Perseus

The son of Zeus and Danae – and, thus, a half-god by birth – Perseus was one of the greatest heroes in Greek mythology, most renowned for beheading the only mortal Gorgon, Medusa, and using her severed head (capable of turning onlookers into stone) as a weapon in his subsequent adventures. These include the slaying of the sea monster that threatened the Aethiopian princess Andromeda, who became Perseus’ wife and bore him six sons and a daughter (Apollodorus, Library 2.4.3, 2.4.5). One of these sons was Electryon, the father of Alcmene, whose union with Zeus produced Heracles. This makes Perseus both Heracles’ great-grandfather and his half-brother, since both were sons of Zeus.

Perseus’ Early Life

Perseus was the demigod offspring of the union between Zeus and Danae: the supreme god came to the imprisoned princess of Argos in the form of a shower of gold through the roof of her chamber. Afterward, locked in a wooden chest, both were thrown into the sea by Danae’s father Acrisius, who had known from the oracle that he would eventually be killed by his grandson. Zeus names Danae among his lovers and calls her the mother of Perseus in the Iliad (14.319–320).

The Prophecy of Perseus’ Birth

Acrisius, the king of Argos, had a daughter by the name of Danae. When he inquired of the oracle how he might get male children, the god said that his daughter would give birth to a son who would kill him. To thwart the prophecy, Acrisius built a bronze chamber underground and guarded Danae there (Apollodorus, Library 2.4.1; compare Sophocles, Antigone 944–950).

Zeus Impregnates Danae

Some said that Danae had been seduced by Proetus, from which the quarrel between the two brothers arose; but others said that Zeus had intercourse with her in the shape of a stream of gold that poured through the roof into Danae’s lap (Library 2.4.1). Pindar likewise says that Perseus was conceived in a shower of gold (Pythian 12.16–17).

The Banishment of Danae

When Acrisius learned that Danae had borne a child, Perseus, he would not believe that she had been seduced by Zeus. He put his daughter and the child into a chest and cast it into the sea (Library 2.4.1). In another version, preserved by Hyginus, Danae and her son were washed ashore on Seriphos and taken to King Polydectes, who married Danae and raised Perseus in the temple of Minerva (Fabulae 63).

Dictys

The chest was washed ashore on the island of Seriphos, which was ruled by Polydectes. Dictys, Polydectes’ brother, took up the boy and reared him (Library 2.4.1; on the brothers, 1.9.6). Strabo mentions Seriphos as the scene of the myth of Dictys, who drew the chest up with his net (10.5.10).

Polydectes’ Ploy

When Perseus had grown up, Polydectes fell in love with Danae but could not get at her while her son was beside her. Pindar speaks of the long slavery of Perseus’ mother and of the forced bridal bed that Polydectes intended for her (Pythian 12.12–15). The king devised a plan to get rid of Perseus.

The Wedding Gift

In Apollodorus, Polydectes gathered his friends for a feast to which each guest contributed a horse, pretending that he was collecting a gift for the bride Hippodameia, the daughter of Oenomaus. Perseus, who had no horse, said that he would not refuse even the head of the Gorgon, and the king took him at his word: “Fetch me the head of Medusa.” Anyone who looked at a Gorgon was turned to stone (Library 2.4.2). Polydectes knew that he might be sending Perseus to his death.

The Quest for the Gorgon Medusa

Perseus is most famous for his expedition against the Gorgons, during which he slew the only mortal of the three, Medusa, taking with him her severed head and using it as a weapon.

Athena and Hermes

Perseus was guided by Hermes and Athena, who led him to the Graeae (Library 2.4.2). Lucian also has Athena give him wings and show him Medusa’s reflection in her shield (Dialogues of the Sea-Gods 14).

The Graeae and the Nymphs

The Graeae, Enyo and Pemphredo (and in Apollodorus Dino), were gray-haired sisters of the Gorgons, daughters of Phorcys and Ceto (Hesiod, Theogony 270–273). In Aeschylus they share a single eye and a single tooth, and the swan-like old women live near the Gorgons on the plains of Cisthene in the east, where the sun and moon never look on them (Prometheus Bound 790–800); in Hesiod the Gorgons dwell beyond Ocean towards Night, where the clear-voiced Hesperides are (Theogony 274–276). In Apollodorus, Perseus seized their eye and tooth and gave them back only when they showed him the way to the nymphs, who owned winged sandals, the kibisis (a wallet or bag) and the cap of Hades that made its wearer invisible (Library 2.4.2).

The Slaying of Medusa

Equipped with all the necessary pieces, Perseus “slung the bag (kibisis) about him, fitted the sandals to his ankles, and put the cap on his head. Wearing it, he saw whom he pleased, but was not seen by others. And having received also from Hermes an adamantine sickle, he flew to the ocean and caught the Gorgons asleep” (Library 2.4.2). Of the three Gorgons, Stheno, Euryale and Medusa, only Medusa was mortal (Hesiod, Theogony 276–279). Looking only at her reflection in a bronze shield, Perseus struck off her head with Athena guiding his hand. Hesiod says that Medusa had lain with Poseidon, and that from her neck, when Perseus cut off her head, sprang the great horse Pegasus and Chrysaor, who held a golden sword (Theogony 278–281). Perseus put the head into the kibisis; the other Gorgons woke and pursued him but could not see him because of the cap (Library 2.4.3). Pindar says that Athena made the music of the double pipe, the aulos, to imitate the shrill lament of Euryale and her sisters as Medusa died (Pythian 12.6–27).

Perseus’ Later Adventures

On his way back to Seriphos, Perseus encountered the Titan Atlas and turned him into a mountain (Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.621–662); afterward, in Aethiopia, he killed the sea monster and earned the hand of the princess Andromeda, who had been set out to be devoured by it. Back in Seriphos, upon learning that Polydectes had harassed his mother, Perseus turned Polydectes and his guests into stone. Afterward, accidentally, he killed his grandfather Acrisius as well, thus fulfilling the prophecy which caused his wanderings in the first place.

Perseus and Atlas

On his way back to Seriphos, Perseus came across the Titan Atlas, who in Hesiod holds up the broad heaven at the ends of the earth (Theogony 517–520). In Ovid, Atlas refused to give Perseus a night’s hospitality, fearing an oracle that a son of Jupiter would rob his golden apples, and Perseus held up Medusa’s head and turned Atlas into a vast mountain (Metamorphoses 4.621–662). Apollodorus does not tell this story.

Cetus and Andromeda

Perseus came to Aethiopia, where Cepheus was king. Cepheus’ wife Cassiopeia (Cassiepea in Apollodorus) had boasted that she was more beautiful than all the Nereids, and the angry Nereids and Poseidon sent a flood and a sea monster to invade the land. Ammon declared that deliverance would come if Cassiopeia’s daughter Andromeda were exposed as prey to the monster, and Cepheus, compelled by the Aethiopians, bound his daughter to a rock (Library 2.4.3; compare Hyginus, Fabulae 64). Perseus loved her at first sight and promised Cepheus that he would kill the monster if he would give him the rescued girl as his wife; the terms were sworn to, and Perseus killed the monster and released Andromeda. Ancient writers differ on how he did it. Apollodorus says only that he withstood and slew it. In Ovid he struck it from the air with his curved sword (Metamorphoses 4.706–734). In Lucian he struck it with his scimitar in one hand and uncovered the Gorgon’s head with the other, so that the monster turned to stone (Dialogues of the Sea-Gods 14). However, Phineus, a brother of Cepheus, to whom Andromeda had first been betrothed, plotted against Perseus; Perseus discovered the plot and turned him and his fellow conspirators into stone by showing the Gorgon’s head (Library 2.4.3). Perses, the first child of Perseus and Andromeda, was left behind with Cepheus, who had no sons, and the Persians were said to take their name from him (Library 2.4.5; Herodotus 7.61.3, 7.150).

Killing Polydectes

Back in Seriphos, Perseus found that his mother and Dictys had taken refuge at the altars on account of the violence of Polydectes. He entered the palace, where Polydectes had gathered his friends, and, with his face averted, showed the Gorgon’s head: “and all who beheld it were turned to stone, each in the attitude which he happened to have struck” (Library 2.4.3). After making Dictys king of Seriphos, Perseus gave back the sandals, the wallet and the cap to Hermes, who restored them to the nymphs, and gave the Gorgon’s head to Athena, who set it in the middle of her shield (Library 2.4.3; compare Iliad 5.738–742). Hyginus reports a different version in which Polydectes was killed when Perseus showed him the head after returning with Andromeda (Fabulae 64).

Killing Acrisius

By this time Perseus was done with his obligations to fate, but fate was not done with him. Perseus hurried with Danae and Andromeda to Argos to see Acrisius. Acrisius, learning of this and dreading the oracle, left Argos and went to the Pelasgian land. Teutamides, king of Larisa, was holding athletic games in honor of his dead father, and Perseus came to compete. Throwing the discus in the pentathlon, he struck Acrisius on the foot and killed him instantly (Library 2.4.4). Hyginus has a variant in which the death happened at funeral games for Polydectes, when the wind carried the discus onto Acrisius’ head (Fabulae 63). Pausanias also says that the god’s prediction to Acrisius was fulfilled in spite of his precautions (2.16.2–3).

The Aftermath

Perseus buried Acrisius outside the city of Larisa. Ashamed to go back to Argos and claim the inheritance of the man he had killed, he went to Megapenthes, son of Proetus, at Tiryns and exchanged kingdoms with him: Megapenthes ruled the Argives, and Perseus ruled Tiryns and fortified Midea and Mycenae (Library 2.4.4). Pausanias says that Perseus founded Mycenae, and gives two explanations of its name: the cap (myces) of his scabbard fell there, or he picked up a mushroom (myces) from which water flowed and drank from it (2.16.3). In Mycenae Perseus and Andromeda had Alcaeus, Sthenelus, Heleus, Mestor and Electryon, and a daughter Gorgophone, in addition to Perses, who was born in Aethiopia (Library 2.4.5); Pausanias also names a son Cynurus, the founder of the Cynurians (3.2.2). The descendants of Perseus ruled Mycenae and Tiryns. Sthenelus was the father of Eurystheus, who made Heracles perform his labors, and Electryon the father of Alcmene, the mother of Heracles, the most famous of all Greek heroes (Library 2.4.5). Pausanias saw a hero-shrine of Perseus on the road from Mycenae to Argos (2.18.1).

Perseus Sources

The story of Perseus is best summed up in Apollodorus’ “Library” (2.4.1–5, 1.9.6) and visited at length by Ovid at the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth book of his “Metamorphoses” (4.604–803). Pindar sings of Perseus and the discovery of the aulos in his 12^th Pythian Ode. The Gorgons and the Graeae are described in Hesiod’s Theogony (270–281) and in Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound (790–800). Further details come from Homer’s Iliad (5.738–742, 14.319–320), Sophocles’ Antigone (944–950), Herodotus (7.61, 7.150), Strabo (10.5.10), Pausanias (2.16.2–3, 2.18.1, 3.2.2), Lucian’s Dialogues of the Sea-Gods (14) and Hyginus’ Fabulae (63–64).

See Also: Danae, Andromeda, Medusa, Gorgons, Graeae, Acrisius, Polydectes, Heracles