​Statuette of a Running Gorgon, 540 BCE. We see Medusa before Perseus reaches her: A Greek female in the 6th century BCE wearing long hair usually represented a maiden, which was Medusa’s previous status. Here she has abundant long textured hair, both sinuous and segmented to describe wavy texture. In later Greek art her hair will appear as intertwined snakes coiling and writhing across her head. Snakes coiling around her arms and interlocking at her waist in this statuette introduce this serpentine element that will form an integral part of her appearance.