Perseus is known to many as the slayer of the Gorgon Medusa, the slaughterer of Cetus, a sea monster that is often coined as the "whale" today and executioner of Polydectes, the wicked King of Sephiros was one of the most daring and most celebrated of all Greek heroes.

In addition, Perseus is the greatest admirer of Andromeda, as well as founder of Mycenae and the Perseid dynasty.

Yesterday we shared the story of Theseus , the legendary king of Athens and today, we are going to share another legend of the Greek mythology.

So, are you ready for another Greeky ride? Let's go!

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Danaë, his mother, had been imprisoned on a bronze room without a roof in the courtyard of the palace of his grandfather, Acrisius in Argos. A soothsayer had told the king that he would die at the hands of his daughter’s offspring and he was trying to prevent her from knowing a man, any man.

But Zeus, the king of the gods, fancied Danaë and came to her as a gold shower. Thus, Perseus was born.

Now Acrisius, who didn’t want to irritate Zeus by killing his son, placed mother and child on a wooden coffer and put them out to sea. Danaë prayed to Zeus and he spared them.

They came onto land on Seriphos, an island d ruled by Polydectes. It was the king’s brother, Dictys who rescued them and raised Perseus.

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Slaying of Medusa

Eventually, Polydectes fell in love with Danaë and devised a plot to get rid of her son. The king would throw a banquet and every guess would have to bring a horse. Perseus, living with a fisherman, had not horses so he asked Polydectes what else he could bring.

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The king said he wanted the head of Medusa, the only mortal Gorgon. Medusa had been a woman once, but she had laid with Poseidon in the temple of Athena and the goddess had punished her by changing her beautiful hair into snakes and causing her stare to turn men into stone.

Athena helped Perseus with advice and he went looking for the Hesperides, nymphs that looked after Hera’s gardens and held the weapons to defeat Medusa. The Graeae, three old sisters who had one collective eye and tooth were the only one who knew how to find the Hesperides. Perseus took the eye and held it until the Graeae, told him what he wanted.

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In addition to the special sack to hold Medusa’s head, winged sandals to fly and the helm of indivisibility he got from the Hesperides, Perseus received an adamantine (very hard) sword from Hermes and Athena’s mirror shield.

So armed he went into the cave where Medusa and the other gorgons slept, looking at her reflection on the shield he was able to cut her head and, being invisible, escape from her persecuting sisters.

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Rescue of Andromeda

Using his flying sandals to get back to Seriphos, Perseus stopped at the Phoenician city-state of Joppa. In the myth the areas is mistakenly called Ethiopia, but it is not the African kingdom. When he gets there, the city is under water and Andromeda, the princess, is tied to a rock as a sacrifice to the sea serpent Cetus.

All this was happening because the sea god Poseidon was angry at Queen Cassiopeia for her boasting to be as beautiful as the Nereids – sea nymphs that accompanied Poseidon on his trips.

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Perseus flew to Andromeda – again using his sandals not on Pegasus (the winged horse) like many modern artist had portrayed - , killed the monster, free the princess and then claimed her in marriage.

But nothing is ever easy for the Greek heroes. Phineus, who Andromeda had been promised to before Perseus came around, showed up at the wedding. A fight broke out and Perseus pulled out medusa’s head turning Phineus to stone.

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Revenge of Perseus

Perseus and Andromeda then went back to Seriphos where they found Polydectes about to force Danae to marry him. When the king jeered at Perseus, refusing to believe he had killed Medusa, Perseus flashed the head and turned him to stone. He gave the throne to Dictys, the fisherman who had saved Danae and himself from the sea.

When his grandfather, Acrisius learned of his return he remembered the prophesy that Perseus would kill him and fled the country to Thessaly. Many years later while Perseus was competing in the funeral games of the king of Thessaly, he threw a discus that accidentally struck and killed Acrisius.

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Other accounts of Perseus’ return to Seriphos and Argos, and how the prophesy of Acrisius’ death was fulfilled.

• Perseus went to Larissa to participate in an athletic competition. He was showing the public the game of quoits which he had just developed, when Acrisius, who was there for the games, too, walked into a flying disk and was killed.
• Acrisius was dethrone by his brother Proetus. Perseus then use Medusa’s head and turned Proetus to stone, reinstated Acrisius, but then kills him, too. Full of guilt, Perseus trades with the son of Proetus, Megapenthes and became the king of Tyrin.

King of Tiryns

Perseus and Andromeda lived happily together, having six sons and a daughter. Perseus became king of Tiryns and founded the city of Mycenae where he ruled.

Upon her death, Andromeda was turned into a constellation by Athena.

Sources

_{Greek Mythology - Perseus
Myth File - Adventures of Perseus
Greek Gods and Goddesses - Adventures of Perseus}

Interested in the Greek Mythology? You may check my other posts for further reading.

• Theseus: Greek Hero and Legendary King of Athens
• Mythical Creatures: The Centaurs
• Mythical Creatures: The Seductive Sirens
• Ancient Greek Myth: Theseus and the Minotaur