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Stheno (Greek: Σθεννώ, English translation: "forceful"), in Greek mythology, was the eldest of her sisters Euryale and Medusa, the great Gorgons, vicious female monsters of legend with brass hands, sharp fangs and "hair" made of living venomous snakes.
History[]
The daughter of the primordial titans Phorcys and Ceto, she was born in the caverns beneath Mount Olympus. She and her sister Euryale were both immortal, and the third sister, Medusa, was mortal until she was immortalized in her hideousness by Athena. Stheno tends to be depicted as a thin gorgon monster with red snakes curling around her head instead of hair.
Of the three Gorgons, she was known to be the most independent and ferocious, having killed more men than both of her sisters combined.
In her original depiction in Greek mythology she was born a Gorgon along with her sisters but later authors say that she and her sisters were transformed into Gorgons by the Goddess Athena after Medusa was raped by the sea god Poseidon in the Temple of Athena.
She and her sisters lived on a set of islands called the Gorgades which was near the edge of the world where the titan Atlas carried the sky. Occasionally mortals would come to the island to try and slay Medusa but were either petrified by said gorgon or were killed by Stheno and Euryale.
Eventually Medusa was slain by the demigod Perseus, who had made it to the Gorgons islands and snuck in while they were sleep using the winged sandals of Hermes and Hades helm of invisibility. Upon seeing that their younger sister was slain Stheno screamed in anguish and attempted to murder Perseus only for him to escape.
What became of Stheno and Eurayle afterwards is unknown.