In Greek mythology, Phorcys or Phorcus is a primordial sea god, generally cited as the son of Pontus and Gaia. Classical scholar Karl Kerenyi conflated Phorcys with the similar sea gods Nereus and Pro
Late Roman mosaic from the Trajan Baths of Acholla showing three aquatic deities: Phorcys (middle), Ceto (right), and Triton or Thaumas (left). Bardo National Museum, Tunis
In Greek mythology, Medusa, also called Gorgo or the Gorgon, was one of the three Gorgons. Medusa is generally described as a woman with living snakes in place of hair; her appearance was so hideous t
Phorcys
…Tethys. Hesiod's Theogony lists the children of Phorcys and Ceto as the Graeae (naming only two: Pemphredo, and Enyo), the Gorgons (Stheno, Euryale and Medusa), probably Echidna (though the text is unclear on this point) and Ceto's "youngest, the awful snake who guards the apples all of gold in the secret…
Classical Greek gorgoneion featuring the head of Medusa; fourth century BC
Coins of the reign of Seleucus I Nicator of Syria (312–280 BC)
Medusa, depicted as a centaur, is beheaded by Perseus, Boeotian pithos, c. 660 BC.
Perseus decapitating Medusa while Athena looks on, from a preserved metope from the temple of Apollo in Selinus