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Medusa was one of the three gorgon sisters alongside her elder siblings Stheno and Euryale. Stheno and Eurayle were immortal but Medusa was not, however Medusa had the ability to turn any living creature that stared directly at her eyes into stone. Physical depictions of Medusa vary but the defining characteristic consistent with all of them is that she has a beautiful humanoid body and face but has venomous snakes for hair. Some versions of her have her only inhuman trait be her hair, others say she had dragon wings and could fly, and others say she had a serpentine lower body like a naga.

In the older versions of the myths, Medusa and her sisters where the daughters the Titans Phorcys and Ceto, primordial deities of the sea. Medusa was beheaded by the Demigod hero Perseus after the latter was sent on a quest by King Polydectes in an attempt to get Perseus killed so that he would not be able to stop Polydectes from marrying his mother Danae. From her neck emerged the flying horse known as the Pegasus which Perseus tamed and used to fly back home along with the sword Chrysaor. Along the way he rescued the Princess Andromeda from the Kraken, and turned several individuals who wronged him to stone with her head, including Polydectes.

A more popular and contemporary version of Medusa was fabricated by the Roman poet Ovid. It states that at one point Medusa was a priestess in a temple of the Goddess Athena (known as Minerva in Roman Mythology) who was Vain for her long and luxurious hair. Her beauty caught the attention of Athena's rival/uncle Poseidon (known as Neptune in Roman Mythology) who had sex with her in Athena's Temple. Sources vary as to whether or not they were in a consensual relationship or if Poseidon raped her but the result was the Athena cursed Medusa to be so ugly that anyone who looked at her would die and be turned to stone. Reasons why Athena would do this to Medusa vary. Either it was because Athena is the patron goddess of virginity and her priestess had betrayed her rites, or because she hated Poseidon and wanted to spite him, or to protect Medusa from ever being raped again. The rest of the Myth up to Perseus decapitating her plays out the same except Medusa's sisters are absent.