According to
Hesiod, and
Apollodorus, Stheno and Euryale, along with Medusa, were daughters of the primordial sea-god
Phorcys and the sea-monster
Ceto,[4] while, according to
Hyginus, they were daughters of "the Gorgon", an offspring of
Typhon and
Echidna, and Ceto.[5]
Mythology
Stheno and Euryale were immortal, whereas Medusa was mortal.[6] The Hesiodic The Shield of Heracles describes the two Gorgons chasing Perseus:
Perseus himself, Danae’s son, was outstretched, and he looked as though he were hastening and shuddering. The Gorgons, dreadful and unspeakable, were rushing after him, eager to catch him; as they ran on the pallid adamant, the shield resounded sharply and piercingly with a loud noise. At their girdles, two serpents hung down, their heads arching forward; both of them were licking with their tongues, and they ground their teeth with strength, glaring savagely. Upon the terrible heads of the Gorgons rioted great Fear.[7]
While, the "great Fear" rioting upon the heads of the Gorgon, in the passage from the Shield quoted above, might possibly be a vague reference to hair made of snakes, the poet
Pindar makes such a physical feature explicit, describing the two Gorgons, just like their sister Medusa, as having "horrible snakey hair" (ἀπλάτοις ὀφίων κεφαλαῖς).[8]
According to Apollodorus' version of their story, all three Gorgons had the ability to turn to stone anyone who looked upon them. And when
Perseus managed to behead Medusa by looking at her reflection in his bronze shield, Stheno and Euryale chased after him, but were unable to see him because he was wearing
Hades' cap, which made him invisible.[9]
Euryale's lamenting cry, while chasing Perseus, is noted in two sources. Pindar has Athena create the "many-voiced songs of flutes" to imitate the "shrill cry" of the "fast-moving jaws of Euryale".[10] While
Nonnus, in his Dionysiaca, has the fleeing Perseus "listening for no trumpet but Euryale's bellowing".[11]
Iconography
The typical archaic (c. 8th–5th century BC) depiction of a Gorgon is just a full frontal view of a circular scowling face, with large eyes looking directly at the viewer. However some depictions show this same head turned to face the viewer, sitting (seemingly without a neck) atop a running body in profile, with wings on its back and curl-topped boots. Such running Gorgons nearly always depict Stheno and Euryale pursuing the fleeing Perseus. In later depictions the heads shrink in size with respect to their bodies, possess necks, and become less wild looking.[12]
^Mayor,
p. 433; Bane,
s.v. Euryale (or "far-howling" and "wide-leaping"); Daly and Rangel, s.v. Euryale ("wide-stepping" or "Euryale may also mean 'the wide sea,' which would fit her role as a daughter of sea gods.").
^ Bremmer,
s.v. Gorgo/Medusa; Gantz, p. 20; Grimal, s.v. Gorgons; Tripp, s.v. Gorgons; Daly and Rangel, s.v. Euryale.
^Tripp, s.v. Gorgons;
Hyginus, Fabulae Preface
9,
35.
Euripides, Ion986–991, has "the Gorgon" being the offspring of
Gaia, spawned by Gaia as an ally for her children the
Giants in their war against the
Olympian gods.
Hard, Robin (2004), The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004,
ISBN9780415186360.
Google Books.
Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
Mayor, Adrienne, The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World, Princeton University Press, Feb 9, 2016.