Gorgon
Γοργόνη
Gorgon or URGO (Γοργόνη, Ptol. 3.1.78: Gorgona), a small island in the Tyrrhenian sea, between the coast of Etruria and Corsica, and distant about 20 miles from the mainland. Its name is written Urgo by .Pliny and Mela; but Rutilius, who describes it in his poetical itinerary, calls it Gorgon, and this form is confirmed by the authority of Ptolemy (l.c.), as well as by its modern name of Gorgona. (Plin. Nat. 3.6. s. 12; Mel. 2.7.19; Rutil. Itin. 1.515.) It is a small island, only about 8 miles in circumference, but elevated and rocky, rising abruptly out of the sea, which renders it a conspicuous object from a distance. Between it and the port of Livorno is the islet of Meloria, a mere rock, which is supposed to be the Maenaria of Pliny.
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.