Γοργόνιον
Gorgonion

Greek noun

Last edited: 2025-02-26
Primary meaning Gorgon’s Head (β+ω+ρ+π Persei)
Literal translation Gorgon’s Head
Variants
Γοργόνιον Gorgonion
Γοργώνιον Gorgōnion
Γοργόνιοι Gorgonioi
Edited by
Gorgon’s Head (β+ω+ρ+π Persei) part of constellation

Οἱ δὲ ἐν ἄκρᾳ τῇ ἀριστερᾷ χειρὶ τοῦ Περσέως κείμενοι ἀστέρες Γοργόνιον καλοῦνται· οἱ δὲ ἐν ἄκρᾳ τῇ δεξιᾷ χειρὶ τοῦ Περσέως κείμενοι ἀστερίσκοι πυκνοὶ καὶ μικροὶ εἰς τὴν Ἅρπην καταστηρίζονται.

‘The stars lying on the tip of the left hand of Perseus are called Gorgon’s Head; the close-packed tiny little stars lying on the tip of the right hand of Perseus are fixed into the Sickle.’

— Geminus 3.11

Genre: astronomy
Date: 1st century BCE

Geminus. 1975. Géminos, Introduction aux Phénomènes, ed. G. Aujac. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. 19-20

Some manuscripts have the variant Γοργώνιον or Γοργόνιοι.
Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Peeters, T. (2025). Γοργόνιον (Lemma #2907). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2907/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Peeters, T. (2025). Γοργόνιον (Lemma #2907). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2907/
MLA (9th)
Peeters, T. (2025). Γοργόνιον (Lemma #2907). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2907/
Harvard
Peeters, T. (2025) Γοργόνιον (Lemma #2907), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2907/ (Accessed: February 2, 2026).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac2907,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-02-02]},
	author = {Peeters, Thomas},
	year = {2025},
	title = {Γοργόνιον ({Lemma} #2907)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2907/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2907/},
}