Perseus (1)

Perseus was the son of Zeus by the maiden, Danae.

King Akrisius (Acrisius) of Argos, Danae’s father, was told by an oracle that Danae would have a son which would take his throne; to thwart the oracle, Akrisius had Danae locked in a bronze vault so she could not be seduced or wed; Zeus came to her as a shower of gold and Perseus was a result of Zeus’ touch.

Akrisius took the mother and new-born child and set them adrift in a coffin-like box thinking that they would die at sea but the box washed ashore on the island of Seriphos and was found by the king’s brother, Diktys (Dictys).

The king of Seriphos, Polydektes (Polydectes), fell in love with Danae and, as Perseus grew older, thought that the imposing young man was the only obstacle to his successful seduction of Danae; he sent Perseus on a quest for the head of the Medusa.

Medusa was one of the three sisters known as the Gorgons and any mortal who dared to look upon Medusa’s face was turned to stone; Polydektes was sure that Perseus would die on this quest but, being the son of Zeus, Perseus had the protection of Athene (Athena) and the assistance of Hermes to assure his success.

Perseus first sought out the sisters of the Gorgons, the Graiai (the Gray Sisters), who were three women, gray from birth, who shared one tooth and one eye between them; Perseus stole their tooth and eye and, using them as ransom, forced the Graiai to give him the location of the nymphs who had possession of the Cap of Hades (which would make him invisible), a pair of winged sandals (for flying) and a kibisis (a bag to hold Medusa’s head); he later obtained a sickle (or sword) from Hermes and set out to slay Medusa.

With the help of Athene, Perseus was able to cut off Medusa’s head; after the attack on their sister the other Gorgons, Sthenno and Euryale, chased Perseus but his flying sandals saved him; as Perseus flew over the Libyan desert, the drops of blood from Medusa’s severed head produced a brood of vile serpents, the winged horse, Pegasos (Pegasus), and the monster with the golden sword, Khrysaor.

The story of Perseus was perhaps three generations before Herakles (Heracles) and has endured as a popular artistic theme from the seventh century BCE until modern times.

As Perseus was returning to Argos he encountered a situation in Ethiopia where the king, Kepheus (Cepheus), and his wife, Kassiopeia (Cassiopeia), were going to sacrifice their daughter, Andromeda; Kassiopeia had offended the Nereids by boasting that she was more beautiful than the daughters of Nereus; as revenge for such a transgression, Poseidon (lord of the Sea) sent one of his sea monsters to ravage the countryside and terrorize the inhabitants; the only way to placate the monster was for Andromeda to be sacrificed to Poseidon’s beast; just as the monster was about to devour Andromeda, Perseus intervened and used the head of Medusa to turn the monster to stone.

Before Perseus could marry Andromeda, she was kidnapped by another suitor named Phineus; Perseus also used the Gorgon’s severed to turn Phineus and his henchmen to stone.

When Perseus returned to the island of Seriphos he found that king Polydektes was threatening his mother with violence and quickly disposed of him; Perseus’ grandfather, Akrisius, had set all of the dramatic events of Perseus’ life into motion by his fear that his grandson would take his throne; as fate would have it, Akrisius had left Argos by the time Perseus returned from his adventures but he could not escape the grand design of the Immortals; while Perseus was participating in an athletic competition, he threw a discus and accidentally killed Akrisius; Perseus refused the throne of Argos and went to Asia Minor where his son, Perses, founded the race that would become known as the Persians

• Theogony, line 280
• Argonautika, book 4, lines 1513
• Shield of Herakles, line 216 and 229