Gordium, a town of Phrygia. Justin, bk. 11, ch. 7.—Livy, bk. 38, ch. 18.—Curtius, bk. 3, ch. 1.
Gordius, a Phrygian, who, though originally a peasant, was raised to the throne. During a sedition, the Phrygians consulted the oracle, and were told that all their troubles would cease as soon as they chose for their king the first man they met going to the temple of Jupiter, mounted on a chariot. Gordius was the object of their choice, and he immediately consecrated his chariot in the temple of Jupiter. The knot which tied the yoke to the draught tree, was made in such an artful manner that the ends of the cord could not be perceived. From this circumstance a report was soon spread, that the empire of Asia was promised by the oracle to him that could untie the Gordian knot. Alexander, in his conquest of Asia, passed by Gordium; and as he wished to leave nothing undone which might inspire his soldiers with courage, and make his enemies believe that he was born to conquer Asia, he cut the knot with his sword; and from that circumstance asserted that the oracle was really fulfilled, and that his claims to universal empire were fully justified. Justin, bk. 11, ch. 7.—Curtius, bk. 3, ch. 1.—Arrian, bk. 1.——A tyrant of Corinth. Aristotle.
Gorgāsus, a man who received divine honours at Pheræ in Messenia. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 30.
Gorge, a daughter of Œneus king of Calydon, by Althæa daughter of Thestius. She married Andremon, by whom she had Oxilus, who headed the Heraclidæ when they made an attempt upon Peloponnesus. Her tomb was seen at Amphissa in Locris. Pausanias, bk. 10, ch. 38.—Apollodorus, bks. 1 & 2.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 8, li. 542.——One of the Danaides. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1.
Gorgias, a celebrated sophist and orator, son of Carmantides surnamed Leontinus, because born at Leontium in Sicily. He was sent by his countrymen to solicit the assistance of the Athenians against the Syracusans, and was successful in his embassy. He lived to his 108th year, and died B.C. 400. Only two fragments of his compositions are extant. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 17.—Cicero, Orator, ch. 22, &c.; De Senectute, ch. 15; Brutus, ch. 15.—Quintilian, bks. 3 & 12.——An officer of Antiochus Epiphanes.——An Athenian, who wrote an account of all the prostitutes of Athens. Athenæus.——A Macedonian, forced to war with Amyntas, &c. Curtius, bk. 7, ch. 1.
Gorgo, the wife of Leonidas king of Sparta, &c.——The name of the ship which carried Perseus, after he had conquered Medusa.
Gorgŏnes, three celebrated sisters, daughters of Phorcys and Ceto, whose names were Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, all immortal except Medusa. According to the mythologists, their hairs were entwined with serpents, their hands were of brass, their wings of the colour of gold, their body was covered with impenetrable scales, and their teeth were as long as the tusks of a wild boar, and they turned to stones all those on whom they fixed their eyes. Medusa alone had serpents in her hair, according to Ovid, and this proceeded from the resentment of Minerva, in whose temple Medusa had gratified the passion of Neptune, who was enamoured of the beautiful colour of her locks, which the goddess changed into serpents. Æschylus says that they had only one tooth and one eye between them, of which they had the use each in her turn; and accordingly it was at the time that they were exchanging the eye, that Perseus attacked them, and cut off Medusa’s head. According to some authors, Perseus, when he went to the conquest of the Gorgons, was armed with an instrument like a scythe by Mercury, and provided with a looking-glass by Minerva, besides winged shoes, and a helmet of Pluto, which rendered all objects clearly visible and open to the view, while the person who wore it remained totally invisible. With weapons like these, Perseus obtained an easy victory; and after his conquest, returned his arms to the different deities whose favours and assistance he had so recently experienced. The head of Medusa remained in his hands; and after he had finished all his laborious expeditions, he gave it to Minerva, who placed it on her ægis, with which she turned into stones all such as fixed their eyes upon it. It is said, that after the conquest of the Gorgons, Perseus took his flight in the air towards Æthiopia; and that the drops of blood which fell to the ground from Medusa’s head were changed into serpents, which have ever since infested the sandy deserts of Libya. The horse Pegasus also arose from the blood of Medusa, as well as Chrysaor with his golden sword. The residence of the Gorgons was beyond the ocean towards the west, according to Hesiod. Æschylus makes them inhabit the eastern parts of Scythia; and Ovid, as the most received opinion, supports that they lived in the inland parts of Libya, near the lake of Triton, or the gardens of the Hesperides. Diodorus and others explain the fable of the Gorgons, by supposing that they were a warlike race of women near the Amazons, whom Perseus, with the help of a large army, totally destroyed. Hesiod, Theogony & Shield of Heracles.—Apollonius, bk. 4.—Apollodorus, bk. 2, chs. 1 & 4, &c.—Homer, Iliad, bks. 5 & 11.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, &c.—Diodorus, bks. 1 & 4.—Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 20, &c.—Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, act 4.—Pindar, Pythian, odes 7 & 12; Olympian, poem 3.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 618, &c.—Palæphatus, on the Daughters of Phorcys.
Gorgŏnia, a surname of Pallas, because Perseus, armed with her shield, had conquered the Gorgon, who had polluted her temple with Neptune.
Gorgŏnius, a man ridiculed by Horace for his ill smell. Horace, bk. 1, satire 2, li. 27.
Gorgŏphŏne, a daughter of Perseus and Andromeda, who married Perieres king of Messenia, by whom she had Aphareus and Leucippus. After the death of Perieres, she married Œbalus, who made her mother of Icarus and Tyndarus. She is the first whom the mythologists mention as having had a second husband. Pausanias, bk. 4, ch. 2.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, chs. 2 & 3.——One of the Danaides. Apollodorus, bk. 2, ch. 1.