Medusa is from the Greek Médousa (Μέδουσα — guardian, protectress). A modern American baby name in the broader Greek heritage aesthetic. Medusa in Greek mythology is the iconic Gorgon, central to Hesiod's Theogony (c. 700 BCE) and Ovid's Metamorphoses (8 CE). One of three Gorgon sisters with Stheno and Euryale; transformed by Athena from priestess to snake-haired stone-turning being — widely reinterpreted in modern feminist mythology as a tragic-victim narrative. Beheaded by Perseus using Athena's polished shield; her head became the protective Gorgoneion on the Athena Parthenos statue and across ancient Greek architecture. The Versace logo (designed by Gianni Versace, 1978) uses the Medusa head — one of the most-recognized fashion brand logos. *Caravaggio's Medusa*** (1597) hangs at the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
Featured throughout Greek heritage and global fashion.
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Medusa reduces to nine.