by Marilla Mulwane

Created on: February 15, 2010

The Greek hero Perseus has a place among other greats such as Hercules or Achilles, although he is probably less known by the public. Heroes of Greek legend are always sent on impossible quests, which they somehow achieve, and they woo and rescue beautiful women. Perseus is no different.

-The birth of Perseus-

Danae was the daughter of Acrisius. An oracle prophesized that Acrisius would be killed by his own grandson. In order to save his own life, Acrisius had his daughter locked away in a tower. Now, that bronze tower could keep out mortal men, but not immortal gods. Zeus became enamored of Danae, and probably liked the idea of taking a forbidden woman, so he turned himself into rays of light. These rays filtered into the tower and fell into Danae’s lap. This is how Perseus was conceived. He was half mortal, half god.

-Growing up Perseus-

When Acrisius found out that he had a grandson, he put Danae and the baby boy into a chest and sent them floating out to sea. He figured they would either die, or end up somewhere too far away to harm him. The two did survive, and washed up on the shores of Seriphus. Here, they found a home. As Perseus grew up he became very protective of his mother. So, when King Polydectes took in interest in her, Perseus would not let him near her. So the King devised a way to get rid of Perseus, so he could get his grubby hands on Danae.

-The quest begins-

King Polydectes sent Perseus on an impossible quest. He wanted Perseus to kill the Gorgon monster Medusa, and bring back its head. Trouble was, whenever someone looked in Medusa’s eyes, they turned to stone. How could Perseus defeat such a creature?

With a little help from the gods.

With thanks to Hermes and Athena, Perseus received sandals with wings on them, a shield that was very shiny, and an invisibility cap that belonged to Hades. By wearing the cap, Perseus could sneak up on Medusa. He looked at the creature’s reflection in the shield, and not directly at her. This prevented him from being turned to stone. He used a sword to chop off her head. Although dead, the head of Medusa still worked to turn people into stone. Perseus placed the head in a protective badg and then started to fly(thanks to those sandals) back home to his mother.

-How Perseus saves the girl-

While traveling home, Perseus made a few stops. He ran into Atlas and the two of them fought. Perseus used Medusa’s head to turn Atlas into stone. This is what created the Atlas Mountains. Perseus

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