in fabulous history, one of the three Gorgons, and daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. She was the only one of the Gorgons who was subject to mortality; and she was celebrated for her personal charms and the beauty of her locks. Neptune became enamoured of her, and obtained her favours in the temple of Minerva. But this violation of the sanctity of the edifice provoked Minerva, and she changed the beautiful locks of Medusa, which had inspired Neptune's love, into serpents, the sight of which turned the beholders into stones; Perseus, however, armed with Mercury's axe, with which he killed Argus, cut off Medusa's head, from the blood of which sprang Pegasus and Chrysaor, together with the innumerable serpents that infest Africa. The conqueror placed Medusa's head on the aegis of Minerva, which he had used in his expedition; and the head still retained the same petrifying powers as before.