Tales of Perseus

Acrisius, the king of Argos, was the father of a beautiful girl named Danae. Becoming concerned over his lack of sons, Acrisius decided to consult an oracle for advise. Unfortunately, the king would find little comfort in the words of the priestess. For it was prophesied that a future son of Danae's would surely bring about his own death.

To prevent this from happening, Acrisius imprisoned his daughter in an underground dungeon, sealed by an impenetrable door of bronze. This proved to be fine for locking out mortals, but did very little for keeping away a god.

It seems that Zeus , who was always looking for a new romance, found Danae to be very beautiful and often paid her visits artfully disguised as a shower of gold.

Because of these frequent visitations, Danae soon gave birth to a son whom she called Perseus. When Acrisius looked inside the chamber he could not believe his eyes. Refusing to accept that Zeus was the father of the infant, the king instead suspected that his twin brother Proetus was responsible for siring the child. Remembering the words of the oracle, Acrisius placed his daughter and her new born son into a chest and tossed them into the sea. The chest drifted upon the waves, until it finally reached the Isle of Seriphos. Here it was found and brought to shore by a fisherman named Dictys.

He popped open the lid and to his surprise found Danae and baby Perseus alive and healthy. The kind fisherman brought them both to the palace of King Polydectes, who took pity upon the homeless pair and decided to raise Perseus as his own.

As the boy grew to manhood, Polydectes found himself becoming more and more infatuated with Danae. Though the king repeatedly asked her to become his bride, Danae always refused. Because he wanted to avoid any confrontation with Perseus, Polydectes did not force Danae into the marriage.

Instead he pretended to be in love with Hippodameia, the daughter of Oenomaus, king of Pisa. Under the pretense of asking for her hand in marriage Polydectes requested that all his subjects donate horses as a bridal gift. Perseus owned no horses, but promised to bring anything else the king desired, even the head of the Gorgon Medusa.

Polydectes eagerly accepted the young man's offer, for he knew that no one ever returned alive after an encounter with the Gorgon sisters. With Perseus out of the way, the path to Danae would surely be his. The Gorgons were three sisters; Steno, Euryale and Medusa. All had snakes for hair, brazen hands and wings of gold. So ugly were they, that whoever looked upon their faces were instantly turned to stone. Of the three, Medusa alone was mortal, and therefore the only one who could be slain.

Both Athena and Hermes came and offered their services to Perseus. The two gods told him that he must begin his journey by traveling to the Libian mountains. There he would come across the place where the Titan Atas forever stands, supporting the heavens upon his shoulders.

Slightly beyond he would find a cave where there lived three hags, each sharing between them one eye and one tooth. These old crones known as the Graeae or the Grey Women, were sisters of the Gorgons and could help Perseus make his way to the Hyperborean Land.

The young traveler carefully followed the instructions of the gods, and soon found himself outside of the Graeae's home. Perseus stood and watched as the three took turns passing the eye back and forth, allowing each sister to see for a short time. He waited until the eye was being passed for a third round and then quickly snatched it from the grey woman's hand.

Perseus told the old crones he would give their eye back only if they would disclose to him the way to the Nymphs of the North. Frantic to be without sight, the old women complied and immediately revealed the way to the Hyperborean Land.

With Hermes acting as his guide, Perseus soon reached the happy dwelling of the Hyperboreans. Here he found dancing and feasting and was given a great welcome by all.

The gods then presented him with some wonderful gifts; winged sandals for flying, a magic sack that would always be the proper size for anything he wanted to carry, and a cap that deemed the wearer invisable. Perseus also received a great sword by Hermes, which would allow him to easily cut through the thick scales of Medusa. Athena removed the polished shield from her breast and gave it to the young hunter to use as a mirror.

In it he would be able to see the Gorgon without gazing directly at her, thus avoiding her deadly stare. Armed and ready, Perseus and his escort Hermes flew back across Ocean until they came to reach the island of the Gorgons.

Perseus looked into Athene's shield and saw the reflection of the Gorgon sisters sleeping upon a large rock. The goddess pointed out to him which one was Medusa, and with a quick stroke of his sword he removed her head and placed it in the magic sack. As Perseus looked upon the body of the slain Gorgon, he saw her black blood flowing slowly across the stones below. To his surprise, from its darkness rose a glorious creature. There before him appeared a beautiful white horse with golden wings, who would be known to all as Pegasus. Perseus watched in awe as the fine creature flew off into the heavens. Now wide awake, the remaining two Gorgons stared in horror at the site of their sister lying lifeless upon the rocks.

Not wanting to face the wrath of Steno and Euryale, Perseus quickly placed the cap of invisability upon his head, and like Pegasus disappeared into the night. As he made his way home, Perseus happened to come upon a beautiful maiden chained to a massive rock.

Her name was Andromeda and she was the daughter of King Cepheus of Joppa. Because her mother Casseopia boasted that Andromeda's beauty well surpassed that of the Nereids, Poseidon sent a huge sea serpent to ravish the land.

According to an oracle, the only way to stop the monster was to offer the princess Andromeda as a sacrifice. Perseus hovered in the sky as the maiden awaited her terrible fate. Falling in love with her innocence, Perseus lowered himself towards the sea until he was able to see the crest of the serpent's head break through the waves. As the crown of the beast lifted out of the water, Perseus swooped down and as he had done with Medusa, lopped off its head with his mighty sword. King Cepheus rewarded the hero by offering Perseus Andromeda's hand in marriage. This he readily accepted and the two remained in Joppa for about a year. During this time Andromeda gave birth to a son who they called Perses.

Because Cepheus had no male children of his own, Perseus and Andromeda consented to leave Perses behind when they returned to Seriphus. This would entitle the boy, once reaching the proper age, to inherit the throne of Joppa from his grandfather.

When Perseus arrived back in Seriphus, he found both his mother and the fisherman Dictys to be in hiding. Danae had continued to refuse Polydectes' advances and in order to escape his anger fled with Dictys and took refuge in a temple. Perseus headed for the palace where he found the King in the midst of throwing a huge feast in honor of his closest friends. As he entered into the foyer, all eyes were upon him and an eerie hush of silence fell across the crowd. Before anyone could look away, Perseus drew from his bag the head of Medusa and turned the evil King and his followers into stone.

Upon the death of Polydectes, Perseus made Dictys King of Seriphus. He then headed back to Greece with Danae and Andromeda in the hopes of making peace with his grandfather Acrisius.

When they arrived in Argos, Acrisius was nowhere to be found. Some time passed before Perseus heard that King Larissa of Thessaly was holding an athletic contest. Wanting to take part in the games, Perseus journeyed to the palace of the king.

It just so happened that Acrisius was there as well, sitting in the stands and enjoying the games as a spectator. Perseus entered the discus throw and when it was his turn he accidently hit Acrisius in the head with the plate, killing him instantly. So you see, once again the prediction of an oracle has proven that no man can escape his fate.

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