The Head of Medusa

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The Head of Medusa

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The striking head of Medusa, encircled by snakes, makes up the centrepiece of an ancient mosaic floor (1st/2nd century CE) in the National Museum of Rome (Baths of Diocletian). 

​In Greek mythology Medusa was one of the three Gorgons, winged female creatures whose hair took the form of writhing snakes. Anyone who gazed into her eyes was turned into stone. 

In Ancient Greece, the image of Medusa's head appeared in the apotropaic amulet known as the Gorgoneion.