Perseus

**Perseus** is a demigod hero son of Zeus, and Danae, the daughter of Acrisius, the king of Argos.

## Background

When a prophecy revealed to Acrisius that his grandson would kill him, Acrisius imprisoned his daughter Danae to keep her chaste. Zeus, however, fooled Acrisius' precautions by entering the prison disguised as a shower of gold. When Acrisius discovered that Danae had given birth to Perseus, he had the mother and the son thrown into the sea in a chest of wood.

Luckily they reached the island of Seriphos where the king Polydectes offered them hospitality and protection. Perseus was secretly raised on the island and became a courageous young man. Polydectes pretended to marry the daughter of his friend. Everybody had to bring a wedding present, including Perseus. However, Perseus, being poor, had not brought anything, and Polydectes pretended to be furious. After a heated discussion, Perseus said he would bring him anything the king would ask; so Polydectes asked for the head of the Gorgon Medusa.

Perseus set forth on his adventure; he wandered for days, searching for the Gorgons lair. One night, in an unknown country he realized how hopeless things were. Medusa was a horrible creature, who had snakes growing out of her head instead of hair, and a terrifying gaze that literally petrified anyone who would look into her eyes.

In his despair, a young man with winged sandals appeared and introduced himself as Hermes. Hermes said that they were siblings as Perseus was in fact the son of Zeus, so he would help Perseus in his quest; so Hermes offered him his winged sandals and the sickle that was used by Cronus to castrate Uranus. He also gave Perseus further information on how to find the lair of Medusa.

So Perseus went to the cave of the Graeae, who would lead him further in his adventure. The Graeae were three women who shared a single eye among them. So, when one of them was about to give the eye to one of the others, Perseus grabbed it and blackmailed them to aid him. So, the Graeae informed him that he should find the Nymphs of the North to get the Cap of Darkness which would make him invisible, as well as a magic bag.

After getting these two items, Perseus eventually went to the lair of Medusa and her sisters, who were sleeping at the time. However, a tall woman stopped him before he could enter. She introduced herself as Athena, also a child of Zeus, and told him he could not enter. She convinced him that if he were to take on Medusa the way he was at that moment, it would be a guaranteed life sentence. In other words, Perseus couldn't kill Medusa the way he was now, and if he tried, he would just get himself killed. That managed to discourage Perseus enough that he left to go back to Seriphus, empty handed.

On his way back to Seriphus, he had many adventures. Once, he saw what looked like a statue chained to a rock, so he went to investigate. He saw that it was not a statue, but a woman, and asked her why she was chained to the rock. "My name is Andromeda", she replied, "and I have been punished because of my vain mother. She boasted that I was more beautiful than the Nereids. Poseidon was angered and said that I must be sacrificed to a sea monster," she said. Perseus cut Andromeda's chains and took her to her father, King Cepheus of Phoenicia. When Perseus asked Andromeda's hand in marriage, Cepheus gladly agreed. So, Perseus and Andromeda set off for Seriphus.