In Ancient Greece, the Gorgoneion (Greek: Γοργόνειον) was originally a horror-creating apotropaic pendant showing the Gorgon's head.[1] It was assimilated by the Olympian deities Zeus and Athena: both are said to have worn it as a protective pendant.[1] It was assumed, among other godlike attributes, as a royal aegis, by rulers of the Hellenistic age, as shown, for instance, on the Alexander Mosaic and the Gonzaga Cameo.
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Homer refers to the Gorgon on four occasions, each time alluding to the head alone, as if the creature had no body.[2] Jane Ellen Harrison notes that "Medusa is a head and nothing more...a mask with a body later appended".[3] Up to the 5th century BC, the head was depicted as particularly ugly, with a protruding tongue, boar tusks, puffy cheeks, her eyeballs staring fixedly on the viewer and the snakes twisting all around her.
The direct frontal stare, "seemingly looking out from its own iconographical context and directly challenging the viewer",[4] was highly unusual in ancient Greek art. In some instances a beard (probably standing for streaks of blood) was appended to her chin, making her appear as an orgiastic deity akin to Dionysus.
Gorgoneia that decorate the shields of warriors on mid-5th century Greek vases are considerably less grotesque and menacing. By that time, the Gorgon had lost her tusks and the snakes were rather stylized.[2] The Hellenistic marble known as the Medusa Rondanini illustrates the Gorgon's eventual transformation into a beautiful woman.[2]
Gorgoneia first appear in Greek art at the turn of the 8th century BC. One of the earliest representations is on an electrum stater discovered during excavations at Parium.[2] Other early 8th-century examples were found at Tiryns. If we go further back into history, there is a similar image from the Knossos palace, datable to the 15th century BC. Marija Gimbutas even argues that "the Gorgon extends back to at least 6000 BC, as a ceramic mask from the Sesklo culture illustrates".[5]
In the 6th century, gorgoneia of a canonical "lion mask type" were ubiquitous on Greek temples, especially in and around Corinth. Pedimental gorgoneia were common in Sicily; probably the earliest occurrence being in the Temple of Apollo in Syracuse.[6] Around 500 BC, they ceased to be used for the decoration of monumental buildings, but were still shown on antefixes of smaller structures throughout the next century.[6]
Apart from temples, the Gorgon imagery is present on dress, dishes, weapons, and coins found across the Mediterranean region from Etruria to the Black Sea coast. The Gorgon coins were struck in 37 cities, making her image on coins second in numismatic ubiquity only to several principal Olympian gods.[2] On mosaic floors, the gorgoneion was usually depicted next to the threshold, as if guarding it from hostile intruders; on Attic kilns, the gorgoneion over the kiln door protected from mishaps.[7]
The Gorgon imagery remained popular even in Christian times, especially in the Byzantine Empire,[8] including Kievan Rus, and was revived in the West by the Italian Renaissance artists. More recently, the gorgoneion was adopted by Gianni Versace as a logo for his fashion company.
Several examples exist from the Romano-British-period that are made from Jet (lignite) - a material intimately associated with providing protective or apotropaic qualities [9].
According to Gimbutas, gorgoneia represent certain aspects of the Mother Goddess cult associated with "dynamic life energy". She defined the gorgoneion as a quintessentially European image. Jane Ellen Harrison, on the other hand, claims that many primitive cultures use similar ritual masks in order to scare the owner from doing something wrong, or, as she terms it, to make an ugly face at him: "The ritual object comes first; then the monster is begotten to account for it; then the hero is supplied to account for the slaying of the monster".[3]