Explore Hand Mirror Decorated with the Head of Medusa

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Stories about the fearsome Gorgons are among the earliest Greek myths. The back of this bronze mirror is decorated with the face of the most famous Gorgon, Medusa. Based on archaeological discoveries and ancient art, scholars believe the owner of this mirror was a woman. Medusa would have served as a guardian while the owner looked at her reflection. The mirror was made around 500 BCE in southern Italy, where Greek colonists had established settlements.

There are many different versions of the Gorgon tales. Some stories, including Homer’s Iliad, mention only one Gorgon. Other versions describe three Gorgon sisters born with wings, snakes for hair, and terrifying teeth. Later versions claim Medusa was originally beautiful but received snake hair as punishment. In most stories, Gorgon heads were so horrifying that simply seeing them could kill a person. In the version most familiar today, looking into Medusa’s eyes turned people to stone—though in the original myths, just glimpsing her face was enough!

Medusa was the only mortal Gorgon, which meant she could be killed. The hero Perseus cut off her head with a sickle while she slept. He avoided looking directly at her by watching her reflection in his polished metal shield. Her severed head, called a gorgoneion, was believed to ward off evil spirits, curses, and bad fortune. Zeus attached the gorgoneion to his goatskin breastplate, called an aegis, using it for protection while fighting to become chief god on Mount Olympus. His daughter Athena borrowed the aegis, and it became one of her most recognizable attributes (symbols) in ancient art.

The Gorgon on this mirror represents the earlier of two main types shown in art—a snake-haired monster. She has staring eyes, a ferocious grin, and a large tongue hanging over a short beard. Some other early Gorgons are depicted with big tusks and wings. Starting in the 400s BCE, Medusa was more commonly shown with a human face. According to myth, Athena transformed Medusa’s hair into frightening snakes because she offended the goddess. (In one version, Medusa dared to meet Poseidon in Athena’s temple. In another, she compared her own beauty to Athena’s.) Like the monstrous type of Gorgon, this Medusa appears as a gorgoneion with snake hair. Tiny wings grow from her forehead, and snakes are knotted around her neck.

How the Mirror Was Made

An artisan cut a circle from sheet bronze and sketched the outline and inner details of Medusa’s face onto it. Then they annealed (heated) the bronze in sections until it softened. The Gorgon’s face was formed by slowly pushing up the soft bronze sheet from behind with a small blunt tool—a technique called repoussé. Next, using fine tools both blunt and sharp, the artisan added details to the front—a process called chasing. Medusa’s eyes were likely added in another material to make them more striking. Some areas of the Gorgon’s face remain shiny, but most of the bronze has turned greenish over time due to the metal’s reaction with oxygen.

Questions

Write or discuss your responses.

• Describe the details of both the mirror and the figure on the back. What words would you use to describe them?
• This figure might look familiar—it’s Medusa, a character from Greek mythology. What do you know about her from stories you’ve heard or read? What clues in the artwork tell you it’s Medusa?
• Why do you think the mirror maker chose to put an image of Medusa on the back of a mirror?

Optional Activity

Watch a video about the Hand Mirror Decorated with the Head of Medusa to learn more.

Goatskin breastplate of Zeus, and more commonly, Athena. The gorgoneion (severed head) of Medusa lies in the center, often surrounded by snake scales. The aegis is sometimes fringed with snakes.

To heat metal to make it soft and pliable.

A special object or symbol that helps you recognize a person or god in art (like Zeus holding a lightning bolt).

To make in a mold from liquid metal. A cast object can be hollow or solid.

A metalworking technique where designs are punched into metal with tools from the front using blunt or sharp tools.

Severed head of the Gorgon Medusa (or an image of it) with protective power.

Scary monsters from Greek myths with snakes for hair; looking at them could turn you to stone.

Greek epic poem about the Trojan War and the hero Achilles, told orally for centuries and then written down by about 700 BCE. Attributed to the poet Homer.

A metalworking technique where designs are hammered into metal from the back with a blunt tool, making them bulge out on the front.

Curved blade used for harvesting grain.