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Gorgoneion

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Douris Cup. Athena and Jason, 5th Century B.C., at the Vatican Museum.

Douris Cup. Athena and Jason, 5th Century B.C., at the Vatican Museum.

Public Domain. Courtesy of Wikipedia.
Definition: On the aegis of Athena is the head of the Gorgon Medusa. Such a head or mask is called a Gorgoneion. Although Medusa is the head we see, Gorgoneion can refer to the head of the other Gorgones 'Gorgons'. (The names of the 3 monstrous Gorgones are: Medusa, Sthenno and Euryale. They were daughters of Phorcys and Keto or Gorgo and Keto.) If there were heads of multiple Gorgones, the word would be Gorgoneia.
Examples:
Certain blood from the Gorgons could bring the dead back to live, and it was this that Apollo's son Asclepius used.

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