Medusa received help. He received a mirrored shield from Athena, gold, winged sandals from Hermes, a sword from Hephaestus and Hades's helm of invisibility. Since Medusa was the only one of the three Gorgons who was mortal, Perseus was able to slay her while looking at the reflection from the mirrored shield he received from Athena. During that time, Medusa was pregnant by Poseidon. When Perseus beheaded her, Pegasus, a winged horse, and Chrysaor, a giant wielding a golden sword, sprang from her body. Jane Ellen Harrison argues that "her potency only begins when her head is severed, and that potency
Perseus with the Head of Medusa and the patron, Cosimo I. Michael Cole specifically draws attention to the process of casting the "Perseus". Citing Cellini’s "Vita", Cole notes how Cellini’s assistants let the metal clot and had Cellini not been present the work would have been destroyed. Cole then asserts that Cellini goes beyond reviving the work, but raised the dead, in which he means that Cellini’s salvation was remelting the bronze. Cellini also invokes Christ and by doing so he breathes life into the sculpture. Casting the "Perseus" was more than meeting the demand of Cosimo I; Cellini was proving himself to Florence in a