Perseus is the son of Zeus and Danaë who is imprisoned by her father King Acrisius. Perseus is tasked by King Polydectes to bring back the head of Medusa. Hermes and Athena aid Perseus by providing him magical items. Perseus slays Medusa with Athena's shield and uses her head to turn Polydectes and his men to stone. He later saves Andromeda from a sea monster.

1. PERSEUS

2. THE STORY
OF
PERSEUS

3. King Acrisius of Argos had a daughter
named Danaë.

4. But this was a small comfort to him for
not having a son. So he journeyed to
Delphi to ask the god if there was any
hope that someday he would be a
father to a boy.
Unfortunately, the priestess told him
no, and added what was far worse;
“Your daughter would have a son who
would kill you."

5. King Acrisius wanted to kill her daughter
but he would not.
He was afraid that he might be visited
with terrible punishment by the gods.
He did not dare slay his daughter.
Instead, he had a house built all of
bronze and sunk underground, but with
part of the roof open to the sky so that
light and air could come through.

6. But one day, as she sat there with
nothing to do and nothing to see except
the clouds moving by overhead, a
mysterious thing happened; a shower
of gold fell from the sky and filled her
chamber. It was Zeus who visited her.
They had a child named Perseus.

7. For a time, she kept her birth secret from
her father, but it became increasingly
difficult to do so in the narrow limits of
that bronze house. Until one day, the
little boy was discovered by his
grandfather.

8. King Acrisius had a great chest made,
and the two placed in it. Then it was
taken out to the sea.

9. Luckily, they landed on something solid,
a land called Seriphos. Fate willed it or
Zeus perhaps. They were discovered by
a good fisherman named Dictys. He
broke and the chest and took them
home to his wife who was as kind as
he.

10. The two lived there for many years.
Danaë was contented to let her son
follow the fisherman’s humble trade,
out of harm’s way. But in the end,
more trouble came. Polydectes, the
ruler of the little island and who was
the brother of Dictys, fell in love
with her.

11. King Polydectes wanted her and
asked her to marry him but she
rejected. If it wasn't
for Perseus, Polydectes would
have married Danae by force; so
the king decided to create a plan
to get rid of the young man.

12. He pretended to marry the daughter of
his friend, Hippodameia. Everybody
had to bring a wedding present,
including Perseus.
However, Perseus, being poor, had
not brought anything,
and Polydectes pretended to be
furious. After a heated
discussion, Perseus said he would
bring him anything the king would
ask; so Polydectes asked for the
head of Medusa.

14. No man unaided could kill Medusa.
Fortunately, he was saved from his
folly. Two great gods were watching
over him. He took ship as soon as he
left the King’s hall.

15. He sailed to Delphi. All the priestess bid
him to seek the land where men eat not
Demeter’s golden grain, but only
acorns. So he went to Dodona, in the
land of oak trees, where the talking
oaks could tell him, that he was under
the protection of the gods and they did
not know where the Gorgons lived.

16. Until one day, when he was
wandering, he met a strange
and beautiful young man with a
wand of gold with wings with
one end, with a winged hat and
winged sandals. He could be
none other than Hermes, the
guide and the giver of good.

17. Hermes told him that before he attacked
Medusa, he must first be properly
equipped. What he needed was in the
possession of the nymphs of the North.
To find the nymphs’ abode, they must
go to the Gray Women who alone could
tell them the way. These extremely old
women dwelt in a land where all was
dim and shrouded in twilight. No ray of
sun or moon ever looked ever in that
country.

18. Their heads were human and they
had an eye which they take turns
with. They shared this by placing
it in their forehead for some time
then hand it to the other. They
have hands and arms beneath
their wings.

19. The journey to the twilight land was long,
over the stream of Ocean and on to the
very border of the black country where
the Cimmerians dwell, but Hermes as his
guide and he could not go astray. They
found the Gray Women at last and
executed the plan. It worked and the three
women gave him full directions at once;
they would have done anything to get
their eye back. He returned it to them and
went on the way they had pointed out to
him.

20. He was bound, although he did not
know it, to the blessed country of
the Hyperboreans, at the back of
the North Wind, of which is said:
“Neither by ship nor yet by land
shall one find the wondrous road
to the gathering place of the
Hyperboreans.” But knowing that
Perseus was with Hermes, the
road lay open to him, and he
reached that host of happy people
who are always banqueting and
holding joyful revelry.

21. They showed him great kindness:
they welcomed him to their feast,
and the maidens dancing to the
sound of flute and lyre paused to
get for him the gifts he sought.
These were three: winged sandals,
a magic wallet which would
always become the right size for
whatever was to be carried in it,
and, most important of all, a cap
which made the wearer invisible.

22. Another great divinity was at hand
to help. Pallas Athena stood
beside Perseus. She took off the
shield of polished bronze which
covered her breast and held it
out to him. “Look into this when
you attack the Gorgon,” she
said. “You will be able to see her
in it as in a mirror, and so avoid
her deadly power.”

23. He also received the sword of
Hermes, which could not be
bent or broken by the Gorgon’s
scales, no matter how hard they
were. And so, with these five
gifts or equipments, Perseus
was ready for the Gorgons.

24. By great good fortune they were
all asleep when Perseus found
them. In the mirror of the bright
shield he could see them
clearly, creatures with great
wings and bodies covered with
golden scales and hair a mass
of twisting snakes. Athena was
beside him now as well as
Hermes. They told him which
one was Medusa.

25. Perseus on his winged sandals
hovered above them, looking,
however, only at the shield. Then he
aimed a stroke down at Medusa’s
throat and Athena guided his hand.
With a single seep of his sword he
cut through her neck and, his eyes
still fixed on the shield with never a
glance at her, he swooped low
enough to seize the head. He
dropped it into the wallet which
closed around it. He had nothing to
fear from it now.

26. But the two other Gorgons had
awakened and, horrified at the sight
of their sister slain, tried to pursue
the slayer. But they could not find
him; Perseus was safe, he had on
the cap of darkness.
On his way back, he came to Ethiopia
and alighted there.

27. Perseus found that a lovely maiden
had been given up to be devoured by
a horrible sea serpent. Her name
was Andromeda and she was the
daughter of a silly vain woman
named Queen Cassiopeia who
boasted that she was more beautiful
than the daughters of Nereus, the
Sea-god.

28. In this case the punishment for the
arrogance the gods detested fell not on
Andromeda’s mother, but to her. The
Ethiopians were being devoured in
numbers by the serpent.
Learning from the oracle that they could
be freed from the pest only if
Andromeda were offered up to it, they
forced Cepheus, her father, to consent.
When Perseus arrived the maiden was
on a rocky ledge by the sea, chained
there to wait for the coming of the
monster. Perseus saw her and on the
instant loved her.

29. He waited beside her
until the great snake
came for its prey;
then he cut its head
off just as he had the
Gorgon’s. The
headless body
dropped back into the
water; Perseus took
Andromeda to her
parents and asked for
her hand, which they
gladly gave him.

30. With her, he sailed back to the island and
his mother, but in the house where he
had lived so long he found no one. The
fisherman Dictys’ wife was long since
dead, and the two others, Danaë and
the man who had been like a father to
Perseus, had to fly and hide
themselves from Polydectes, who was
furious at Danaë’s refusal to marry him.

31. They had taken refuge in a temple,
Perseus was told. He learned also
that the King was holding a banquet
in the palace and all the men who
favored him were gathered there.
Perseus instantly saw his
opportunity.
He went straight to the palace and
entered the hall. As he stood at the
entrance, Athena’s shining buckler on
his breast, the silver wallet at his
side, he drew the eyes of every man

32. Then before any could look away he
held up the Gorgon’s head; and at
the sight one and all, the cruel
King and his servile courtiers,
were turned into stone. There they
sat, a row of statues, each, as it
were, frozen stiff in the attitude he
had struck when he first saw
Perseus.

33. When the islanders knew themselves
freed from the tyrant it was easy for
Perseus to find Danaë and Dictys. He
made Dictys king of the island, but he
and his mother decided that they would
go back with Andromeda to Greece and
try to be reconciled to Acrisius, to see if
the many years that had passed since
he had put them in the chest had not
softened him so that he would be glad
to receive his daughter and grandson.

34. When they reached Argos, however,
they found that Acrisisus had been
driven away from the city, and
where he was no one could say. It
happened soon after their arrival
Perseus heard that the King of
Larissa, in the North, was holding
a great athletic contest, and he
journeyed there to take part.

35. In the discus-throwing when his
turn came and he hurled the
heavy missile, it swerved and fell
among the spectators. Acrisius
was there on a visit to the King,
and the discus struck him. The
blow was fatal and he died at
once. So Apollo’s oracle was
again proved true.

36. If Perseus felt any grief, at least he
knew that his grandfather had done
his best to kill him and his mother.
With his death their troubles came to
an end. Perseus and Andromeda
lived happily ever after.
Their son, Electryon, was the
grandfather of Hercules. Medusa’s
head was given to Athena, who bore
it always upon the aegis, Zeus’s
shield, which she carried for him.

37. QUESTIONS:
1. Who is the father of Perseus?
2. Who is the mother of Perseus?
3. Who is the grandfather of Perseus?
4. What did Hermes give to Perseus?
5. What did Athena give to Perseus?
6. What did the Nymphs of the north give to
Perseus? (3)
7. Who was saved from the giant serpent by
Perseus?
8. What was the gift wanted by King Polydectes?
9. Describe the Gray Women. Give at least 2.
10. How did King Acrisius die?

38. CHARACTERS
PERSEUS
• One of the great heroes before the Trojan
War
• Son of Zeus and Danaë
• Other half of Andromeda
• Descendant of Io
• Father of Electryon (grandfather of
Hercules)
• Slayer of Medusa

39. DANAË
• Mother of Perseus
• Daughter of King Acrisius
• Impregnated by Zeus
KING ACRISIUS
• King of Argos

40. DICTYS
• A good fisherman who helped Danaë and
Perseus
POLYDECTES
• Brother of Dictys
• King of the island where Danaë and
Perseus landed
• Fell in love with Danaë and wanted to get
rid of Perseus

41. HERMES & ATHENA
• Brother and sister of Perseus who guided
and helped him
GRAY WOMEN
• Three old strange creatures; women on
top, shape of swans, having arms and
hands beneath their wings and having
only an eye to take turns.

42. NYMPHS OF THE
NORTH
• Have the possession of the three
equipments used by Perseus
MEDUSA
• One of the Gorgons (the only mortal)
• Dragonlike creatures with wings, with hair
of snakes and whose look can turn a man

43. ANDROMEDA
• Daughter of King Cepheus and Queen
Cassiopeia of Ethiopia
• Offered to the serpent
• Other half of Perseus

44. SETTINGS
• ARGOS
- Palace
- Underground house of bronze
• SERIPHOS
- Island where the chest landed
• GRAY WOMEN’S ABODE

45. • COUNTRY OF THE HYPERBOREANS
OR NYMPHS OF THE NORTH
• TERRIBLE SISTERS’ OR GORGONS’
ISLAND
• ETHIOPIA

46. MOOD/TONE
• IRONIC and SUSPENSEFUL

47. SITUATIONAL IRONY
• KING ACRISIUS AND HIS DEATH
• KING POLYDECTES GETTING RID OF
PERSEUS

48. THEMES
• THE DOMINANCE OF FATE
• COURAGE
• DETERMINATION AND
PERSEVERANCE

49. SYMBOLISM
• WATER/SEA – symbolizes life, cleansing and
rebirth
• SERPENT – symbolizes the wrath of the
gods whenever offended
• WINGED SANDALS – symbolizes freedom
and aid
• MEDUSA’S HEAD – symbolizes warning and
death
• PERSEUS/SHIELD– symbolizes hope,
confidence, strength and courage

50. CHARACTER
ARCHETYPES
• THE HERO – PERSEUS
- He is the protagonist of the story
- He is after some ultimate objective and must
encounter and overcome obstacles
- He had left his kingdom and returned upon
reaching manhood
- He is characterized by courage, strength and
honor

51. • THE MENTOR – HERMES AND ATHENA
- They have extraordinary and magical
abilities plus a much greater breadth of
knowledge than others possess.
- They helped Perseus along his journey by
teaching him how to help himself and
giving what he need.
- Their main task is to protect him.

52. • THE VILLAIN – KING ACRISIUS AND
KING POLYDECTES
- They were evil, though there were reasons
lying behind. King Acrisius wanted to control
his fate while King Polydectes wanted to get
rid of him to be able to marry his mother.
• DAMSEL IN DISTRESS
- Andromeda is a woman who needed to be
saved by a man.

53. SITUATIONAL
ARCHETYPES
• THE TASK
- Perseus is driven to complete his task; to
bring the head of Medusa to King
Polydectes.
• THE QUEST
- Perseus is searching for Medusa. His
actions, thoughts and feelings were
centered around his goal to complete the
quest.

54. SYMBOLIC ARCHETYPES
• THE MAGIC WEAPON
- The five equipments used by Perseus
were symbols of the hero’s extraordinary
quality.
• SUPERNATURAL INTERVENTION
- Hermes (god) and Athena (goddess)
intervened and favoredPerseus in the
story.