Perseus

1
Perseus

• A Fairy Tale Hero

2
Perseus Birth
Danaes father locked her in an underground tomb
to keep her from having children, since a
prophecy had said his grandson would kill
him. But Zeus entered in a shower of gold and
impregnated her. She kept Perseus birth a
secret until the sound of his playing gave them
away.
Her father locked them in a box and set them
afloat. They were found by a fisherman, Dictys
(Net) on the island of Seriphos. The king,
Polydectes, fell in love with Danae when Perseus
was a young man.
3
The Quest
Polydectes wanted to get Perseus out of the way.
Once he invited Perseus to a feast, the price for
admission was to bring the king a horse. Perseus
said he could just as easily bring him the
Gorgons head (meaning he was way too poor).
Polydectes said Do it, then, and sent him on
the quest.
Both Hermes and Athena took pity on Perseus.
They told him how to proceed, bringing him to the
Graeae, old women who shared only one eye and one
tooth among them. Perseus maneuvered them into
helping him. They gave him a cap of
invisibility, winged sandals, and a magic bag.
4
The Gorgons

• Three Gorgons lived on an island way out in the
  ocean. There are different versions of their
  nature
• They were beautiful maidens
• They were hideous figures with snakes for hair
• But sources agree that
• The Gorgons were dangerous, flying women
• Medusa was loved by Poseidon
• Medusa was the only one who was vulnerable
• One look at Medusa would turn the looker into
  stone

Perseus received a scimitar from Hermes, and
Athena advised him to polish up his shield.
5
The Quest

• All of Perseus gifts came in handy.
• he flew there and away with the winged sandals
• he looked in the polished shield so as not to be
  turned into stone while he cut off the Gorgons
  head with the scimitar
• he popped the head right into the magic bag
• and he got away with it because he was invisible.

6
Pegasus

• As Medusa died, her two sons by Poseidon sprang
  out
• Chrysaor (golden-sword), later father of Geryon,
  and
• Pegasus, the winged horse
• From the drops of the gorgons blood as Perseus
  flew across Libya came all the poisonous snakes
  of the world.

7
Andromeda
On his way back, Persus stopped to save the
maiden Andromeda, who was tied to a rock, waiting
to be eaten by a sea serpent. He killed the
monster and rescued the maiden, who became his
wife. When he returned home, he found that
Polydectes was trying to force himself on Danae.
He revealed the Gorgons head, turning the evil
king and his supporters to stone.
8
Acrisius
Acrisius, as is always the case, could not escape
fate. He attended an athletic competition where
Perseus was throwing the discus. The discus flew
into the crowd and killed him Good
riddance. Persus and Andromeda were, however,
tainted with miasma. So they left their newly
inherited kingdom of Argos and exchanged kingdoms
with the king of Tiryns. In Tiryns in historical
times, young (7-9 year old) boys underwent an
age-group initiation in which the Perseus story
figured.
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Perseus and Folktale

• The Perseus story reads more like a folktale than
  most heroic sagas with such elements as
• Danae and Perseus floating in a box, miraculously
  rescued
• The vengeful king and quest meant to kill Perseus
• The scary Gorgons
• help by Hermes, Athena and the Graeae through
  magic talismans
• Rescuing the princess
• Revenge on the evil king

10
finis