In addition Hermes presented Perseus with a very sharp sickle with which to sever the Medusa's head.Īthena, too, proved helpful to Perseus, for she showed him how to distinguish between the three awful Gorgons, of whom only Medusa could be killed. Again Hermes guided him there, and they borrowed the sandals, wallet, and helmet. To get their eye back the Graeae told him where the Stygian nymphs lived. Hermes guided the young hero to them, and while one of the gray women was passing that single eye to another, Perseus jumped from behind and grabbed it. These crones lived far to the West beyond the river Ocean, and they had but one eye among the three of them. Yet only the Graeae, or three gray women, knew the way to the Stygian nymphs. A pair of flying sandals, a magic wallet, and a helmet of invisibility would be essential for his success. Eventually though, Perseus met the god Hermes, who told him he must acquire some equipment from the Stygian nymphs. There Perseus learned nothing except that the gods were watching over him. He went to Delphi to learn the whereabouts of the Gorgons, and while the oracle could not tell him it directed him to Dodona, the land of the whispering oaks. Perseus left the king's hall immediately and set sail for Greece, too upset to bid goodbye to his mother and foster parents.
And even if Perseus should succeed, Polydectes would have a coveted trophy. Polydectes was pleased, knowing that Perseus would die in the attempt, for one look from that hideous snake-headed monster turned men to stone.
In his mortification Perseus rashly promised to bring the head of the Gorgon Medusa back as a gift. At the gift-giving feast Perseus was the only person present without anything to bestow upon the king. Therefore he announced that he was going to marry another woman, which meant that everyone would have to present him with a gift. But Polydectes regarded Perseus as a hindrance to his plans. Thus Perseus grew to manhood in congenial circumstances.ĭanaë did not lose her beauty with the passing years, and Dictys' brother, the tyrannical king Polydectes, wished to make her his wife. The couple decided that they would care for Danaë and raise Perseus as if he were their own son, since they themselves were childless. Being a kindly person, Dictys took the forlorn Danaë and her infant son home to his wife. When Acrisius learned of this he hesitated to put them both directly to death, so instead he had his daughter and grandson sealed in a chest and cast adrift in the sea.Īt length the chest landed on the beach of an island, where it was found and opened by a fisherman named Dictys. Nine months later she gave birth to a son, Perseus. However, Zeus saw the beautiful Danaë in her bronzed chamber and visited her in the form of a golden shower. Greatly alarmed, the king had an underground chamber built, one with a skylight, and he imprisoned his daughter there in order that she might bear no children. Acrisius went to an oracle that informed him he would have no son, but that his own grandson would kill him. His only child was a lovely maiden, Danaë, but girls did not count for much then. King Acrisius ruled Argos but possessed no heir who could take over the kingdom when he died. Merlin, King Arthur, Gawain, Launcelot, Geraint, Tristram, Percivale, the Grail Quest, and the Passing of Arthur's Realm.Summary and Analysis: Arthurian Legends.
The Norse Gods - Odin, Thor, Balder, Frey, Freya, and Loki.Love Tales - Pyramus and Thisbe, Baucis and Philemon, Pygmalion, Vertumnus and Pomona, Hero and Leander, Cupid and Psyche.Patriotic Legends - Aeneas and Romulus and Remus.The Trojan War - The Preliminaries, The Course of the War, The Fall of Troy, and The Returns.The Tragic Dynasties - Athens: The House of Erichthonius.The Tragic Dynasties - Thebes: The House of Cadmus.The Tragic Dynasties - Mycenae: The House Of Atreus.The Tragic Dynasties - Crete: The House Of Minos.The Heroes - Perseus, Bellerophon, and Heracles.The Beginnings - Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hermes, Demeter, and Dionysus.The Beginnings - Prometheus and Man, and The Five Ages of Man and the Flood.Summary and Analysis: Babylonian Mythology.