If the Gorgons start out as heads （as they seem to be in Homer, and in some early artworks）， when do they acquire bodies, and how? And, perhaps most importantly, why? It seems to be the case that the gorgoneia appeared in all kinds of locations, which suggests a folklore origin: round monster heads which serve multiple possible functions, from scaring your enemy to facing your fears. And the Greeks – storytellers always – wanted to explain these strange creatures, so they added them into their stories, which is why Hesiod and Pindar tell us about three Gorgons, and give them names, and describe their appearances and their capacity to make a cacophonous racket. The decorative heads have become characters. But then these authors and their audiences needed an explanation for all the disembodied Gorgon heads they could see around them, if the Gorgons now had bodies and backstories. Something was required which explained the separation of Gorgon head from body, and so we come to Perseus, who decapitates Medusa for reasons we’ll go on to explore. Medusa and her sister Gorgons seem to exist, and certainly gorgoneia exist, before the hero who conquers them. In other words, Perseus was most likely added to Medusa’s story to explain her existence and our interest in her separated head, rather than Medusa appearing in Perseus’ story to give him a monster to fight.
Unsurprisingly, Gorgons acquire monstrous bodies to go with their terrifying faces. Their name means terrible or fierce, and ancient authors were happy to oblige. They are described in this way in Prometheus Bound, a fifth-century BCE tragedy which is often attributed to Aeschylus, though its specific date and author have been much debated. Here, the Gorgons are drakontomalloi – ‘snake-haired’ – and katapteroi – ‘winged’。14 They are also brotostugeis – ‘hated by mortals’， or ‘mortal-hating’ （the word can be active or passive）。 This description is borne out by contemporary vase paintings: there is a fifth-century BCE Athenian amphora in the State Collection of Antiquities in Munich which depicts just such a Gorgon:15 she has wings as well as arms, snakes around her brow and long ringlets spanning across her neck and shoulders. Her mouth is wide and open, as with the gorgoneia. Her tongue hangs out and she has large tusks on either side of it, pointing both up and down. Her wings suggest she is flying, her legs that she is running. She is caught mid-stride, her feet encased in tight boots. Her spotted skirt is knee-length and her calves are bare and finely muscled. Her arms are in a runner’s pose, one reaching up in front of her, one reaching down behind her: she is moving at speed. Both her wrists are adorned with bangles. She may be a monster, but she still has a taste for jewellery. She looks athletic and powerful, both human and inhuman.
And yet this mighty creature will be decapitated by Perseus, although he will need the assistance of several gods to succeed. This is something he is fortunately well-placed to receive, since he is the son of Zeus. And Zeus impregnates Danae, Perseus’ mother, in an even more inventive way than he manages with Leda. Danae’s father Acrisius receives word from an oracle that if his daughter gives birth to a son, that son will kill his grandfather. Acrisius is not one for risk-taking, so he locks Danae away in an underground room, perhaps made of stone. Zeus is undeterred by this seeming impenetrability and converts himself into a shower of gold, so he can rain down on Danae through gaps in the roof. No mention is made of any unusual sleeping position Danae might have adopted to break up the boredom of being locked underground, but suffice it to say that, however gravity and golden rain coincide, she becomes pregnant. The resulting child is Perseus, whom Ovid calls aurigenae16 – ‘born from gold’。 When Acrisius discovers his daughter has borne a son in spite of his best efforts, he reacts with his customary proportionality and puts them both in a wooden chest which he floats out to sea. Zeus ensures the chest remains seaworthy and lands safely. The two are found by a fisherman who takes them to his brother, a king named Polydectes.
Polydectes promptly falls for Danae and, wishing to pursue his goal uninterrupted,17 he sends Perseus off on a quest for the head of Medusa. In Pseudo-Apollodorus’ version of the story, we can immediately see the advantage Perseus has by being the son of Zeus:18 Athene and Hermes accompany him on his quest, which makes things quite a bit less complicated than they might otherwise have been. They guide him to the Graiai, the three sisters who have between them only one eye, which they share （and one tooth, according to Pseudo-Apollodorus, which is also shared）。 Perseus swipes both eye and tooth and refuses to return them until the Graiai reveal the whereabouts of the nymphs who can loan him winged sandals （these are usually worn by Hermes） and a kibisis – or ‘rucksack’， which seems to be the closest translation.