Gorgon. In Greek mythology, a Gorgon is a mythical creature portrayed in ancient literature. While descriptions of Gorgons vary and occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair made of living, venomous snakes, as well as a horrifying visage that turned those who beheld her to stone. Traditionally, while two of the Gorgons were immortal, Stheno and Euryale, their sister Medusa was not and she was slain by the demigod and hero Perseus. The name derives from the ancient Greek word gorgós, which means grim, dreadful, and appears to come from the same root as the Sanskrit:, garjana, which is defined as a guttural sound, similar to the growling of a beast, thus possibly originating as an onomatopoeia. Gorgons were a popular image in Greek mythology, appearing in the earliest of written records of Ancient Greek religious beliefs such as those of Homer, which may date to as early as 1194-1184 BC. Because of their legendary and powerful gaze that could turn one to stone, images of the Gorgons were put upon objects and buildings for protection. An image of a Gorgon holds the primary location at the pediment of the temple at Corfu, which is the oldest stone pediment in Greece, and is dated to c. 600 BC. A marble statue of Gorgon, 1.35 m high, almost intact, belonging to a temple, was found in an ancient public building in Parikia, Paros capital, Greece. The concept of the Gorgon is at least as old in classical Greek mythology as Perseus and Zeus. The name is Greek, being derived from gorgos and translating as terrible or dreadful. Gorgoneia first appear in Greek art at the turn of the eighth century BC. One of the earliest representations is on an electrum stater discovered during excavations at Parium. Other early eighth-century examples were found at Tiryns. Going even further back into history, there is a similar image from the Knossos palace, datable to the fifteenth century BC. Marija Gimbutas even argues that the Gorgon extends back to at least 6000 BC, as a ceramic mask from the Sesklo culture. In her book, Language of the Goddess, she also identifies the prototype of the Gorgoneion in Neolithic art motifs, especially in anthropomorphic vases and terracotta masks inlaid with gold. The large Gorgon eyes, as well as Athena's flashing eyes, are symbols termed the divine eyes by Gimbutas; they appear also in Athena's sacred bird, the owl. They may be represented by spirals, wheels, concentric circles, swastikas, firewheels, and other images. The awkward stance of the gorgon, with arms and legs at angles is closely associated with these symbols as well. Some Gorgons are shown with broad, round heads, serpentine locks of hair, large staring eyes, wide mouths, tongues lolling, the tusks of swine, large projecting teeth, flared nostrils, and sometimes short, coarse beards. In some cruder representations, stylized hair or blood flowing under the severed head of the Gorgon has been mistaken for a beard or wings. Some reptilian attributes such as a belt made of snakes and snakes emanating from the head or entwined in the hair, as in the temple of Artemis in Corfu, are symbols likely derived from the guardians closely associated with early Greek religious concepts at the centers such as Delphi where the dragon Delphyne lived and the priestess Pythia delivered oracles. The skin of the dragon was said to be made of impenetrable scales. While seeking origins others have suggested examination of some similarities to the Babylonian creature, Humbaba, in the Gilgamesh epic. A number of early classics scholars interpreted the myth of the Medusa as a quasi-historical, or sublimated, memory of an actual invasion. The legend of Perseus beheading Medusa means, specifically, that the Hellenes overran the goddess's chief shrines and stripped her priestesses of their Gorgon masks, the latter being apotropaic faces worn to frighten away the profane. That is to say, there occurred in the early thirteenth century B.C. an actual historic rupture, a sort of sociological trauma, which has been registered in this myth, much as what Freud terms the latent content of a neurosis is registered in the manifest content of a dream: registered yet hidden, registered in the unconscious yet unknown or misconstrued by the conscious mind. Transitions in religious traditions over such long periods of time may make some strange turns. Gorgons are often depicted as having wings, brazen claws, the tusks of boars, and scaly skin. The oldest oracles were said to be protected by serpents and a Gorgon image was often associated with those temples.