
Perseus is a son of Zeus and a popular figure in Greek art. The fearless and courageous Hero of the Ancient World is almost always depicted holding the Head of the Gorgon Medusa, whose gaze would turn anyone into stone.
With the help of Athena, the Olympian goddess of war and wisdom, Perseus beheaded her exiled priestess Medusa in her sleep. He used the lethal ability of Medusa’s gaze to turn the Titan Atlas into mountains in Morocco and to save the Princess Andromeda of the Ancient Kingdom of Ethiopia. They left the kingdom to their son Perses – the godfather of all Persian kings – and returned the head to Athena. She placed it on her shield as a form of special protection that could turn her enemies into stone. It became a popular protective symbol known as the Gorgoneion.
ANCIENT ROMAN GEMSTONE,
ENGRAVED BY HAND
MEASURES 16 MM