2. ●
On the island of Serifos a young man lived called
Perseus with this mother Danae. The King
Polydectes wanted Danae to marry him. He
was a cruel, wicked tyrant and she didn't
want to. Polydectes was convinced that it
was Perseus' fault and if he could get rid of
Perseus then there would not be a problem.
3. ● Polydectes invited all of the
young men of Serifos to a
banquet. They all arrived
with beautiful gifts, except
Perseus who had nothing to
give. Perseus was upset and
went away saying that he
would bring the best gift of
all . Polydectes set Perseus a
task: to bring Medusa's
head. Now Medusa had hair
made of serpents. Anyone
who looked at her was
turned to stone.
4. ● The Goddess Athena realized what Polydectes
had done and helped Perseus by giving him a
very shiny shield. Hermes helped him by
giving him a very sharp sword. They told him
to go to the home of the Grey sisters.
5. ● When Perseus arrived at the
home of the Grey sisters
he watched them for a
while. He saw that they
only had one eye and one
tooth between them. He
crept up and as they
passed the eye from one
to the other he snatched
it from them. He
threatened to keep it if
they did not tell him
where to find Medusa.
And so he learned the
secret.
6. ● As he approached the land, the Nymphs
who lived there gave him a cap which
hid him from Medusa's sisters, shoes of
swiftness with which to escape and a
special bag to put the head in.
7. ● Perseus crept up to Medusa,
looked at her reflection
through his shield and cut her
head off. He put her head in
the bag and took it back to
the palace. As he pulled the
head out of the bag he turned
all of the court to stone and
freed his mother.
