(1878)]] In Greek mythology, Medusa (Greek: ???????, "guardian, protectress"Probably the feminine present participle of medein, "to protect, rule over" (American Heritage Dictionary; compare Medon, Medea, Diomedes, etc.). If not, it is from the same root, and is formed after the participle. OED 2001 revision, s.v.; [LINK: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2365585] medein in LSJ.) was a monstrous chthonic female character; gazing upon her could turn onlookers to stone. She was beheaded by the human hero Perseus, who thereafter used her head as a weapon until giving it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. In classical antiquity and today, the image of the head of Medusa finds expression in the apotrope known as the Gorgoneion. Medusa in classical mythology The three gorgon sis

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