Gorgons 
 
  The gorgons, in Greek mythology, are three sisters who, with their gaze, turn men into stone – femme fatales all.  Instead of snakes for hair, here Klimt shows them as hags.  But note the background in the right of the panel, a long serpentine tail winds round and round.
 

The most famous of all gorgons is Medusa.  Mythology has it that Perseus, instead of looking at her lest he turn to stone, used a polished shield to view her reflection so he could cut her head off.  It is from this severed head that Pegasus, the winged horse, sprung forth.    On the right we see a picture of Medusa with her decapitation.