Historiae Romanorum

The Hero Perseus

Perseus' grandfather, Acrisius, was the king of Argos.  Because he had no heirs to his throne, only his daughter Danae, Acrisius consulted the Oracle at Delphi about the possibility of him having a male heir.  The oracle responded that Danae would give birth to a male son, but he would eventually kill Acrisius.

To try to prevent this, Acrisius had a large bronze tower created beneath the ground, and he placed his daughter Danae within.  Her only access was a small hole at the top, through which food would be lowered.  Despite his precautions, Zeus nevertheless impregnated Danae with a golden shower, which he rained down through he top of the tower.  Danae was impregnated, and she later gave birth to a son, whom she named Perseus.

When he found out, Acrisius refused to believe that Zeus was the father.  He placed Danae and Perseus in a chest and cast it out to sea, with the intention of killing them.  Instead, the were carried in the chest to the island of Seriphos.

On Seriphos, Perseus grew into manhood.  The king of the island, Polydectes, eventually took note of the still beautiful Danae.  He desired to marry Danae, but he feared that her son Perseus would interfere.  He therefore decided to send Perseus on a quest to kill Medusa, the lone mortal of the Gorgons.  Polydectes felt certain that his was a quest he surely would not survive.

Guided by Hermes and Athena, Perseus first went to see the Graiae, who were sisters of the Gorgons.  Perseus managed to get possession of their lone eye, which was shared between the three sisters.  He said that he would return the eye only if they would help him.  He asked for directions to the nymphs, who had in their possession the cap of Hades (which turned its wearer invisible), winged sandals, and a special pouch for Medusa's head.  The Graiae told him everything, and Perseus returned the eye.

Then he traveled to the nymphs, who gave Perseus the required items.  Along with the pouch, sandals, and helmet, Hermes gave to Perseus an adamantine sword, which would be capable of cutting through the Gorgon's tough armor.  He then traveled west across the ocean and arrived to find all three Gorgons asleep.

Perseus could not look directly at the Gorgons, or he would be turned to stone.  Using the reflection from his bronze shield and guided by Athena (the goddess had her reasons for hating Medusa), he found and cut off the head of Medusa.  Out from her body flew Pegasus and Chrysaor, her children with Poseidon.  He then placed her head in his special pouch.

The other two Gorgons were awakened by the commotion, and searched for the intruder.  Wearing the helmet, Perseus could not be seen by the Gorgons.  Using his sandals, he swiftly flew away.

On his journey home, Perseus arrived in Ethiopia, where he saw Andromeda exposed as prey for a huge sea monster.  Her mother Cassiopeia claimed that she was more beautiful than the Nereids, and this was the only way to appease the angry Poseidon.  Perseus rescued Andromeda, and took her for his wife.

When Perseus arrived back in Seriphos, he found that his mother Danae had taken refuge in a temple to escape Polydectes.  Perseus turned Polydectes and all of his friends into stone with the head of Medusa.

Having completed his quest, Perseus returned his pouch, helmet and winged sandals to the nymphs.  He also returned the adamantine sword to Hermes.  The head of Medusa he gave to Athena, who had helped him so much.  Athena fixed the head upon her shield, the aegis.

Perseus, his wife, and his mother set out for Argos to see Acrisius.  When Acrisius learned of this, he fled to Thessaly, fearing that oracle's prophecy would come true.  It just so happened that the king of Thessaly soon held athletic contests, which Perseus attended.  While competing in the discus, Perseus accidentally struck Acrisius, killing him.  In this way the prophecy was fulfilled.

Perseus could have returned to Argos and claimed the throne, since it was now rightfully his.  He was ashamed to return to the city, however, after having accidentally killed his grandfather.  He therefore arranged an exchange of kingdoms with Megapenthes, the son of Proetus  The king was no doubt happy to exchange his city of Tiryns for the more powerful Argos, and so he accepted.  In this way, Perseus became the king of Tiryns, where he ruled for many years.

Source(s):

1. Apollodorus.  Bibliotece.

This page was last updated on July 21, 2004.