"But Persues, bringing back the wondrous trophy
Of the snake-haired monster, through thin air was cleaving
His way of whirring winds. As he flew over
The Libyan sands, drops from the Gorgon's head
Fell bloody on the ground, and earth received them
Turning them into vipers. For this reason
Libya, today, is full of deadly serpents."
"On all sides, through the fields, along the highways,
He saw the forms of men and beasts, made stone
By one look at Medusa's face."
"Stil more, and someone asked him why Medusa,
Alone of all the sisters, was snakey-haired.
Their guest replied: 'That, too, is a tale worth telling.
She was very lovely once, the hope of many
An envious suitor, and all her beauties
Her hair most beautiful—at least I heard so
From one who claimed he had seen her. One day Neptune
Found her and raped her, in Minerva's temple,
and the goddess turned away, and hid her eyes
Behind her shield, and, punishing the outrage
As it deserved, she changed her hair to serpents,
And even now, to frighten evil doers,
She carries on her breastplate metal vipers
To serve as awful warning of her vengeance.'"
— Ovid, Metamorphoses