Medusa was born the only beautiful daughter to the ugliest sea witch ever to inhabit the depths of the ocean. Her looks were radiant enough to gain the adoration of Poseidon, King of the Oceans, causing her to become very vain. But vanity is a dangerous thing in a world controlled by jealous gods. Athena, goddess of beauty, is angered by Medusa's conceit and pronounces a curse: "Anyone who looks at you will turn to stone. Hide yourself if you can!" With this, Medusa is transformed into a hideous monster, forced to hide herself in a distant cave and await her fate.

When Perseus, a mortal son of Zeus, is ordered by the sinister Polydectes to deliver the head of Medusa, it seems he has been chosen to see that Athena's curse reaches its fruition. But how will he accomplish what no other mortal has been able to? How will he survive the glare of Medusa? Is it possible Medusa will defy her cursed fate?

In her masterfully written and imaginatively illustrated book, Deborah Nourse Lattimore re-creates the tragedy of one of the best-known Greek myths--the tale of the gorgon Medusa.