The Legend of Perseus

MAIN CHARACTERS

Who is... PERSEUS Perseus is the son of Danae, a human, and Zeus, a mighty god. He is famous for killing the only mortal Gorgon, Medusa, with the guidance and assistance of Hermes and Athena.

Who is... DANAE Danae is the mother of Perseus, whose father, Acrisius, regretted having a girl, and when visiting a priestess that foretold her son killing the king, he decided to lock her in a stone tower where she would eventually waste away. However, Zeus took pity on her, and took the form of showering gold coins and impregnated her with the boy who would become Perseus.

KING ACRISIUS OF ARGOS Who is... King Acrisius was afraid to kill his daughter, Danae, because he had heard of the harsh punishment the gods gave when one shed the blood of fellow kin, especially their children. However, when he traveled to Delphi the priestess had explained that her son would kill him. So he locked her in a stone tower, where he hoped she would be out of his way. When she did have a child, he locked them both in a brass chest in hopes that they would sink to the bottom of the ocean and forever be out of his way.

Who is... DICTYS Dictys, a local fisherman, found the brass bound chest that Danae and her son Perseus were trapped in. He broke it open and took the two souls to his home, where he nourished them for many years with his caring wife. Dictys brother is Polydectes.

Who is... MEDUSA One of the three Gorgans who lived on Terrible Sisters Island, and the only one that was mortal and could be slain. It is said that the gaze of Medusa would instantly turn any man into stone. The Gorgons were known for deadly power and the snakes in their hair. Perseus offered to claim Medusa’s head as a wedding gift (hmm…) between his mother and Polydectes.

Who is... HERMES The guide and the giver of good, who wears a winged hat, winged sandals, and carries a winged gold wand. Hermes was Perseus’s guide to find the Fates, and lead him to the land of the Northern Nyphs that would help to properly equip him to kill Medusa. He presented Perseus with a sword that could cut through the Gorgon’s extremely tough scales.

Who is... ATHENA Athena supplied Perseus with the mirror shield that enabled him to see Medusa, and accurately kill the horrid Gorgon. She is the patron goddess of Athens and of crafts and domestic arts and also those of war.

Who are... THE FATES The Fates (or Gray Women) are three witches that dwell in a country of shrouded darkness where no ray of light, whether moon or sun, ever enters. The are gray themselves, as from extreme age, and the three share one eye which they take turns with, placing it on their foreheads to see. These three hags were the only ones who knew how to reach the Nyphs of the North.

Who is... POLYDECTES Polydectes was Dictys’s brother. And when he discovered the mother and son that Dictys and his wife were watching over, he instantly fell in love with Danae. Being the king, Polydectes wished to marry Danae, but did not want Perseus. So when time of the wedding came, he knew that Perseus would not be able to afford a nice wedding gift, and suggested he bring back Medusa’s head, sure of himself that Persues would take the bait, and be slaughtered by the three Gorgons.

The Story that won’t put you to sleep…or else… King Acrisius of Argos had only one child, a daughter. Her name was Danae, and she was the most beautiful girl in the land…but to him, that was hardly a comfort. He journeyed to Delphi to consult a priestess as to if there was any chance he would be the father of a boy. She said that he would not have a son, but something far worse would happen. Danae’s future son, would grow up and come to kill him. The easiest way for the king to escape his fate would be to kill his daughter, however he knew that the gods had horrible punishment for those that killed their kin. Instead, Acrisius locked his daughter in a stone tower, where all she had to look out of was a glass window to the sky. Zeus soon came to visit her in the form of showering gold coins, where he impregnated her, and she eventually had her son, Perseus.

The king was terrified when he heard of Danae’s son. So he then built a brass chest which he locked Danae and her son young son into, and then tossed it into the ocean in hope that they would sink within the oceans depths. Quite the opposite happened, because it floated, maybe Zeus was looking over his child, or some other god may have taken pity, maybe it was just the way of fate, but the chest made it to shore where a local fisherman named Dictys broke it open, and took the two poor individuals to his home where his wife took care of them for many years. The husband and wife nourished the two, and watched over young Perseus, teaching him the traits of the fisherman. Danae believed her son was out of harms way, as it turns out, she was wrong. Polydectes was the brother of Dictys, and ruler of the small island. He fell in love with Danae, and wanted to marry her, but didn’t want Perseus as “extra baggage”.

Polydectes had heard of some fearsome monsters called Gorgons, which he had evidently talked to Perseus quite a bit about. When time for the wedding came, Perseus had no great gift to offer, so he proclaimed that he would bring back Medusa’s head! This is exactly what Polydectes had predicted and wished to happen. For he knew that no man in his right mind would dare to go after one of the most fearsome monsters of all time. Especially one that could turn any man into stone just by one piercing glare. Perseus’s adventure to seek out and kill Medusa had begun.

No man, by himself, could ever dream of killing Medusa No man, by himself, could ever dream of killing Medusa. However, two powerful gods were watching over him, Hermes and Athena. Perseus first traveled to Delphi to consult with the priestess as to where he should travel to reach Terrible Sister’s Island. All the priestess told him was “seek the land where men eat not Demeter’s golden grain, but only acorns.” So he traveled to Dodona, the land of the talking oaks, which they only told him “you are under the protection of the gods”, but did not know where the gorgons lived. Perseus heart began to fill with despair, when suddenly a being so lovely and so beautiful appeared wearing a winged hat, winged sandals, and carried a golden winged wand, that it had to be no other than Hermes. His hope was rejuvenated, and with a new energy, and Hermes as a guide, and went in search for the Nymphs of the North to gain some precious equipment to kill Medusa. First however, he needed to know where to find them. Hermes suggested going to the Fates, or the three Grey Women who all shared one eye. A master plan was being formulated…

Hermes thought day and night, and came up with a brilliant plan Hermes thought day and night, and came up with a brilliant plan. When the witches would pass the eye, Perseus should run up and grab it, then demand that they tell him how to find the Nymphs of the North. It was flawless. Perseus waited for the opportune moment, then ran up and grabbed the slimy eye. The witches of course told him how to find the secret path, because they couldn’t live without their sacred pupil. “Neither by ship nor yet by land shall one find the wondrous road to the gathering place of the Hyperborean,” however, Perseus finally reached them, and received three gifts: winged sandals, in which he could fly; a magic wallet, which would automatically become any size for whatever was to be carried; and the most significant gift, a magical cap, which made the wearer invisible. Hermes gave him a special sword that could cut through the strongest marble, and the Gorgon’s golden scales. Athena gave him a mirror shield in which he could view Medusa without getting turned to stone.

Armed to his teeth, Perseus was finally ready to take on Medusa Armed to his teeth, Perseus was finally ready to take on Medusa. Hermes guided him to Terrible Sisters Island where the three gorgons lay sleeping. Athena told which Perseus which gorgon was Medusa, for the other two were immortal. In one smooth motion, with his hand guided by Athena and viewing Medusa through the mirror shield, Perseus sliced through her neck, grabbed her head, and dropped it into the wallet, flying off into the night, invisible to the enraged gorgon sisters.

As Perseus was heading back home, he stopped by at Eithiopia, where he discovered an incredibly beautiful maiden by the name of Adromeda, who was tied to a rock and was going to be sacrificed to a sea serpent. By this time Hermes had long left Perseus’s side. Andromeda’s mother, the Queen of Eithiopia, had boasted that her daughter was more beautiful than the daughter of Nereus, the sea god. Back in those days it was most certain anguish that would fall upon those who claimed any sort of superiority over any deity. In this case, her daughter was to be punished by being devoured alive while tied to big stone over looking the ocean, smooth move mom. This sacrifice was the only way for the Eithiopians to rid them-selves of the terrifying serpent. Once Perseus looked upon her tortured face, he fell in love, and waited by her side until the serpent came, and when it did, SPLAT! He sliced its head off just like Medusa, and proceed to ask her parents for her hand, which they readily agreed to.

Perseus finally returned to the island, and was enthralled to tell his mom the grand news…but Dictys’s wife was dead, and Danae and the fisherman, along with some friends, were hiding in a cave from Polydectes. He was incredibly enraged because Danae had refused to marry him. Perseus was sickened by this new, until he learned that the king was having a banquet for all that favor him, to be held in the grand hall, the opportune moment had arisen. Perseus attended the banquet, and when he entered the room, all men turned in disbelief as to how he could have survived his quest. Impossible! And before any of the kings cruel and servile men could turn away, out popped Medusa’s head and they all turned to stone. The island was now free of Polydectes tyrant rule. Perseus placed Dictys as the island’s king, and his mother went with Perseus and Andromeda back to Greece to try and reconcile with Acrisius…

When Perseus, along with his girlfriend and mom, returned to Argos, they were surprised to discover that Acrisius had been dethroned and driven out of the city. No one knew where the coward ran to. It was fairly soon after their arrival that Perseus heard of an athletic contest being held in the North by King Larissa. Entering the discus competition, to show Andromeda how big and strong he was, he hurled the missile which landed in the audience and hit Acrisius himself, who was on a visit to the king. The blow was fatal, and the prophecy foretold many years before held true and completed. With his death, a newfound piece fell over Perseus and Andromeda, and they lived happily ever after…but not before they had a kid. His name was Electryon, later the grandfather of Hercules. As for Medusa’s head, Athena kept it and bore it on aegis, Zeus’s shield, which she always held for him.

THE END