Family
Medusa’s grandparents are Gaia and her second lover, Pontus, and her parents are the shape-shifting sea-god Phorcys (also known as Nereus, Proteus, and ‘the Old Man of the Sea’), and his sister-wife, Ceto (Κητος). Together, they had a large number of children, who are known as either the Phorcydes or Phorcydides.
On the Old Man of the Sea it is said:
“But Pontos, the great sea, was father of truthful Nereus who tells no lies, eldest of his sons. They call him the Old Gentleman because he is trustworthy, and gentle, and never forgetful of what is right, but the thoughts of his mind are mild and righteous.” - Hesiod, Theogony 233
He is a shapeshifter and can foretell the future, and as Nereus he is married to Doris - how he manages to be true to both wives is something of a mystery, but he manages. He lives on the island of Pharos, off the coast of the Nile Delta, and is a herdsman of sea-beasts. He seems to be very fond of seals in particular.
Ceto is an aquatic monster, normally shown as a sepertine dragon. She is the personification of the dangers of the sea, unknown terrors and bizarre creatures.
The Phorcydes
Echidna (Έχιδνα, ‘she-viper’): Also known as ‘the Mother of All Monsters’, Echidna is married to Typhoeus/Typhon and lives in caves. She is mother to most of the major monsters in the Greek myths, and is herself a monster who eats raw flesh. Echidna’s face and torso are of a beautiful woman with wings, but her lower half is that of a large speckled snake (possibly with two tails, I haven’t decided yet). Echidna and Typhoeus attacked the Olympians, but while Zeus shut Typhoeus under Mount Etna, he let Echidna and her children live as quest matieral. She was killed by the hundred-eyed giant, Argus Panoptes.
The Gorgans (Γοργών or Γοργώ): The triplets Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, of whom no one can remember who was born first or even if they were born all at once. They have brass claws, which are normally sheathed like a cat’s, and golden wings. They can lay a protection down on something or someone, and their blood has strange properties - if taken from the right side of the body, their blood can bring the dead back to life, but if taken from the the left, it’s poison.
Stheno and Euryale are immortal, and while fair of form and (mostly) face, they have fangs and tongues like a pair of snakes.
Stheno (Σθεννω, ‘forceful’) is very independent, brash and strong-willed, and she has the wings of a falcon, Euryale (Ευρυαλη, far-reaching’) is the wanderer/gypsy of the trio and has the wings of an osprey, and even though Medusa (Μέδουσα, ‘queen’) is the only mortal one, she is the dominant/ruling triplet (she has the wings of a kestrel).
The Graeae (‘old women’, ‘gray ones’, or ‘gray witches’): Second set of triplets called Deino, Enyo and Pemphredo, they were perpetually old and grey-haired. They only have one eye and one tooth between them, and guard the location of the Gorgans. Possibly the oldest children.
The Hesperides (Ἑσπερίδες): Lipara, Asterope and Chrysothemis (although, one is sometimes called Erytheia (‘the red one’) are the third set of triplets, and are perfectly normal nymphs. They tend to Hera’s apple orchid/ idyllic garden, the one that grows the immortality-giving apples, somewhere to the far West in Libya, and somewhere near their cousin Atlas. They are fond of singing, dancing, and stealing the fruit when they think no one notices. They and the garden are guarded by their only brother, Ladon.
Ladon: A hundred-headed sepertine dragon, he protects his sisters the Hesperides and Hera’s garden.
Scylla/ Skylla (Σκύλλα): is a monster who either has six long necks equipped with grisly heads, each of which contained three rows of sharp teeth, twelve canine legs and a fish's tail, or is a fish-tailed mermaid with four to six dog-heads ringing her waist. She might have been born that way, or cursed by Circe for love of Glaucus. Whichever it is, she lives on the other side of a narrow sea channel from Charybis, although by the time of Troy she has turned into a set of very sharp, very dangerous rocks and overhangs.
The Sirens (Σειρήνες Seirenes or Ἀχελωίδες Acheloides): are five sea-deities who sing so beautifully that sailors are enchanted, and crash their ships into the rocks of the sirens’ island. All are technically monsters, although the exact appearance of each differs - some are more bird-like, others more human.
Thoosa: is a sea-nymph, and one of Poseidon’s lovers. She bore him a son, the Cyclops Polyphemus. Medusa isn’t currently talking to her, more out of disgust than anything else.
Children
Chrysaor: a giant with a golden sword, he became king of Iberia (Spain and Portugal), and married Callirhoe, a daughter of Oceanus. They had a son, Geryon, who was killed by Heracles.
Pegasus: the orginal winged horse. Athena caught and tamed Pegasus, and presented him to the Muses at Mount Parnassus. After he became the horse of the Muses, he was at the service of the poets. Eventually, he took a mate, Euippe (or Ocyrrhoe), and had two children Celeris and Melanippe, and thus founded the family of winged horses. When he died, Zeus turned him into a constellation. Refer to wiki!page for more details.
Half-siblings (mother is Doris)
Nereids: sea-nymphs, about fifty of or so in number. They tend to flock around Posiedon, and act friendly and helpful towards sailors - somewhat like dolphins. Refer to wiki for more detail.
Amphitrite: a Nereid, and wife of Poseidon. She has ‘ox-eyes’, and her non-human children include seals and dolphins. By Poseidon she has a son, Triton, and two daughters - Rhode and Benthesikyme. Completely a sea-goddess, to the extent that she doesn’t really bother with anything out of it. She is also queen of the nereids. Medusa hasn’t spoken to her in a while, and doesn’t really want to change that.
Eidothea: “the very image of the Goddess”, who helps Menelaus (after the Trojan War) by telling him “that if he could capture her father he could force him to reveal which of the gods he had offended, and how he could propitiate them and return home.”
Polygonos and Telegonos: both killed by Heracles. It seems to be a family thing.
On the Old Man of the Sea it is said:
“But Pontos, the great sea, was father of truthful Nereus who tells no lies, eldest of his sons. They call him the Old Gentleman because he is trustworthy, and gentle, and never forgetful of what is right, but the thoughts of his mind are mild and righteous.” - Hesiod, Theogony 233
He is a shapeshifter and can foretell the future, and as Nereus he is married to Doris - how he manages to be true to both wives is something of a mystery, but he manages. He lives on the island of Pharos, off the coast of the Nile Delta, and is a herdsman of sea-beasts. He seems to be very fond of seals in particular.
Ceto is an aquatic monster, normally shown as a sepertine dragon. She is the personification of the dangers of the sea, unknown terrors and bizarre creatures.
The Phorcydes
Echidna (Έχιδνα, ‘she-viper’): Also known as ‘the Mother of All Monsters’, Echidna is married to Typhoeus/Typhon and lives in caves. She is mother to most of the major monsters in the Greek myths, and is herself a monster who eats raw flesh. Echidna’s face and torso are of a beautiful woman with wings, but her lower half is that of a large speckled snake (possibly with two tails, I haven’t decided yet). Echidna and Typhoeus attacked the Olympians, but while Zeus shut Typhoeus under Mount Etna, he let Echidna and her children live as quest matieral. She was killed by the hundred-eyed giant, Argus Panoptes.
The Gorgans (Γοργών or Γοργώ): The triplets Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, of whom no one can remember who was born first or even if they were born all at once. They have brass claws, which are normally sheathed like a cat’s, and golden wings. They can lay a protection down on something or someone, and their blood has strange properties - if taken from the right side of the body, their blood can bring the dead back to life, but if taken from the the left, it’s poison.
Stheno and Euryale are immortal, and while fair of form and (mostly) face, they have fangs and tongues like a pair of snakes.
Stheno (Σθεννω, ‘forceful’) is very independent, brash and strong-willed, and she has the wings of a falcon, Euryale (Ευρυαλη, far-reaching’) is the wanderer/gypsy of the trio and has the wings of an osprey, and even though Medusa (Μέδουσα, ‘queen’) is the only mortal one, she is the dominant/ruling triplet (she has the wings of a kestrel).
The Graeae (‘old women’, ‘gray ones’, or ‘gray witches’): Second set of triplets called Deino, Enyo and Pemphredo, they were perpetually old and grey-haired. They only have one eye and one tooth between them, and guard the location of the Gorgans. Possibly the oldest children.
The Hesperides (Ἑσπερίδες): Lipara, Asterope and Chrysothemis (although, one is sometimes called Erytheia (‘the red one’) are the third set of triplets, and are perfectly normal nymphs. They tend to Hera’s apple orchid/ idyllic garden, the one that grows the immortality-giving apples, somewhere to the far West in Libya, and somewhere near their cousin Atlas. They are fond of singing, dancing, and stealing the fruit when they think no one notices. They and the garden are guarded by their only brother, Ladon.
Ladon: A hundred-headed sepertine dragon, he protects his sisters the Hesperides and Hera’s garden.
Scylla/ Skylla (Σκύλλα): is a monster who either has six long necks equipped with grisly heads, each of which contained three rows of sharp teeth, twelve canine legs and a fish's tail, or is a fish-tailed mermaid with four to six dog-heads ringing her waist. She might have been born that way, or cursed by Circe for love of Glaucus. Whichever it is, she lives on the other side of a narrow sea channel from Charybis, although by the time of Troy she has turned into a set of very sharp, very dangerous rocks and overhangs.
The Sirens (Σειρήνες Seirenes or Ἀχελωίδες Acheloides): are five sea-deities who sing so beautifully that sailors are enchanted, and crash their ships into the rocks of the sirens’ island. All are technically monsters, although the exact appearance of each differs - some are more bird-like, others more human.
Thoosa: is a sea-nymph, and one of Poseidon’s lovers. She bore him a son, the Cyclops Polyphemus. Medusa isn’t currently talking to her, more out of disgust than anything else.
Children
Chrysaor: a giant with a golden sword, he became king of Iberia (Spain and Portugal), and married Callirhoe, a daughter of Oceanus. They had a son, Geryon, who was killed by Heracles.
Pegasus: the orginal winged horse. Athena caught and tamed Pegasus, and presented him to the Muses at Mount Parnassus. After he became the horse of the Muses, he was at the service of the poets. Eventually, he took a mate, Euippe (or Ocyrrhoe), and had two children Celeris and Melanippe, and thus founded the family of winged horses. When he died, Zeus turned him into a constellation. Refer to wiki!page for more details.
Half-siblings (mother is Doris)
Nereids: sea-nymphs, about fifty of or so in number. They tend to flock around Posiedon, and act friendly and helpful towards sailors - somewhat like dolphins. Refer to wiki for more detail.
Amphitrite: a Nereid, and wife of Poseidon. She has ‘ox-eyes’, and her non-human children include seals and dolphins. By Poseidon she has a son, Triton, and two daughters - Rhode and Benthesikyme. Completely a sea-goddess, to the extent that she doesn’t really bother with anything out of it. She is also queen of the nereids. Medusa hasn’t spoken to her in a while, and doesn’t really want to change that.
Eidothea: “the very image of the Goddess”, who helps Menelaus (after the Trojan War) by telling him “that if he could capture her father he could force him to reveal which of the gods he had offended, and how he could propitiate them and return home.”
Polygonos and Telegonos: both killed by Heracles. It seems to be a family thing.