Abbie Lattimore, age 15, of Baltimore, Md., for her question:

WHO WAS MEDUSA?

In Greek mythology there were three Gorgons who were daughters of the sea god Phorcys. They were winged female creatures who had snakes for hair and dragonlike bodies.

Medusa was the only one of the three who was mortal. All who looked at her head, legend has it, immediately turned to stone.

Perseus finally killed Medusa. He gave her head to Athena. She wore on Athena's breast plate as a secret weapon. From Medusa's dying body came the winged horse Pegasus and the giant Chrysaor.

Some stories say that Medusa was the only Gorgon, and that she was a monster child of Earth.

In sculpture and paintings Medusa is often shown as a beautiful girl who is tortured by her hair of writhing snakes.