their popularity probably due to their protective powers. In contrast to the common Archaic convention of representing figures in profile, Gorgons are typically depicted with their heads turned frontally, facing the viewer. By the beginning of the Archaic period, around 600 B.C., Greek artists had attached these hideous, mask-like faces to the winged body of a female, thus creating a powerful demonic image that was to remain popular for centuries to come. While the iconography of Gorgons is decidedly Greek, the formulation of their imagery owes much to Egyptian and Near Eastern precedents, most notably Bes, an Egyptian apotropaic divinity who was also rendered with a distorted, frontally posed face, and Pazuzu, a Mesopotamian winged demon with an equally deformed countenance.