What is Gorgon?
[[File:Gorgone6.jpg|thumb|A painted plate, around 565 BCE<ref>[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CdM,_coppa_con_gorgone_a_figure_nere,_pittore_di_boreades,_sparta,_565_ac._circa.JPG Image of the whole cup]</ref>]] [[File: Pompeii - Casa dei Vettii - Gorgo.jpg|thumb|A medallion with a gorgo's head<br>(Roman [[fresco]] from [[Pompeii]], 1st century AD.]] In [[Greek mythology]], the '''Gorgons''' were [[female]] [[monster]]s that had [[fang]]s and [[serpent]]s for [[hair]] with [[bronze]] [[claw]]s. They were the daughters of [[Phorkys]] and [[Keto]]. The serpents in their hair were special: Everyone who looked at them was turned to stone. There were three Gorgons, named [[Stheno]], [[Euryale]] and [[Medusa]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/imageswomen/papers/kottkegorgon/gorgons.html |last=Kottke |first=Amanda |title=The Gorgons |work=arthistory.sbc.edu |accessdate=May 27, 2010 |archive-date=December 9, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041209031946/http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/imageswomen/papers/kottkegorgon/gorgons.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Only Medusa was mortal. She was beheaded by [[Perseus]]. Medusa's head was brought to [[Athena]]. There are many motives showing Athena with an [[aegis]], and a Gorgon's head on her chest. [[Homer]] only talks about one Gorgon.<ref>[[Iliad]], xi, 35-36 and [[Odyssey]] xi, 636</ref> [[Hesiod]] names all three, Stheno, the powerful one, Euryale,who could jump far, and trouble-ridden Medusa, the queen.<ref>[[Theogony]], 270-279</ref> According to Hesiod, they lived at the edge of the known world, in the [[Atlas Mountains]]. At a later time, [[Libya]] is also named as their home. With [[Hellenistic period|Hellenism]] came the [[myth]] that the Gorgo was a sister of [[Alexander the Great]]. In this myth, she is a [[Neck (water spirit)|neck]], a water spirit. The sailors of each passing boat are asked whether he is still alive. If they answer no, she takes the boat and the sailors into the water. The answer that saves the lives of the