MEDUSA AM

Ancient Greek goddess, 35 x 35 mm, Antique brass plated, two-faced design

In Greek mythology Medusa (Greek: Μέδουσα (Médousa), "guardian, protectress") [was a Gorgon, a chthonic female monster, and a daughter of Phorcys and Ceto; Only Hyginus, (Fabulae, 151) interposes a generation and gives another chthonic pair as parents of Medusa; gazing directly upon her would turn onlookers to stone. She was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who thereafter used her head as a weapon until he gave it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. In classical antiquity the image of the head of Medusa appeared in the evil-averting device known as the Gorgoneion.