Perseus Perseus See More Perseus Pictures > According to the myth, there once was a king named Acrisius , who had a beautiful daughter named Danae . The Oracle of Apollo told Acrisius that there would come a day when Danae 's son would kill him; so he locked Danae in a bronze tower so that she would never marry or have children. The tower had no doors, except for one very small window. Danae was very sad, until one day, a bright golden light came through the small window; a man appeared holding a thunderbolt in his hand and although Danae knew he was a god, she didn't know which one. The man said, "Yes, I am a god and I wish to make you my wife. I can turn this dark prison into a wonderful, sunny and blooming land." Indeed, the horrible prison turned into fields as beautiful as the Elysian Fields themselves, but one day Acrisius saw light coming out of the small window. He told his men to tear down one of the walls. When he entered, he saw Danae smiling and holding a baby on her lap. This was Perseus .

Acrisius was furious, so he locked Danae and baby Perseus in a large chest and cast them out to sea. Somehow, they managed to arrive safely to the island of Seriphos, where Polydectes ruled. The king's brother, Dictys, who was a fisherman, caught the chest in his net and pulled it to shore, freeing Danae and her son. Perseus grew up to become a strong young man. Polydectes heard about Danae and asked her in marriage, but she rejected him. If it wasn't for Perseus , Polydectes would have married Danae by force; so the king decided to create a plan to get rid of the 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 literary petrified anyone who would look into her eyes. In his despair, a tall woman and a young man with winged sandals appeared and introduced themselves as goddess Athena and god Hermes . Hermes said that they were all siblings as Perseus was in fact the son of Zeus , so they would help him in his quest; so Hermes offered him his winged sandals and the sickle that was used by Cronus to castrate Uranus ; while Athena gave him her shield, so that Perseus would not have to look straight into Medusa 's eyes. They also gave him 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, whom he found sleeping. He wore the Cap of Darkness, and unseen managed to kill Medusa using the sickle; he then used the shield to carry the head and place it into the magic bag, for even though it was dead, the head still have the potential to turn someone into stone. Medusa 's sisters woke up and attacked Perseus , but he flew away using his winged sandals. On his way back to Seriphus, he had many adventures; in one of them, he came across the Titan Atlas , who was condemned to carry the heavens on his shoulders. To release him of his pain, Perseus turned him into stone using Medusa 's head, so that he would no longer feel the weight of his burden.

Later on, 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. Even as she spoke a monster rose from the sea. Perseus pulled Medusa 's head out of the bag; the sea monster turned to stone and crumbled to pieces. 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. On the way they stopped at Larisa, so Perseus could compete in some games that were held at that time; however, when he threw a discus, it hit an old man who instantly died.

The man was Acrisius and therefore, the prophecy became true; after mourning, Perseus and Andromeda set off again. When they arrived at Seriphus, the first person they met was Dictys, the fisherman who had brought Danae and Perseus ashore many years ago. Dictys told them how Polydectes had never really married, but since Danae wouldn't marry Polydectes , he forced her to be his handmaiden. Perseus was furious, so he asked Dictys to take care of Andromeda , in order to avenge for his mother's mistreatment. Perseus stormed to the palace, walked in and said, "Let all who are my friends shield their eyes!" So saying he raised Medusa 's head and Polydectes and his courtiers were immediately turned to stone. Perseus and Andromeda lived happily for many years and their descendants became great kings, the greatest of them all being Heracles , the strongest man in the world. Eventually, Perseus was killed by Dionysus . To be immortalised, Perseus and Andromeda were turned into stars and would live together in the sky.

Clash of the Titans (the movie) Clash of the Titans is a 2010 fantasy film (remake of the 1981 film of the same name), loosely based on the Greek myth of Perseus . (CAREFUL, SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!) The film begins with a narration describing how the Olympians managed to overthrow their own creators, the Titans , through the aid of the Kraken , Zeus 's creation. After their fierce struggle, Zeus (Liam Neeson) became the King of the Gods, his brother, Poseidon (Danny Huston), the Lord of the Seas, and their brother, Hades (Ralph Fiennes), tricked by Zeus to rule the sickening Underworld in chaos and terror. A coffin is then seen drifting through the sea before it is rescued by a fisherman, Spyros (Pete Postlethwaite). When Spyros opens it, he discovers the baby Perseus and his mother, Danae , inside and raises the boy as his own.

Perseus does not know who his real father and mother are, and worries that he will be neglected when his adoptive parents have a child of their own, but Spyros reassures him of his love. Years later, Perseus (Sam Worthington) and his family are fishing when they witness a group of soldiers from Argos destroying a massive statue of Zeus , effectively declaring war on the gods. Immediately following the fall of the statue, Zeus rises from the ocean, killing most of the soldiers and then destroying the boat Perseus and his family are on. Perseus attempts to save his family from the sinking boat, but is unable to, and passes out on driftwood from the wreckage. The surviving soldiers find him and take him back to Argos . When King Cepheus (Vincent Regan) and Queen Cassiopeia (Polly Walker) of Argos , at a feast for the returning soldiers, compare themselves to the gods and compare the beauty of their daughter, Andromeda (Alexa Davalos), to that of Aphrodite , Zeus appears again, killing the remaining soldiers.

When Perseus is unaffected by his attack, Zeus realizes he is a demigod, and tells him of his true father, himself. Zeus kills the queen, and demands that Argos further pay for its insolence and vanity; in 10 days, the Kraken will be released, and if the princess Andromeda is not sacrificed, then Argos will be destroyed. Zeus then seeks out the gods on Mount Olympus and convinces Zeus to agree to his plan in order to punish mankind for their lack of love. Initially, the Argives see Perseus as an agent of the gods and imprison him, but the king later seeks his help. A woman named Io (Gemma Arterton), who has been watching over Perseus his entire life, advises him that the only way to avenge the death of his family is to agree to the king's wishes and attempt to defeat the Kraken .

He is sent out with a small group of soldiers, led by Draco (Mads Mikkelsen), along with Io to seek the Stygian Witches, while Zeus visits Acrisius (Jason Flemyng), a disfigured man who was married to Danae when Zeus impregnated her with Perseus . When Acrisius planned to kill his wife and the newborn Perseus , Zeus sent down a thunderbolt from Olympus, badly scarring and disfiguring Acrisius ' entire body. To help him achieve his goals, Zeus imbues him with superhuman powers to enable him to kill Perseus . Acrisius attacks the Argive group, killing several, and even when his hand is severed in the fight, his blood falling on the sand causes giant scorpions to rise from the desert and continue the attack. Perseus and the Argives manage to kill the first two scorpions, but are surrounded by three more, even larger than the first. As they are about to attack, the scorpions are suddenly calmed by a group of Djinn, gentle and benevolent Sand-Demons with magical powers.

There is initially mistrust between the two groups, until the chief heals Perseus of grave injuries sustained during the fight, and the two sides agree to cooperate. Perseus and his group, via the scorpions, arrive at the barren, rocky "Garden of Stygia", the site where the Gods ended the Great War and defeated the Titans . They find the three Stygian Witches, who are hideous and share one eye. They tell Perseus , after he threatens to throw their eye off the mountain, that Medusa 's head will be able to kill the Kraken , but that he will die in the process. The soldiers go to the Underworld, where Medusa lives in seclusion in a temple, and only the soldiers enter (Io cannot because she is a woman). Medusa turns all the remaining soldiers into stone, the Djinn destroys himself with his heart, weakening Medusa , and Draco, who is gravely injured by one of Medusa 's arrows early in the fight, rescues a cornered Perseus by skewering Medusa with a stone pillar from the ceiling and allows himself to be turned to stone in order to give Perseus a clear shot at Medusa 's head.

Perseus , eyes shut, kills Medusa . As he exits the temple, Acrisius returns and stabs Io . Perseus fights him again and, this time, successfully kills him, which turns Acrisius back to human form. Io dies, telling Perseus "this is the part of the journey you do alone..." Perseus finds Pegasus and flies back to Argos as the Kraken is being released, thus destroying the city. As a priest is about to sacrifice Andromeda , Zeus appears, and has his creatures attack Perseus and steal Medusa 's head. Perseus defeats the creatures and regains the head, as well as successfully turning the Kraken to stone before it consumes Andromeda . Zeus appears once more and boasts that he cannot die because he is immortal; but Perseus throws his sword, charged together with Zeus 's lightning at him which banishes him to the Underworld. Perseus then saves Andromeda from drowning when the apparatus used to restrain her falls into the ocean, but refuses to become king of Argos . In the final scene, Perseus stands at the broken statue of Zeus seen at the beginning.

Zeus appears and offers to make Perseus a god on Olympus; but he refuses. Zeus notes that Zeus will return one day for revenge when mankind is in fear. Zeus states that if Perseus is still intent to stay on earth then he might give him a gift since he is the son of Zeus after all. A resurrected Io appears before Perseus , and the two begin to embrace while Pegasus flies above them. Myth of Perseus andromeda - Greeka.com Discover the myth of Perseus and Andromeda The birth of Perseus The story starts when the Oracle of Delphi warns Acrisius, King of Argos, that his own grandson would kill him. Fearing that this prophecy would come true, he locks his only daughter, Danae, into an underground bronze chamber, to keep her away from all men. However, Zeus the all mighty saw the girl and fell in love with her. He then took the form of a golden rain to get into the bronze chamber and seduce Danae. From this union, Danae gave birth to a son whom she named Perseus.

When king Acrisius heard the baby crying and realized he had a grandson, his first thought was to kill the unfortunate boy and his mother. But he couldn't do as he feared he would cause the anger of Zeus. So he cast his daughter and grandson into a wooden chest and set them into the wild sea to get drowned. However, Zeus saw the desperate woman and asked Poseidon to calm the sea water. Indeed, the sea calmed down and after a few days, Danae and his new-born son landed on the island of Serifos . There Dictys, a fisherman and brother of the island's king, found them and took them to his home, where they would be safe. Perseus grew up into a fine young man under the care of the kind fisherman Dictys. In the meanwhile, King Polydectes began to be inflamed by passion for Danae, who was still a charming lady although many years had passed since her youth. Danae, however, did not wish this marriage. Polydectes thought that the presence of Perseus was an obstacle for Danae and that is why she didn’t wish to get married.

So he decided to set up a plan to get rid of this annoying youth. He challenged Perseus to dare a difficult task, to kill the fearsome Gorgon Medusa and bring back her head. Gorgon Medousa was a terrible monster with snakes in her head and she could turn into stone everyone that looked her face. By killing Medousa, Perseus would prove his braveness, as fits to the son of Zeus. Polydectes was sure that Perseus would not survive this dangerous task. Killing Medusa What Polydectes had not known was that Perseus was beloved by the gods. To help him, god Hermes gave him a curved sword and a pair of winged sandals (other versions of the myth say that Hermes did not give Perseus a pair of winged sandals but a white winged horse) while Athena gave him a mirror of polished bronze and a cap from Hades that could make invisible anyone who would wear it. With these divine aids, Perseus started his long journey to the cave of Medousa, somewhere in Africa. He indeed found lying in her deep cave.

Since he was wearing the winged sandals, he could fly around her and since he was wearing the magical cap of Hades, he was invisible. In order to avoid looking Medousa directly to her face and thereby being turned into a stone, Perseus approached Medousa looking at her reflection in the mirror and cut off her head with the sword of Hermes. So easily then, the brave and intelligent Perseus managed to complete this difficult task! Saving Andromeda As he was flying over Africa in his return home, Perseus encountered Atlas the Titan, a mythical giant, who challenged him. In their confrontation, Perseus used Medousa's head to turn the Titan into stone. Perseus continued his journey home and, as he passed the kingdom of Ethiopia, he came upon the beautiful and helpless maiden Andromeda, chained to the rocks waiting to be devoured by a sea monster. The beautiful Andromeda was the daughter of the Ethiopian king Cepheus and queen Cassiopeia. One day, the vain queen had bragged that her daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids, the sea nymphs.

The sea nymphs fell angry to hear that and complained to Poseidon, the god of the sea. A furious Poseidon unleashed the sea monster Cetus to frequently ravage the coast and devastate the land of Ethiopia in order to avenge the insult to his wards, the Nereids. The desperate king Cephus appealed Zeus, who suggested the sacrifice of Andromeda as the only way to appease the wrathful Poseidon. Thus it was that our hero Perseus found himself face to face with the beautiful Andromeda chained helplessly onto the rocks, awaiting her doom. Perseus immediately fell in love with the lovely maiden and promptly killed Cetus the beast, who had been licking his lips at the prospect of having a delicious meal. Perseus took Andromeda to her father Cepheus and asked for her hand in marriage. This infuriated Andromeda's uncle Phineus, to whom the maiden was already promised. During the ensuing quarrel, Perseus turned Phineus into a stone by showing him the head of the Gorgon Medousa.

Back to Serifos A happily married Perseus returned to the island of Serifos with his wife, Andromeda, only to find Polydectes still pursuing his unwilling mother, Danae. Poor Polydectes soon joined the list of stone statues, thanks to the skillful use of the head of Medousa. After that, Perseus made Dictus the fisherman king of the island, to thank him for his kindness and generosity all these years. A grateful Perseus gave his flying sandal, mirror and magical cap to god Hermes. He also gave his great trophy, the head of Medousa, to goddess Athena. In Argos again The whole family finally decided to leave Seriphos and return to Argos, keeping it a secret from King Acrisius. There, one day, Perseus took part in a sport competition. While throwing the discus, he accidentally struck his grandfather and instantly killed him. The old prophecy had come true, no matter how Acrisius tried to avoid it.

After the death of Acrisius, the Kingdom of Argos naturally passed on to Perseus, who thought himself unworthy of it, since he had caused his grandfather's death, even by accident. So he gave away the kingdom of Argos to Megapenthes, in exchange for Megapenthes' kingdom of Tiryns. Perseus and his wife Andromeda happily settled in Tiryns and became the parents of seven sons and one daughter. According to Mythology, the descendants of Perseus ruled Mycenae , the most powerful town of Peloponnese in the Mycenaean times. Another great Greek hero, Heracles, was also a descendant of Perseus while his son Perses is said to have traveled in far away Asia to become the ancestor of a new race, the Persians. Share it! 31 exoplanets get new names in IAU NameExoWorlds contest 31 exoplanets get new names in IAU NameExoWorlds contest Share Arion, Copernicus, and Spe: Meet some of the newest named planets in our universe.

Thirty-one planets beyond our solar system (known as exoplanets) and the 14 stars they orbit now have new names, the International Astronomical Union announced today. The new names can now be used in lieu of unwieldy scientific names like HD 104985 and PSR 1257+12. Half a million people from around the world cast votes to choose the names from 274 suggested by astronomy organizations around the world, including Canada, as part of the NameExoWorlds contest run by the IAU. The organization is in charge of official names for celestial objects. Among the winners were the star Veritate and the planet Spe, formerly known as 14 Andromedae and 14 Andromedae b, proposed by the Thunder Bay Centre branch of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Veritate is "truth" and Spe is "hope" in Latin, said Maureen Nadin, chair of the club's ExoWorld naming committee. A star you can see The committee wanted to name a star that could be seen with the naked eye in the night sky, and 14 Andromedae was.

It is visible from late summer to early winter in Canada. Andromeda, the name of the constellation that the star is part of, was a character in Greek mythology who was rescued by the hero Perseus after being chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster. Inspired by the myth, Nadin said she wanted to capture some of the nobler human values in the names. Truth and hope were chosen because "it is these we seek when we explore the universe and we discover new worlds," the club wrote in its proposal. Nadin said she turned to Latin because the language is the origin of the names of many existing planets and it was one of the founding languages of human civilization. Her suggestion was chosen from among several to submit to the contest, and subsequently beat out 10 proposals from other astronomy clubs. The club is very excited and honoured to have won, she said. "It's priceless. It's having the opportunity to be part of history.… You can look up at the night sky and this star is visible." Other successful names include: - Arion (planet), an ancient Greek genius of poetry and music. - Chalawan (star) a crocodile king from a Thai folk tale.

- Copernicus (star), a Polish astronomer who proposed that the Earth orbits the sun. - Dagon (planet), a Semitic fertility god Dagon. - Fafnir (star), a character from Norse mythology. - Metztli (planet), an Aztec moon deity. - Phobetor (planet), a Greek deity of nightmares. - Samh (planet), an 11th-century Spanish astronomer and mathematician. - Tadmor (planet), the ancient Semitic name and modern Arabic name for the city of Palmyra, a world heritage site. The complete list is here. The winning name of one star-planet pair called Tau Bootis, was rejected based on IAU rules, which ban celestial objects from being named for people known to have been involved in political, religious or military activities. The IAU will hold a new contest to name that star and planet. More than 1,000 exoplanets have been discovered so far, including worlds such as super-Earths and hot Jupiters that are different from anything found in our solar system. The planets featured in the IAU's NameExoWorlds contest were all discovered before Dec.

31, 2008. They have been studied enough that scientists are confident they know each planet's mass and orbit. Reblog Andromeda (mythology) | Religion-wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia [ show ] Mythology In Greek mythology , Andromeda was the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia , king and queen of the kingdom Aethiopia . Her mother Cassiopeia boasted that her daughter was more beautiful than the Nereids, the nymph -daughters of the sea god Nereus and often seen accompanying Poseidon . To punish the queen for her arrogance, Poseidon, brother to Zeus and god of the sea, sent a sea monster named Cetus to ravage the coast of Aethiopia including the kingdom of the vain queen. The desperate king consulted the Oracle of Apollo , who announced that no respite would be found until the king sacrificed his daughter, Andromeda, to the monster. Stripped naked, she was chained to a rock on the coast. Perseus was returning from having slain the Gorgon Medusa .

After he happened upon the chained Andromeda, he approached Cetus while invisible (for he was wearing Hades's helm), and killed the sea monster. He set Andromeda free, and married her in spite of her having been previously promised to her uncle Phineus. At the wedding a quarrel took place between the rivals and Phineus was turned to stone by the sight of the Gorgon's head. [2] Andromeda followed her husband, first to his native island of Serriphos, where he rescued his mother Danaë, and then to Tiryns in Argos. Together, they became the ancestors of the family of the Perseidae through the line of their son Perses. Perseus and Andromeda had seven sons: Perses, Alcaeus, Heleus, Mestor, Sthenelus, and Electryon, as well as two daughters, Autochthe and Gorgophone. Their descendants ruled Mycenae from Electryon down to Eurystheus, after whom Atreus attained the kingdom, and would also include the great hero Heracles . According to this mythology, Perseus is the ancestor of the Persians .

At the port city of Jaffa (today part of Tel Aviv ) an outcrop of rocks near the harbour has been associated with the place of Andromeda's chaining and rescue by the traveler Pausanias, the geographer Strabo and the historian of the Jews Josephus . [3] After Andromeda's death, as Euripides had promised Athena at the end of his Andromeda, produced in 412 BCE, [4] the goddess placed her among the constellations in the northern sky, near Perseus and Cassiopeia; the constellation Andromeda, so known since antiquity, is named after her. Constellations Andromeda is represented in the northern sky by the constellation Andromeda , which contains the Andromeda Galaxy. Four constellations are associated with the myth.

Viewing the fainter stars visible to the naked eye, the constellations are rendered as: A large man wearing a crown, upside down with respect to the ecliptic (the constellation Cepheus) A smaller figure, next to the man, sitting on a chair; as it is near the pole star, it may be seen by observers in the Northern Hemisphere through the whole year, although sometimes upside down (the constellation Cassiopeia) A maiden, chained up, facing or turning away from the ecliptic (the constellation Andromeda), next to Pegasus A whale just under the ecliptic (the constellation Cetus) Other constellations related to the story are: Perseus The constellation Pegasus, who was born from the stump of Medusa's neck, after Perseus had decapitated her The constellation Pisces, which may have been treated as two fish caught by Dictys the fisherman who was brother of Polydectes, king of Seriphos, the place where Perseus and his mother Danaë were stranded Portrayals of the myth Sophocles and Euripides (and in more modern times, Corneille) made the story the subject of tragedies, and its incidents were

 represented in numerous ancient works of art.

Jean-Baptiste Lully's opera, Persée, also dramatizes the myth. Andromeda has been the subject of numerous ancient and modern works of art, including, Andromeda Chained to the Rocks (Rembrandt), one of Titian's poesies (Wallace Collection), and compositions by Joachim Wtewael (Louvre), Veronese (Rennes), Rubens, Ingres, and Gustave Moreau. From the Renaissance onward the chained nude figure of Andromeda typically was the centre of interest, and often she was shown alone, fearfully awaiting the monster . In 1973, a short animated film called "Perseus" was made in the Soviet Union. [5] The 1981 film Clash of the Titans retells the story of Perseus , Andromeda and Cassiopeia , but makes a few changes (notably Cassiopeia boasts that her daughter is more beautiful than Thetis as opposed to the Nereids as a group). Thetis was a Nereid, but also the future mother of Achilles .

Andromeda and Perseus meet and fall in love after he saves her soul from the enslavement of Thetis' hideous son, Calibos, whereas in the myth, they simply meet as Perseus returns home from having slain Medusa. In the film, the monster is called a Kraken, although it is depicted as a lizard-like creature rather than a squid; and combining two elements of the myth, Perseus defeats the sea monster by showing it Medusa's face, turning the monster into stone. Andromeda is depicted as being strong-willed and independent, whereas in the stories she is only really mentioned as being the princess whom Perseus saves from the sea monster. Andromeda was portrayed by Judi Bowker in this film. Andromeda is also featured in the 2010 film Clash of the Titans, a remake of the 1981 version. Several changes were made in regard to the myth, most notably that Perseus does not marry Andromeda after he rescued her from the sea monster. Andromeda was portrayed by Alexa Davalos. The character was played by Rosamund Pike in the sequel Wrath of the Titans, the second of a planned trilogy.

At the end of the sequel, Perseus and Andromeda begin a relationship. Sources Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca]] II, iv, 3-5. Edith Hamilton, Mythology, Part Three, 204-207. Ovid, Metamorphoses IV, 668-764. ↑ The traditional etymology of the name is, "she who has bravery in her mind" ↑ Ovid, Metamorphoses v. 1. ↑ Pausanias iv.35.9; Strabo xvi.2.8; Josephus, Jewish War iii.9.3 ↑ Karl Kerenyi, The Heroes of the Greeks 1959:53; Euripides' drama is lost, save some fragments. Perseus Birth of Perseus Perseus (Περσεύς) was son of Zeus and Danaë (Danae), daughter of Acrisius (Acrisios or Ἀκρίσιοσ), king of Argos, and Eurydice. Perseus was also a descendant of the heroine Io , who was living in exile in Egypt.

A descendant of Io, named Danaüs returned to Io's homeland, and became king of Argos. Acrisius was himself a great-grandson of Danaüs. Acrisius was the twin brother of Proëtus , his main rival over the throne of Argos. Proëtus to settle being king of the neighbouring city, Tiryns. When Acrisius heard oracle from Delphi, he was told instead that a child from his daughter is destined to kill him. Acrisius fearing his destiny imprisoned his daughter in a tower. But the god Zeus, appeared in the form of shower of gold, had sex with Danaë (Δανάη). (Apollodorus indicated another version of Perseus' conception. Apollodorus wrote that the real father was Proëtus, brother and rival of Acrisius. Proëtus had seduced his niece, so that Danaë became pregnant. Zeus as a shower of gold was of course the most popular version.) Having found that Danaë had given birth to a son, Perseus, Acrisius locked both mother and child in a chest and threw them into the sea.

Zeus asked his brother, Poseidon, to guide the chest to the island of Seriphus, where the fisherman Dictys found them. Dictys was a son of Magnes and a naiad nymph, brother of Polydectes. Magnes being a son of Aeolus , would make Dictys and Polydectes Aeolids . When Perseus grew into a strong young man, Polydectes, who was Dictys' brother, was the king of Seriphus, fell in love with Danaë. Polydectes wanted to marry her, but did not want or like her son, Perseus. Polydectes invited Perseus to a celebration. Polydectes falsely announcing his plan to marry a daughter of Oenomaüs, Hippodameia, and each guest had given a gift to the king. Perseus, who brought no gift, rashly promised to the king that he would give any gift that the king wished. Polydectes couldn't believe his good fortune of getting rid of the youth, asked for the head of the Gorgon Medusa , knowing that the youth could never possibly return home alive. Perseus readily agreed.

Only later, did Perseus realising the depth of his promise, founded that his task was seemingly all but impossible. The Gorgon There were three Gorgons , and only Medusa (Μέδοισα) was mortal, since she was originally maiden, whom Poseidon had lain with, in the goddess Athena's shrine. Incurring the goddess' enmity for this sacrilege, Athena turned unfortunate girl into a winged monster with a head full of snakes instead of hair, where a single glance of her hideous face was so deadly, she would turned any creature instantly into stone. Even if Perseus managed to kill Medusa, the other two Gorgons would fall upon him before he could escape. But the goddess Athena appeared and came to her mortal half-brother's aid and told him that he needed to fetch some vital equipment, if he was to succeed in his quest. Athena directed him to a cave the Libya, where two hags (some say three), known as the Graeae , who shared a single eye and a single tooth. Perseus had to snatch the eye as they passed them, forcing the hags to tell where to find weapons to defeat the Gorgons.

The Graeae told him of the whereabouts of the nymphs. The nymphs readily aided Perseus in his quest, giving him a magic bag (kibisis), a pair of winged sandals and the cap of invisibility. Athena warned him, to never look directly at the Gorgon's face, but rather look at Medusa's reflection on the bronze shield, which she gave him. The god Hermes gave him either a sickle of adamant. Note that this adamantine sickle was probably the same one that the Titan Cronus had used against his father Uranus , and that Zeus had to fight against the monster Typhon ; see the Creation . Now fully armed, Perseus flew off to find Medusa. Perseus found their lair, surrounded by people and animal that had turned into stone. Invisible, Perseus watches them through the reflection of the shield and waited until the Gorgons were asleep. Avoiding the two immortal Gorgons, Perseus crept up to Medusa and severed her head from her body.

Snatching the head and placing it in the magic bag, Perseus quickly flew away, as the other two Gorgons awoken, but could not see their attacker, therefore not being able pursue him. Some of the blood from Medusa's head, leaked out of the bag. A drop of Medusa's blood fell into the sea, Pegasus (Πήγασος), the winged horse was born. Another drop of blood had fallen on the ground in Libya, so a giant sprang out of the earth, known as Chrysaor (Χρυάωρ). Andromeda Flying past the city of Joppa, in Syria, Perseus found a beautiful maiden chained to a rock at the beach. She was Andromeda (Ἀνδρομέδη), daughter of the king Cepheus. His vain wife Cassiopeia boasted that she was more beautiful than the Nereïds (Nereids). In anger, the Nereïds requested to Poseidon to send a sea monster, called Cetus , to destroy the city. Only a sacrifice of the king's daughter would spare the town.

Hearing their story from Andromeda's parents, Perseus bargained with the king for the girl's hand in marriage. Some accounts have it that Perseus fought the monster and killed Cetus with his sickle. Others say that he turned the creature into stone by displaying the head of Medusa to the monster. Cepheus held a banquet to honour the young hero, but Andromeda was promised in marriage to Cepheus' brother, Phineus, who had come to claim her. Perseus told Phineus that he had saved Andromeda's life and that the king had agreed to reward Perseus should he defeat the monster, so he had the strongest claim. Perseus, who made some friends in court, supported Perseus' claim, but they were heavily outnumbered. At this point, Cepheus and Cassiopeia had left the court to avoid confrontation and taking side. Fighting broke out between two factions over who had the best claim to marry Andromeda.

After Perseus had killed many of Phineus' followers, Perseus told his new friends to shield their eyes, when he pulled Medusa's head from his bag, turning his enemies into stone. Perseus and Andromeda were shortly married after the battle, and then had a son, named Perses. Perseus decided to return home in Seriphus, but left his son behind so that Perses would inherit Cepheus' throne. Fate of Polydectes With his new wife, Perseus travelled back to Seriphus and founded that his mother and Dictys had taken refuge in a temple. During his absence, Polydectes had pursued his mother, Danaë (Danae), trying to force himself upon her. Danaë refused to the safety of the sanctuary. Perseus was furious at Polydectes' action since his absence. Leaving Andromeda with his mother and went out alone to seek and confront Polydectes in the palace. At the banquet, the king and nobles did not believe that Perseus was successful in his quest and returned with head of Medusa.

Polydectes knew that Perseus would either return home empty-handed or that he would die in the quest. So Polydectes and his court laughed at Perseus' failure. Their laughter died in their lips, when Perseus took out the head and held up the severed head of Medusa. All the onlookers in the king's court, paled at the hideous sight, their skin and flesh hardening as they gazed at the deadly face of the Gorgon. In a matter of moment, Polydectes and everyone within the banquet hall, except Perseus, had turned into stone. Having achieved the impossible task, Perseus decided it was too dangerous to keep Medusa's head, because it would turn his friends as well as his enemies into stone, because the gaze of the Gorgon doesn't make any distinction between the two. Perseus gave the head of Medusa to Athena , who placed the head in the centre of her aegis. The weapons, flying sandals and the helm of invisibility he had borrowed from the gods, he now returned to Hermes and Athena.

Perseus with his wife and mother had only stayed on Seriphus for a little while, before they decided to sail away. Their destination was to return to Argos, leaving Dictys to become the king of the island, since the good fisherman was Polydectes' brother. Return to Argolis There are a couple different accounts about Acrisius' death, but the usual story is this. Acrisius (Acrisios) having heard of his grandson's heroic adventure and his decision to come to Argos caused the old king to flee. But Perseus did not want to harm his grandfather, nor did he want Acrisius' throne. Perseus followed Acrisius to Larisa in Thessaly. Teutamides, the king of Larisa, was holding funeral games for his father. Perseus wanted to demonstrate his prowess in athletics, took part in discus throwing. The wind blew the discus astray, accidentally killing Acrisius, thereby fulfilling the oracle that his grandson would eventually kill him.

According to Hyginus, the discus struck Acrisius in the head, while Apollodorus wrote that it had struck the king on the foot; Hyginus' was the preferred version. Though Perseus inherited the throne of Argos, by right of birth, he was ashamed of himself for accidental killing of his grandfather. Perseus decided to trade his kingdom with either his great uncle Proëtus (Acrisius's brother), or with Proëtus' son Megapenthes, for the city of Tiryns. So Perseus became the king of Tiryns. During his reign, Perseus founded a new city, which he called Mycenae. Mycenae became even more powerful than Tiryns. Andromeda bore him a daughter, Gorgophone and five more sons: Electryon, Alcaeüs (Alcaeus), Sthenelus, Mestor, and Heleius. Perseus had also founded the city of Mycenae. When Perseus and Andromeda died, Athena placed them both in sky as constellations.

Andromeda' parents had also been placed in the sky, as well as the sea monster as Cetus. One of Perseus' descendants was to become the greatest hero in Greek mythology, Heracles . To read about Perseus' children and his descendants, see the House of Argolis, Perseïds . Diodorus' Version There is another alternative legend to Perseus and Medusa , as told by Diodorus Siculus (Diodorus of Sicily). Diodorus wrote the Library of History in the 1st century BC, which contained a mixture of history and myths. According to Diodorus, the Gorgons were no monsters, but were a race of woman warriors, similar those of the Amazons , but they seemed to be of different, because the two were enemies. The two races were rivals in the western part of Libya. The Gorgons probably lived further west than the Amazons. Normally, most classical authors say that the home of the Amazons were in the east, around the region of the Thermodon River in Pontus (a region in Asia Minor), but Diodorus tried to tell his readers that the others were wrong in their assumptions.

Between the Amazons and the Gorgons were the Atlantians, who were constantly in war against the Gorgons. The Amazons under their queen, Myrina, had conquered the Atlantians, when they destroyed Cernê, one of cities of the Atlantians. The Amazons had later came to the aid of the Atlantians, when the Gorgons were repeatedly raided their land. A great battle was fought, where the Amazons defeated and subdued the Gorgons in several battles. In the last battle, Myrina broke the power of the Gorgons, where they later group fled. Generations later, the Gorgons regained their former power, under the reign of their own queen – Medusa. It was at this period, that Perseus began his own campaign against the Gorgons. In the battle that followed, Perseus killed Medusa and her Gorgons were defeated. The Gorgons were completely destroyed, when Heracles , a descendant of Perseus, set out in his 10th labour, where he built the pillars at the end of Libya.

Perseus Argos, Corinth, and Thebes are connected in legend Argos also has contacts with the Eastern Mediterranean, the Levant and Egypt It is often difficult to distinguish between the separate cities "Argos" is used to cover both the city of Argos and the Argolid Argos was a great enter for the worship of Hera; the Heraeum was the hill where he sanctuary stood, and was the religious center for the entire area. Perseus See his lineage, p. 408. Abas has twins, who quarrelled, Proetus, king of Tiryns, and Acrisius, king of Argos. Acrisius, because of an oracle predicting his death from his daughter's son, shut his daughter Dana� up, either in an underground chamber or a tower, but she was visited by Zeus in the form of a golden shower Dana� gave birth to Perseus and hid him for 4 years Acrisius, who did not believe Zeus was the father of Perseus, placed mother and son in a chest and put them out to sea. The chest floated to the island of Seriphos, where mother and son were rescued by a fisherman, Dictys.

Polydectes, brother of Dictys and king of Seriphos, loved Dana�, but she refused him There are various versions relating why Perseus undertook the tasks he did, but one claims that at a banquet where each guest was asked to bring a horse, Perseus said he could just as easily bring the Gorgon's head. Hermes and Athena aided Perseus. Hermes belongs more to the Peloponnese than does Athena, so he may have been the only original helper; however, the Gorgon's head is on Athena's shield, she may have very early associations with the hero. Graeae From the Graeae, or old women who shared one eye and one tooth among the three of them, Perseus, having stolen their eye, learned where he could find the nymphs with the magic objects to help him. The nymphs gave Perseus the cap of invisibility, winged sandals, and a wallet or kibisis. Hermes gave him a scimitar. Gorgons Perseus flew to the home of the Gorgons, somewhere on the edge of the world, usually situated in N. Africa.

The only mortal Gorgon was Medusa. Perseus was able to avoid being killed by her by looking at her reflection in his shield. He decapitated her and put her head in the wallet. As she was beheaded, Chrysaor and Pegasus sprang from her body, fathered by Poseidon. Pegasus is important in the Bellerophon story. Andromeda Andromeda was the daughter of Casseiopeia and Cepheus. Cassiopeia had boasted that she was more beautiful than the Nereids As punishment, Poseidon flooded the kingdom and sent a sea monster An oracle of Zeus Ammon told Cepheus that Andromeda, chained to a rock, would appease the monster When Perseus arrived, he said he would kill the monster in return for the hand of Andromeda, who had been betrothed to her uncle, Phineus Wearing his cap and sandals, Perseus killed the monster with his scimitar and claimed his bride. (This should remind you of other contests for a bride) Perseus married Andromeda, but according to Ovid, the wedding feast was interrupted by Phineus and full scale war broke out.

The battle was bloody, but Perseus eventually ended the fighting by showing the Gorgon's head and turning his enemies to stone. Return to Argos After the birth of their son Perses, Perseus and Andromeda returned to Argos. Having followed Acrisius to Thessaly, Perseus in a contest hit Acrisius with a discus (by accident) and killed him, thus fulfilling the prophecy. Because he had killed his grandfather, Perseus did not rule Argos, but exchanged the kingdom with the king of Tiryns. Perseus then founded Mycenae. His children became kings of Mycenae, and Heracles was descended from him. Perseus also killed Polydectes on Seriphos, who had harassed his mother, and made Dictys king. He retrieved his mother and took her to Argos. Perseus returned the magic objects and gave Medusa's head to Athena.

Miscellaneous tales associated with Perseus As he flew over the Libyan desert, the blood that dropped from Medusa's head created poisonous snakes Perseus used the Gorgon's head to turn Atlas to stone after the Titan refused to show him any hospitality Coral was created from exposed seaweed on which Perseus placed the Gorgon's head There is much magic and many folktale elements in the legends of Perseus. His quest may be compared with those of Heracles and Jason. Other Legends of Argos The family tree on p. 411 shows the lineage of the river god Inachus, who, through his daughter Io, beloved of Zeus but transformed into a cow by Hera, became the ancestor of the dynasties of Crete, Thebes, and Mycenae. Io, through her association with moon goddesses, with Isis, and with Phoenician Astarte, was originally perceived of as a divine bieng. The Danaids. Danaus had 50 daughters who were engaged to the 50 sons of his brother Aegyptus. When the two brothers quarrelled, Danaus left Egypt, sailed to Argos and became king.

When the 50 sons pursued the 50 daughters, Danaus gave the daughters in marriage but convinced them to kill their husbands. All but one, Hypermnestra, obeyed. She spared her husband Lyncieus. The other Danaids suffer in Hades by having to fill or carry water in sieves. Hypermnestra and Lynceus are the parents of Abas, father of Acrisius, father of Dana�, mother of Perseus. We have already discussed Tydeus, father of Diomedes, who became the last great mythical king of Argos. Greek Constellations Aquila The Eagle This is a bird who has the power to bring rain and is the keeper of Zeus' lightning bolts. Ara The Altar It was predicted that Cronus would die at the hand of his own child so he swallowed five of them as they were born. His wife, Rhea, and his mother-in-law, Gaia, protected the sixth child, Zeus, by giving Cronus a stone wrapped in a blanket instead of the baby. When Zeus grew up he poisoned his father which caused him to vomit up the other children.

Then Zeus and his brothers fought a war with Cronus and the other Titans. During the war Zeus freed some Titans that Cronus had imprisoned. These allies included the Cyclopes who were expert metal workers. During a battle, the Cyclopes built an altar and burned a sacrifice so that the smoke would hide Zeus and his brothers as they attacked Cronus and the Titans. In gratitude, Zeus placed the altar in the sky at the horizon, under the Milky Way which now appears to be the rising smoke. Argo Navis The Ship (Carina, Puppis, Vela) The Argo is the ship whose captain is Jason, and the crew is the Argonauts. The ship was a gift from Athena. Its maidenhead had the power of speech and advised Jason on occasions during his adventures. Aries The Ram The story of the ram begins with Zeus and Hera. Hera was courted by Ixion. Zeus tricked him into impregnating a cloud named Nephele that had been formed to look like Hera. Then, as punishment, Ixion was strapped to a flaming wheel and rolled around the sky for eternity (the ecliptic). The cloud Nephele had a child which was the first centaur.

Nephele later had two children with Athamas, king of B�eotia. Athamas eventually tried to have the children killed. Hera sent a golden ram so the children could escape by riding its back. One of the children, Helle, fell off and died in the sea at a place called Hellespont. The other child, Phrixus, eventually sacrifice the ram to Zeus. The skin of the ram developed special powers and is the same relic the is later sought by Jason and the Argonauts. Auriga The Charioteer Hephaestus impregnated Mother Earth with a child, Erichthonius, who was born with the lower body of a snake. Athena pitied the boy and raised him as her own son in the city of Athens where he eventually became king. He became famous for developing the four horse chariot. Often defending Athena's honor, Erichthonius the charioteer was eventually placed in the sky as a reward. Bo�tes The Bear Chaser Icarius was the first person to cultivate grapes and then make them into wine.

After his death he was placed in the sky as the constellation Bo�tes by Dionysus in honor of his discovery. His dog, Maera, became the bright star Procyon in Canis Minor. Cancer The Crab The crab is one that pinched Hercules on the foot while he was fighting the Hydra. This pleased Hera who later placed him in the sky. Canis Major The Greater Dog He is one of two hunting dogs belonging to Orion the hunter. The dogs were placed in the sky along with Orion when he was killed by the scorpion. Cassiopeia The Queen She is the very beautiful and very vain Queen of Ethiopia (Philistia). Gazing at herself in a mirror, she proclaimed to be more beautiful than the Nereids, which were sea nymphs. As punishment Poseiden demanded that the princess Andromeda be sacrificed to the sea monster, Cetus. After her daughter was saved by Perseus, Cassiopeia plotted with her daughter's ex-fianc�e Agenor to kill Perseus. Perseus used the Medusa's head to turn Cassiopeia, Agenor, and his men to stone.

The constellations of Queen Cassiopeia and King Cepheus are facing each other's feet so they cannot speak to each other. Because the Queen insulted the sea nymphs, she never sets below the surface of the sea (as seen from northern latitudes. The name "Cassiopeia" is a Phoenician phrase that means the "Rose-Colored Face." Centaurus The Centaur Chiron the centaur studied health and medicne until being accidentally shot by Hercules with an arrow that was poisoned by being dipped in the blood of Hydra. Chiron was in great pain. Meanwhile, Prometheus was being punished for giving mankind the knowlege of how to fire. Prometheus was bound to a rock in Tartarus where a vulture continuously pecked his liver. Prometheus could only be release if someone voluntarily took his place. Hercules asked that Prometheus be released and Chiron take his place so that only one of them would have to suffer. After Chiron took the place of Prometheus, Hercules shot the vulture with an arror, ending the torture. Chiron was later placed in the sky as a constellation by Zeus.

Cepheus The King He is the king of Ethiopia (Philistia) and his wife the Queen is Cassiopeia. He was also one of the Argonauts that adventured with Jason. Cetus The Sea Monster The monster Cetus is the mother of Phorcids who gave birth to many other monsters; the serpent-guard in the Garden of the Hesperides, the Gorgons, Cerberus the three-headed dog guardian of Hades, the Hydra, the Chimera and several others. Corona Borealis The Northern Crown Theseus went to Crete to kill the Minotaur with the help of his fiance princess Ariadne. She gave him a big ball of string. As he walked through the Labyrinth, Theseus unrolled the string. After he slew the Minotaur, he followed the string out of the maze. The crown was made for Princess Ariadne as a wedding present by the master smith Hephaestus. The seven stars in the constellation represent the seven maidens and seven youths that had been sacrificed to the Minotaur. It was placed in the sky after her death.

Corvus The Crow Apollo sent the crow to get some pure water for a sacrifice he was preparing for Zeus. The crow stopped to eat some figs but they weren't very ripe so he waited for them to ripen. The crow returned with a water snake and claimed the snake was the reason for the delay. Apollo knew the crow was lying and was angry. He turned the crow from white to black. Then he cursed the crow so it would always get a sore throat when the figs are ripe. Apollo placed the crow in the sky as a constellation to warn to others who might dare to to lie to him. Crater The Cup The people of the city of Eleusis were struck by a plague. To appease the gods and avoid the plague, a sacrifice was of a noble maiden was made each year. The king, Demonphon, didn't include his own daughters in the lottery. He got away with this for awhile but then a nobleman, Mastusius, objected. Demonphon sacrificed one of Mastusius' daughters without drawing lots. Mastusius sent an invitation to dinner to the king.

When the king arrived, Mastusius served him a cup of wine that he had mixed with the blood of the king's daughters, whom he had murdered. When the murders were discovered, Mastusius was killed and thrown into the sea. The cup was placed in the sky to remind men that their evil deeds will not go unpunished. Cygnus The Swan Pha�thon died when he fell out of the chariot of the Sun and into the River Eridanus. His brother Cygnus repeatedly dove in search of Pha�thon. In mercy, The gods transformed him into a swan. Delphinus The Dolphin Poseidon tried to convince one of the Nereids, Amphirite, to marry him. She hid in the Atlas mountains (Morocco) so Poseidon sent a dolphin to plead his case and she finally agreed to be a bride. The dolphin was rewarded with a place in the sky. Draco The Dragon The dragon protected the golden apples of the Hesperides, and the Golden Fleece in the Garden of Ares.

Eridanus The River Pha�thon, son of Helios the Sun, tried to convince his father that he was able to drive the chariot of the Sun across the sky. His father knew that the idea was foolish and refused. Pha�thon took the reins anyway and tried to drive the chariot and its four firey horses. The horses felt the novice hand at the reins and raced across the sky, sometimes too high, sometimes too low, alternately freezing and burning the land below. Zeus hurled one of his thunderbolts knocking Pha�thon out of the chariot. Pha�thon fell to earth and landed in the river Eridanus and drowned. The gods placed the river in the sky in memory of the event. Gemini The Twins The fraternal twins Castor and Pollux are the sons of Leda (the wife of a mortal named Tyndareus). Zeus had disguised himself as a swan and seduced Leda, who laid an egg from which Helen and Pollux were born. At the same time she also gave birth to Castor and Clytaemnestra, children of her husband Tyndareus.

Since Pollux was the son of a Zeus, he was immortal, but Castor was mortal. The brothers grew close. At the Olympic games Castor was killed. Pollux asked Zeus to permit him to die so they could remain together. Zeus placed both of the boys in the sky. Hercules The Hero Hercules is the son of Zeus and a mortal woman named Alcmene, the granddaughter of Perseus and Andromeda. Hera, Zeus' wife, was jealous of Alcmene and attempted to kill Hercules many times but always failed. Hercules performed many great feats which made him famous. He liberating Thebes from the Minyans, for which he was given the hand of Megara, Princess of Thebes. They had three sons. Then Hera had her revenge. She made Hercules temporarily insane and he killed his wife and the children. In punishment for the crime Hercules was given twelve impossible tasks. Only if he completed these tasks would he be a free man. One example of the tasks is that Hercules had to slay the Nemean lion who terrorized the valley of Nemea. But the task was to slay it bare handed. It took 30 days to strangle the animal.

He skinned the beast and nailed the body to the sky (Leo). He wore the skin as a trophy. Another example is that he had to battle the Hydra, a multi-headed sea snake who lived in the marsh of Lerna. When he cut off one head, two more heads would grow in its place. Instead of cutting them, Hercules burned the heads off. Another task of Hercules was the theft of the golden apples of the Hesperides. They were guarded by Ladon, the dragon. Unable to safely approach the dragon, Hercules asked Atlas for help. Atlas was an immortal and the father of the Hesperides, so he could manage the dragon. It was Atlas who was holding up the heavens on his shoulders so Hercules offered to hold the heavens for awhile in exchange for the help. Atlas got the apples, but then refuse to take back the burden. Hercules asked Atlas if he could just take it back briefly, so some padding could be found to make it more comfortable. Atlas took the heavens back, but Hercules picked up the apples and left. Hydra The Multi-Headed Monster As one head was severed by Hercules, two more took its place.

Hercules burned each head to keep them from regenerating, until he reached the final head which he discovered is immortal. This one he buried under a rock. Leo The Lion Hera ordered the creation of the lion. It lived in a cave in the Nemean Mountains and killed people and cattle down in the valley. Hercules strangled the lion as one of his tasks. He wore the skin as a trophy. Lepus The Rabbit After importing a single pregnant hare to the island of Leros, the animals began breeding beyond control and soon led to a major infestation. The people of Leros eventually exterminated them from the island. The gods placed the hare in the sky as a reminder. Lupus The Wolf The she-wolf is sometimes the lover of the god Apollo, and at other times the lover of the centaur. Lyra The Harp Apollo invent the lyre using a turtle shell strung with strips of cow gut. He gave it to the god to Orpheus whose beautiful music could tame wild animals. Orpheus' wife Eurydice was chased by Aristaeus, a beekeeper, who was trying to kidnap her. Eurydice was bitten on the ankle by a snake and died.

Orpheus descended to the realm of the dead to retrieve her soul. His song and music charmed the three-headed dog Cerberus, the ferry boatman Charon, and other creatures of the underworld. Persephone agreed to release the soul of his wife if Orpheus agreed to walk in front of her and take it on faith that she was following him. Just as he reached the light of the world Orpheus turned to see if Eurydice was behind him and she disappeared in a puff of smoke. After Orpheus died Zeus placed his lyre in the sky as a tribute. Milky Way The Galaxy Cronus swallowed most of his children in an attempt to prevent the prophecy of his demise. In order to save one of them (Zeus), Rhea wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes and gave it to her husband to swallow instead. Cronus asked her to nurse the baby one more time before he swallowed it. Pressing the rock against her, the spurting milk became the Milky Way. Ophiuchus The Physician Asclepius (Ophiuchus) was raised by the centaur Chiron and was taught the art of medicine and healing. Asclepius became a great physician.

He learned to make medicines from the poisons of snakes and plants. One of his remedies even caused the recently deceased to come back to life. This infuriating the god of the dead. Hades asked Zeus to stop Asclepius and he was struck with a thunderbolt. Then, in pity Zeus restored him to life and made him immortal. He was placed in the sky with a serpent. Orion The Hunter Orion was given as an infant to a poor shepherd, Irieus, who had showed hospitality to Zeus and Poseidon without knowing they were gods. Orion grew into a great hunter. He eventually fell in love with Artemis, the moon goddess. Her brother Apollo became upset with her as she spent more and more time with Orion. It was her job to guide the moon across the sky and she began to neglect her duty. Apollo convinced Gaia that Orion and Artemis were killing too many anmials so Gaia sent the Scorpius the scorpion. Orion and Scorpius had a great battle and in the end both had been killed. Zeus placed Orion in the winter sky and Scorpius in the summer sky so they cannot see each other an thus not fight.

Pegasus The Winged Horse Pegasus the famed winged mount of Perseus, was originally tamed by Bellerophone. One day Bellerophone tried to reach Mount Olympus, home of the gods, on the back of the winged horse. To stop him, Zeus sent a horsefly to sting Pegasus. The horse bucked and threw Bellerophone from his back. Perseus of Argolis There were two brothers, Acrisius and Proetus, who always quarreled with each other. Proetus became infatuated with his niece, Acrisius' daughter, Dana�. Acrisius locked his daughter in a tower after hearing a prophecy that she would bear a son who would someday cause his death. Zeus fell in love with Dana� and she bore him a son, Perseus. Thinking that the child's father to be his brother, Acrisius locked both mother and child in a wooden ark and put them out to sea. The boat drifted to the island kingdom of Seriphos, which was ruled by Polydectes, The kind's brother Dictys, a fisherman, rescued them, and fell in love with Dana�.

When Perseus grew up he had to defend his mother from king Polydectes who wanted Dana� for his wife. Polydectes pretended he was going to be married to another maiden, and asked Perseus to give him the head of the Medusa as a wedding gift. He assumed that attempting to kill the Medussa would be the end of Perseus. Perseus set about the task with the help of Athena and other gods. Athena gave him a shield that was shiny like a mirror. By walking backwards and looking at Medussa's reflection intead of gazing upon her directly, he avoided being turned to stone. When Perseus severed her head, two winged horses flew from her neck, Pegasus, and Chrysaor. Flying on Pegasus, he saw below the beautiful princess Andromeda chained to a rock, about to be sacrificed to Cetus, a sea monster also known as The Kraken. Andromeda's mother, Cassiopeia, had angered Poseiden by claiming her beauty was greater than that of the Nereids.

Appeasing the monster with the princess was the only way for Cepheus the king and Cassiopeia the queen to spare Ethiopia (Philistia). Perseus offered to kill Cetus in exchange for Andromeda's hand in marriage. After dispatching the monster, Perseus married Andromeda and flew her back to Seriphos. King Polydectes assumed that Perseus would be killed and decided to kidnap Dana� and force her into marriage. She hid in the temple of Athena. The king had the temple surrounded. Perseus used the head of Medussa to turn Polydectes and his generals to stone. The king's brother, Dictys the fisherman, became king. Perseus took his wife and mother back to his birth home of Argolis where he became king as his grandfather Acrisius fled. Many years later, during the funeral games of a neighboring king, Perseus threw a discus that landed in a crowd of spectators, kiling Acrisius, thus fulfilling the prophesy that Acrisius would die at the hand of Dana�'s son.

Pisces The Fishes Typhon was a monster who was in love with the beautiful goddess Aphrodite. He pursued her one day while she and her son Eros were walking along the bank of the Euphrates River. Some river nymphs protected them by transforming them into fishes. To show eternal appreciation, fishes were placed in the sky. Piscis Austrinus The Southern Fishes Aphrodite cast her spells on the goddess Derceto which made her fall in love with a mortal man. She had a daughter, Semiramis. Later, when the spell wore off, Derceto killed her husband, abandoned Semiramis and threw herself into a lake to drown. She was transformed into a fish and placed in the southern sky. Pleiades The Sisters Atlas and a sea nymph named Pleione had seven daughters. Six of them were married to gods. One of them, Merope, was married to a mortal named Sisyphus. On their journey to Boeotia the sisters were pursued by Orion the hunter. Zeus turned them into doves and they flew into the sky. Orion continued to chase them for years up until his death.

Zeus placed them in the sky just to the west of Orion where he can see them, but never catch up to them. Sagitta The Arrow The centaur Chiron was accidentally shot by his friend Hercules with an arrow dipped in the poisonous blood of the Hydra. Chiron was immortal and could not die but suffered endless pain from the poison. Hercules negotiated a plan for Chiron to trade places with Prometheus who was bound to a rock in Tartarus with a vulture eternally pecking at his liver. Prometheus could only be released if another immortal took his place. Hercules shot the vulture with an arrow thus ending the torture, and Chiron took his place. The arrow that killed the vulture was placed in the sky. Sagittarius The Archer Crotus is a centaur and the son of Pan. He Lived on Mount Helicon and was a friend of the Muses. He invented the concept of applause as a sign of appreciation for a performance. The Muses asked Zeus to honor him with a constellation. Scorpius The Scorpion The scorpion was sent by Gaia to battle Orion because she felt the hunter was killing too many animals.

When Orion and Scorpius killed each other, Zeus maintained peace in the sky by placing the hunter in the winter and the beast in the summer, so they can never see each other. Taurus The Bull Zeus turned himself into a large white bull and kidnapped Europa. He hid her on the island of Crete where she bore him several children, including King Minos. The constellation commemorates the adventure of Europa's abduction. Triangulum The Triangle Hades gave the island of Sicily to Ceres as compensation after he had abducted her daughter Proserpine as she was gathering flowers. The constellation is shaped liked the island and reminds Ceres the Hades loves Proserpine. Ursa Major The Greater Bear In the land of Arcadia, Zeus fell in love with the beautiful nymph Callisto. Hera, upon hearing that Callisto had given Zeus a son named Arcas, turned Callisto into a bear. One day Callisto saw her son in the woods and attempted to approach but could only growl. Seeing the bear, Arcas drew his spear and prepared to attack. To protect Callisto, Zeus changed Arcas into a bear also and then placed them both in the northern sky swinging them up by their tails.

This is why the tails are so long. Ursa Minor The Lesser Bear Arcas was about to kill his own mother, Callisto, who was transformed into a bear by Hera. Tragedy was avoided when he was also transformed into a bear, by Zeus, who then placed mother and son in the sky. Virgo The Young Maiden The maiden is Demeter (aka Ceres), goddess of crops, vegetation, fertility, and harvest. Her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped by Hades as she gathered flowers. Demeter retaliated by stopping the growth of all green plants. Zeus appointed the goddess Hecate to arbitrate a solution. Hecate ruled that if Core had not eaten any food while in the realm of the dead, she must be returned to her mother. Unfortunately Persephone had eaten some pomegranate seeds. Demeter persisted with the suspension of plant growth until Zeus interfered again. He ordered that Persphone stay with Hades for only three months per year and the rest of the year she could spend with her mother. During the three months with Hades, the growth of plants is suspended which is winter.

The appearance of the constellation in the spring signals the return of Persephone to Demeter and the new growth of crops.

Question: According to mythology, who was rescued by Perseus after being chained to a rock as a sacrifice?
Answer: Andromeda