In Greek mythology, a gorgon is a female monster (also known as a Gorgo.) Medusa was the most famous gorgon. She was a beautiful, young women with magnificent long, silky hair. Guys even lined up to date her. One day, while she was in Athena's temple, she fooled around with Poseidon (Neptune,) which of course angered Athena. Athena was so mad she changed Medusa's beautiful hair into hissing serpents and made her into a horrible looking gorgon. She was so horrible that any living thing that looked upon her would turn to stone.
Not long after this, Perseus (Zeus' son) tried to rescue his mother Danae from King Polydectes by bringing back Medusa's head. To make a long story short, Athena and Hermes helped him out by providing him with magic winged sandals, a curved sword to slice off her head and a shield. Using his shield as a mirror, Perseus didn't have to look directly at Medusa and managed to decapitate her. From her head sprang the winged-horse Pegasus and the giant Chrysaor. Perseus used Medusa's head as a weapon during subsequent battles prior to returning to Athena. Athena then took the head from Perseus and threw it into her shield where it remained.
There are a few different versions of this story (with different reasons why Perseus beheaded Medusa,) but the players all stay the same.
