Gorgoneion
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Gorgoneion is a noun meaning A (representation of a) gorgon's head, especially that of Medusa.
Meaning
A (representation of a) gorgon's head, especially that of Medusa.
More Meanings
- (historical, Ancient Greek theatre) A theatrical mask depicting the face of a gorgon.
Example Sentences
The gorgoneion or "bodiless head of fright" antedates by many centuries the Gorgon with a woman's body.
Pausanias twice mentions a gilt-bronze aigis with the head of Medousa, or gorgoneion, at its center, placed high on the south wall of the Acropolis above the Theater of Dionysos [Figs. 4, 9].
Even where, as on a kratēr of the Tarporley Painter, the reflection is centred and placed where we expect the gorgoneion, it appears upside-down and is thereby markedly different from the gorgoneion.
Greek drinking cups with low bowls, kylices, were used in sixth century BCE Athens with representations of the gorgoneion on the inside of the bowls and on their outsides, depictions of pairs of huge eyes—to safeguard the drinkers from the Evil Eye (see above, Illus. 6, p. 137).
Word Forms
- gorgoneia
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include gorgon, gynosphinx, medusa, chimera, eidolon, oegipan.
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Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
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