Family Relationships

• Medusa's parents were Phorcys and Ceto. Phorcys was the god of the hidden dangers of the deep. Ceto was a sea monster.

• Medusa had two Gorgon sisters - Stheno and Euryale. Medusa was mortal and born beautiful, but her sisters were not. Her sisters were immortal. Gorgons were monsters who guarded important places and buildings. Gorgons had brass hands, fangs, golden wings, serpent skin and sometimes serpent bodies.

• Medusa had two children - Pegasus and Chrysaor. Both were born of Medusa when she was decapitated by Perseus and her head was given to Athena. Pegasus carried lightning bolts for Zeus and Chrysaor became a great warrior.

• Medusa's consort (companion) was Poseidon - the god of the sea. This relationship infuriated Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Athena turned Medusa into a hideous creature with snakes for hair, the body of a dragon, and a face that turned those who looked at her into stone.