Medusa

Medusa is a Greek name meaning "guardian or protector." In general in mythology she was a female chthonic monster who turned those who stared into her eyes to stone. She was beheaded by Perseus, who then used her head as a weapon until he gave it to the goddess Athena to put on her shield, her aegis. Since classical antiquity, the image of Medusa's head has been depicted on the evil-warding device known as the Gorgoneion.