Gorgophone

In Greek mythology, Gorgophone (Ancient Greek: Γοργοφόνη) was a daughter of Perseus and Andromeda. Her name means "Gorgon Slayer", a tribute to her father who killed Medusa, the mortal Gorgon.

Gorgophone is a central figure in the history of Sparta, having been married to two kings, Oebalus of Laconia and Perieres of Messenia, and being considered the first woman to have married twice. She was of Lelege descent, the Leleges being a people from Asia Minor who settled in Laconia. One of the sons of Oibalos and Gorgophone was Tyndareus, stepfather of Helen of Troy, Clytemnestra, Castor and Pollux, and another was Icarius, father of Odysseus's wife, Penelope. Thus, Perseus's descendants played a central role in the Homeric epics and the pre-history of Greece. With her second husband, Perieres, she became the mother of Leucippus and Aphareus, half-brothers of Hippocoon, Tyndareus and Icarius.

Gorgophone was also the name of one of the Danaids; she married and murdered Proteus, a son of Aegyptus.

References

Chief sources for Gorgophone are Pausanias (Books II and IV) and Apollodorus (Books I and III).