Medusa Names a Gorgon and a Jellyfish
Medusa was a Greek monster whose gaze turned people to stone. Biology named the jellyfish form after her hair.
Medusa was the Gorgon of Greek myth whose gaze turned onlookers to stone. Biology borrowed the name for the free-swimming bell stage of a jellyfish, because its trailing tentacles resemble her snake hair. The *medusa* alternates with a *polyp* stage in many species, so a single animal spends part of its life anchored and part drifting.
- A Greek Gorgon. *The head of Medusa.*
- A jellyfish stage. *The medusa form.*
- Medusae — the plural. *Drifting medusae.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | medusa | A free-swimming medusa. |
| Plural | medusae | Countless medusae. |
| Related | polyp | The polyp stage. |
| Related | gorgon | One of three gorgons. |
| Related | gorgonian | A gorgonian coral. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The medusa is the bell-shaped stage.Marine biology.
- Perseus used a mirrored shield.To avoid meeting her gaze.
- A gorgoneion is the head used as a protective image.On shields and buildings.
Jellyfish life cycle
- Planula — a free-swimming larva
- Polyp — anchored to the seabed
- Strobila — the polyp segmenting
- Ephyra — a young medusa released from it
- Medusa — the adult bell that drifts and reproduces
From Greek *Medousa*, meaning the guardian or ruler, from *medein*, to protect or rule.
Why is a jellyfish stage called a medusa?
Because the trailing tentacles beneath the bell resemble the snakes of Medusa's hair.
Was Medusa always a monster?
Accounts vary. In some later versions she was a beautiful woman transformed as a punishment, but the earliest sources present her as a monster from birth.