Perseus Mother: Danae Father: Zeus Details of Birth: In a prophecy… Acrisius, Danae’s father, learned that his daughter’s son would one day kill him So what do you do?

Perseus – Birth of Hero Basically you are a good guy; you would never murder your own daughter. So, you lock her in a tower where she can never conceive a child. Danae was infinitely beautifully and somehow came to the attention of Zeus… Zeus visited the tower in the form of a golden light and voila – a boy is born. Danae named him Perseus, meaning the Avenger!

Perseus - Childhood of a Hero Eventually Acrisius became aware of the new born baby. AGAIN, BECAUSE HE WAS SUCH A GOOD GUY HE COULD NOT KILL HIS DAUGHTER AND GRANDSON. Instead Acrisius had them placed in a box and thrown into the sea – Acrisius was worried that a god was involved in all this, so this way he could not be accused of murder and face the wrath of an angry deity. The mother and child washed ashore the island of Sephiros and were found by the common fisherman, Dictys. Eventually the cruel king of Sephiros, Polydectes, decided he wanted to marry Danae.

Perseus – The Quest In a move to destroy the impudent Perseus, Polydectes forced Perseus to boast that he would bring him the head of Medusa: Perseus’s Great Quest Athene wanted to aid Perseus in his quest to kill Medusa so she fortified the young hero with some important weapons: winged sandals (like those of Hermes, the messenger of the gods) Perseus needed to find the Nymphs who knew the secret of the Gorgons. Only the Gray Sisters knew this – sharing one eye and one tooth between them. Perseus coerced them into sharing what they know

Perseus – The Quest Perseus next flew to the Nymphs of the West who guarded the secret of the Gorgons He charmed the Nymphs into revealing their secret – they sent him off with three valuable weapons: a sword, a shield, and the cap of invisibility With the help of his weapons Perseus sliced off Medusa’s head

Perseus – The Return To complete the hero cycle Perseus returned home to bring the head of Medusa to Polydectes. Along the way he: Visited the Nymphs (fulfilling his promise) Rescued Andromeda from the Kraken and took her to be his wife Turned Atlas into a mountain (relieving his pain)

Perseus – Atonement Upon his return to Sephiros Perseus interupted the wedding of his mother to the dreaded Polydectes Polydectes, with one look at the Gorgon’s head, was turned to stone In fulfillment of the prophecy – Acrisius just happened to be present at the wedding – he too was turned to stone! In another version of the story Acrisius was not at the wedding and did not turn to stone. In this version Acrisius happened to be in the audience at an athletic competition; Perseus unknowingly killed him when the discus he threw flew into the crowd, killing his grandfather