Perseus, in Greek mythology, the ancestor of Hercules, the son of Zeus and Danae, daughter of the Argive king Acrisius.

The myth of Perseus

In Argos there lived a king who was predicted to be killed by his grandson. The king had a daughter, Danae, such a beauty that rumors about her spread throughout Greece. The king was afraid that Danae would give birth to a son who would kill him, and decided never to marry her. He ordered to build an underground house of hard stone, with copper doors, with strong locks - and locked his daughter there so that none of the men could see her. But the Thunderer Zeus struck the stone with lightning, rained golden rain into the dungeon where Danae was hidden, and she became his wife.

Danae had a son, she named him Perseus.

One day Danai's father, passing over the hiding place, heard a child's cry. The king was surprised, unlocked the entrance to the dungeon, went down to Danae’s home and saw a lovely boy in his daughter’s arms. Fear attacked the king. He began to think about how he could avoid his terrible destiny. Finally, he ordered Danae and her son to be put in a large box and secretly thrown into the sea.

The wind carried the box across the sea for a long time and drove it to the island of Serifu. A fisherman was fishing on the shore. He threw a net into the sea and caught a large box instead of fish. The poor fisherman wanted to quickly find out what kind of catch the sea had sent him, he pulled out the find on his beret, tore the lid off the box - and out came a beauty and a boy with her. Having learned who they were and what happened to them, the fisherman took pity on them and took them into his house. Perseus grew by leaps and bounds, grew into a tall, slender young man, and no one in Serif could compare with him in beauty, dexterity and strength.

The king of the island of Serif, Polydectes, heard about him and ordered Perseus and his mother to come to the palace. The beauty of Danae captivated Polydectes, he affectionately received the queen and her son and settled them in his palace.

One day Perseus found his mother in tears; she confessed to him that Polydectes was forcing her to marry him, and asked her son for protection. Perseus warmly stood up for his mother.

Then Polydectes decided to get rid of Perseus, called him and said:

You have already grown and matured and become so strong that you can now repay me for giving shelter to you and your mother. Go on your journey and bring me the head of Medusa.

Perseus said goodbye to his mother and went around the world to look for Medusa, about whom he knew nothing until then.

In a dream, the goddess of wisdom Athena appeared to him and revealed to him that Medusa is one of the three Gorgon sisters, they live on the edge of the earth, in the Land of Night, they are all terrible monsters, but Medusa is the most terrible of all: instead of hair, she has poisonous curls on her head snakes, their eyes burn with an unbearable fire and are full of such malice that anyone who looks into them will immediately turn to stone. Athena gave Perseus her shield, smooth and shiny like a mirror, so that he could close himself from the terrible eyes of Medusa.

Then, on the road, the fleet-footed Hermes, the messenger of Zeus, caught up with him: he told Perseus how to go, and gave him his sword, so sharp that it could cut like wax, iron and stone.

Perseus walked for a long time in the direction where the Sun goes, and finally reached the Land of Night. The entrance to this country was guarded by three ancient old women - Grays. They were so old that all three of them had only one eye and one tooth. And yet they well guarded the entrance to the Land of Night and did not let anyone in. They took turns looking with their only eye, passing it to each other.

Perseus slowly crept up to the Grays, waited until one of them took out an eye to give it to her sister, reached out his hand and snatched the precious eye from the old woman. And the Grays immediately became powerless, blind old women. They plaintively asked Perseus to return their only eye to them.

Let me into the Land of Night, tell me how to find Medusa, and I will give you your eye,” Perseus answered the old women.

But the old Grays did not want to let Perseus in, did not want to tell him where to find Medusa, - after all, the Gorgons were their sisters. Then Perseus threatened the old women that he would break their eye on a stone, and the Grays had to show him the way.

On the way, he met three kind nymphs. One gave Perseus the helmet of Hades, the ruler of the underworld - whoever put on this helmet became invisible; another gave Perseus winged sandals, wearing which he could fly above the earth like a bird; the third nymph handed the young man a bag that could shrink and expand at the request of the one who wore it.

Perseus hung his bag on his shoulder, put on his winged sandals, put a helmet on his head - and, invisible to anyone, rose high into the sky and flew over the earth. Soon he reached the edge of the earth and flew for a long time over the deserted surface of the sea, until a lonely rocky island blackened below. Perseus began to circle over the island and saw the sleeping Gorgons on the rock. They had golden wings, scaly iron bodies, and copper hands with sharp claws.

Perseus saw Medusa - she was closest to the sea. He sat down on the rock next to her. The snakes on Medusa's head hissed, sensing the enemy. Medusa woke up and opened her eyes. Perseus turned away so as not to look into those terrible eyes and not turn forever into dead stone. He raised the shield of Athena, shining like a mirror, pointed it at Medusa and, looking into it, took out the sword of Hermes and immediately cut off her head.

Then two other Gorgons woke up, spread their wings and began to fly over the island, looking for the enemy. But Perseus was invisible. He quickly put Medusa's head into his magic bag and pushed the body away.

The gorgons entered the sea and flew away. Hurrying to return, he quickly crossed the sea and flew over the Libyan desert. The blood from Medusa's head dripped from the bag onto the ground, and each drop turned into a poisonous snake on the sand.

Perseus flew for a long time, got tired and wanted to rest. I saw green meadows below with herds of sheep, cows and bulls, I saw a huge shady garden, in the middle of which stood a tree with golden leaves and fruits - and I went down to this tree. The owner of the garden, the giant Atlas, met Perseus unkindly. He was predicted that one day the son of Zeus would come to him and steal golden apples from his favorite tree.

Perseus did not know this prediction and said to the giant:

I am Perseus, son of Zeus and Danae. I killed the formidable Medusa. Let me rest in your garden.

Hearing that the son of Zeus was in front of him, Atlas became furious.

Kidnapper! Do you want to steal my golden apples? - he shouted and began to drive Perseus out of the garden.

The offended Perseus grabbed Medusa's head from his bag and showed it to the giant.

Atlas instantly petrified and turned into a stone mountain. His head became a rocky peak, his beard and hair became a dense forest on the top, his shoulders became steep cliffs, his arms and legs became rocky ledges. On the top of this stone mountain, on the steep cliffs, lay the vault of heaven with all the countless stars. Since then, Atlas has stood there at the edge of the earth and held the sky on his shoulders.

He flew over Ethiopia and suddenly on a rock above the sea he saw a girl of such beauty that at first he mistook her for a wonderful statue. But, going lower, he realized that she was alive, only her hands were chained to the rock. Approaching her, he asked:

Who are you and why were you chained here?

The girl said that she was the daughter of the Ethiopian king - Andromeda and was doomed to be eaten by a sea monster. Her mother, Queen Cassiopeia, once boasted that she was more beautiful than all the sea nymphs - for this, the god of the seas Poseidon sent a monstrous fish to their land, which devoured fishermen in the sea, swimmers, and shipmen, sank ships and devastated the shores of their kingdom. The people were in dismay and demanded that Cassiopeia appease Poseidon by sacrificing her daughter Andromeda to the monster.

Andromeda was chained to a rock on the seashore and left alone. Whiter than sea foam, a girl stood by a rock and looked at the sea with fear. Here, under the water, in the depths of the sea, a huge head appeared, and a scaly tail flashed. Andromeda screamed in horror. Her father and mother came running to her call and began to cry with her.

Perseus said to them:

Give me Andromeda as my wife, and I will save her.

The king and queen promised Perseus to give him their daughter as a wife, and her entire kingdom as a dowry if he saved Andromeda.

Meanwhile, a huge fish floated to the surface of the sea and approached the shore, noisily cutting through the waves.

Perseus, on his winged sandals, rose into the air and flew towards the monster. The hero's shadow lay on the water in front of the greedy mouth of the fish. The monster rushed at this shadow.

Then Perseus, like a bird of prey, fell from a height onto the monster and struck him with a sword. The wounded fish, in a rage, began to rush from side to side, then diving into the depths, then surfacing again. Her blood colored the sea water, the spray flew high into the air. The wings on Perseus's sandals became wet, and he could no longer stay in the air. But at that moment he saw a stone sticking out of the water, stood on it with his foot and struck the monster’s head with all his might with his sword. The gigantic tail splashed for the last time, and the monstrous fish sank to the bottom.

The king and queen and all the people of Ethiopia joyfully welcomed the hero. The royal palace was decorated with flowers and greenery, lamps were lit everywhere, the bride was dressed, singers and flute players gathered, cups were filled with wine, and the wedding feast began.

At the feast, Perseus told Andromeda and her parents about his travels. Suddenly there was a noise at the entrance to the palace, the knocking of swords and warlike cries. It was Andromeda’s former fiancé, Phineus, who burst into the palace with a crowd of warriors. He held a spear in his hands and aimed straight at Perseus's heart.

Beware, kidnapper!

And the warriors were ready to strike the feasters with their spears.

Andromeda's father tried to stop Phineus:

Not the kidnapper Perseus, but the savior! He saved Andromeda from the monster. If you loved her, why didn’t you come to the seashore when the monster came to devour her? You left her when she was waiting for death - why now do you come to claim her for yourself?

Phineus did not answer the king and threw a spear at Perseus, but missed - it stuck into the edge of the bed where Perseus was sitting. Perseus grabbed the enemy's spear and threw it back into Phineas's face. Finey managed to bend down, the spear flew past him and wounded Finey's friend. This was the signal for battle. A brutal, bloody battle began. The king and queen ran away in fear, taking Andromeda with them. With his back against the column, Athena's shield in his hands, Perseus alone fought off the furious crowd. Finally, he saw that he alone could not cope with the whole army, and took Medusa’s head out of his bag.

The warrior, aiming at Perseus, only looked into the face of Medusa - and suddenly froze with his hand outstretched, instantly turning into stone. And everyone who looked at this terrible head stopped, froze, whoever was, was petrified forever. So they remained as stone statues in the palace of the Ethiopian king.

Perseus and the beautiful Andromeda hurried on their way to the island of Serif. After all, Perseus promised King Polydectes to bring the head of Medusa.

Arriving on the island of Serif, Perseus learned that his mother Danae was hiding from the persecution of Polydectes in the temple, not daring to leave there day or night.

Perseus went to the king's palace and found Polydectes at dinner. The king was sure that Perseus had long since died somewhere in the desert or in the ocean, and was amazed to see the hero in front of him.

Perseus said to the king:

I fulfilled your wish - I brought you the head of Medusa.

The king did not believe it and began to laugh. His friends also laughed with him.

Perseus grabbed Medusa's head from his bag and raised it high.

Here she is - look at her! The king looked and turned into stone. Perseus did not want to stay on Serif, made an old fisherman king of the island, who had once caught a box with Danae and him from the sea, and went with his wife and mother to his homeland in Argos.

The Argive king, having learned that his grandson was alive and returning home, left his city and disappeared. Perseus became king in Argos. He returned to Hermes his sharp sword, to Athena her shield, to the good nymphs his invisibility helmet, winged sandals and the bag in which he hid his terrible prey. He brought the head of Medusa as a gift to Athena, and the goddess has been wearing it ever since, mounting it on her golden shield.

One day there was a holiday in Argos, and many people gathered to watch the competition of heroes. The old Argive king also secretly came to the stadium.

During the competition, Perseus threw a heavy bronze disk with such force that it flew over the stadium and, falling down, hit the old king’s head and killed him on the spot. Thus the prediction was fulfilled: the grandson killed his grandfather.

And, even though it was an accidental murder, Perseus could no longer inherit the kingdom of the grandfather he had killed and, having buried the king, voluntarily left Argos.

Perseus was one of the most famous heroes in the mythology of Ancient Greece. He was the son of Princess Danae, from Argos, who was locked for a long time by her own father in a bronze room, since he, Acrisius, lived in fear after a prophecy that predicted his death at the hands of his future grandson.

However, Zeus penetrated Danae under the guise of golden showers and she conceived a child. Acrisius was so frightened that he chained his daughter and grandson Perseus in a chest and sent them to the island of Seriphos.

Danae and her son were given shelter by the kind fisherman Dictis.

When Perseus grew up, King Polydectes sent him for his head. However, with the help of the intervention of the gods and magical objects (winged sandals, an invisibility cap and a sword), he managed to cope with the order.

Perseus found the place where the Graians lived and stole their only eye, forcing them to reveal the location of the Gorgon Medusa.

Returning to Greece, Perseus came across the Ethiopian princess Andromeda chained to a rock, who was about to be sacrificed to a sea monster. The hero killed the beast and took Andromeda as his wife.

She subsequently bore him four sons and one daughter.

Perseus and Medusa Gorgon

Polydex, the king of Seriphos, was hopelessly in love with Perseus' mother, Danae. He was sure that the queen’s grown-up son would be against their marriage, so he sent the young man to certain death, after Medusa the Gorgon - a terrible monster who combined the features of a woman with snakes instead of hair, turning everything around him into stone with his gaze.

The myths say that throughout the entire journey, Perseus was accompanied by the gods. With the help of their patronage, the hero managed to defeat the Gorgon Medusa and return to the island of Serifos with her severed head.

This famous plot is found in many literary works. Pratin, Aeschylus, Euripides, Aristius and Timkol wrote about the battle between Perseus and Medusa.

Hesiod in his “Theogony” mentions the fact that after Perseus killed Medusa the Gorgon, Chrysaor (he is considered the son of Medusa and Poseidon) and a winged horse (which would later accompany him) jumped out of her head.

In the works of Pausanias there is evidence that in the market square of Argos - the birthplace of the mother of Perseus - there was a mound of earth where, according to legend, the head of Medusa the Gorgon was buried.

Many residents did not believe the hero’s feat, because they knew that in the direction from which the hero brought the severed head of the monster, there lived wild men and women, similar in description to the Gorgon Medusa.

Perseus himself, judging by his monologue described by Ovid in “Metamorphoses,” described his feat as follows: “I searched for a long time where the Gorgons were hiding, until I noticed stone figures of people and animals frozen in horror on my way. I realized that Medusa was somewhere nearby. Covering myself with a magic shield, I continued on my way. In one of the caves I noticed a sleeping Medusa and, taking advantage of her defenselessness, cut off her head. Immediately the giant Hirios with a golden sword and an immortal horse with wings, Pegasus, jumped out of it.”

Perseus and Atlas

After killing the Gorgon, Perseus returns to his homeland and faces many trials. The head of Medusa, which the hero carries in a sack, is bleeding. Each drop falling on the ground turns into a poisonous snake.

Historians agree that this explains the large number of snakes in Libya, over which, according to legend, Perseus flew in winged sandals, carrying with him the head of Medusa.

Tired of the long journey, Perseus finds himself at the Titan Atlas and asks permission to stay to rest. However, Atlas denies the hero refuge, since the oracle once predicted that the son of Zeus the Thunderer would enter his house and steal the most precious thing from the titan - the fruits of magic trees that bestow eternal youth (the Garden of the Hesperides).

Perseus was angry with Atlas, took the head of Medusa the Gorgon out of the bag, and the titan turned into a huge mountain. His head became a peak, barely visible from the ground, his hair became a dense forest, and his powerful arms and shoulders became sharp rocks.

This is how the myth of the creation of Mount Atlas appeared, which, according to popular belief, reaches into the sky and serves as a support for the entire sky.

Perseus in art

In ancient Greek art, Perseus is depicted wearing his invisibility cap (according to some sources, a helmet), winged sandals and a bean bag over his shoulder.

A plot related to the feat of Perseus appears in ceramics at the end of the 7th century BC. The image of Medusa is becoming very popular and is associated with protective functions, so it is often used on shields and swords.

A Corinthian amphora, dated 560 BC, depicts Perseus fighting a sea monster and rescuing the beautiful Andromeda. Perseus and Danae, his mother, also became subjects for painting on Attic vessels.

The hero of myths is often found in literature: for example, in the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides.

One day, the king of Argos Acrisius was predicted that his daughter Danae would give birth to a son, by whose hand he was destined to die. To avoid
fulfillment of the prediction, then King Acrisius locked his daughter in a copper-stone dungeon, but Zeus fell in love with Danae, entered there in the form of golden rain, and after that Danae’s son Perseus was born.
Hearing the cry of the child, the king ordered Danae and her baby to be taken out of there, imprison them both in a barrel and throw them into the sea. For a long time Danaya and the child were carried by the raging waves, but Zeus protected her. Finally she was thrown ashore on the island of Serif. At this time, a fisherman named Dictys was fishing on the seashore. He noticed a barrel and pulled it ashore. Having freed Danae and her little son from the barrel, he led them to his brother, the king of the island Polydectes. He received them cordially, left them to live in his royal house and began to raise Perseus.
Perseus grew up and became a handsome young man. When Polydectes decided to marry Danae, Perseus prevented this marriage in every possible way. For this, King Polydectes disliked him and decided to get rid of him. He instructed Perseus to perform a dangerous feat - to go to a distant country and cut off the head of the terrible Medusa, one of the three terrible monsters called Gorgons. There were three of them, and one of them was called Stheno, the other was Euryale, and the third was Medusa, and only this of the three was mortal. These winged snake-haired maidens lived in the far West, in the region of Night and Death.
They had such a terrible appearance and such a terrible look that anyone who saw them turned to stone at their mere glance.
King Polydectes hoped that if young Perseus met Medusa in that distant country, he would never return back.
So the brave Perseus set off on a journey in search of these monsters and, after long wanderings, finally came to the region of Night and Death, where the father of the terrible gorgons, named Forkys, reigned. Perseus met three old women on the way to the Gorgons, who were called Grays. They were born with gray hair, all three had a single eye and only one tooth, which they shared alternately.

These grays guarded the Gorgon sisters. And along the way to them there lived good nymphs.
Perseus came to the nymphs, and they gave him winged sandals that could easily support him in the air. They also gave him a bag and a helmet of Hades, made from dog skin, which makes a person invisible. The cunning Hermes handed him his sword, and Athena handed him a metal shield, smooth as a mirror. Armed with them, Perseus took off on his winged sandals, flew across the ocean and appeared to the Gorgon sisters. When he approached them, the terrible sisters were sleeping at that time; and Perseus cut off Medusa's head with his sharp sword and threw it into the bag given to him by the nymphs. Perseus did all this without looking at Medusa - he knew that her gaze could turn him to stone, and held a mirror-smooth shield in front of him. But as soon as Perseus had time to cut off Medusa’s head, the winged horse Pegasus immediately emerged from her body and the giant Chrysaor grew up.
At this time the sisters of Medusa woke up. But Perseus put on his invisibility helmet and, wearing winged sandals, flew back, and his terrible sisters, the Gorgons, could not catch up with him.
The wind lifted him high into the air, and when he flew over the sandy Libyan desert, drops of Medusa's blood fell to the ground and poisonous snakes, of which there are so many in Libya, grew from her blood.
Mighty winds arose and began to carry Perseus through the air in different directions; but by evening he managed to reach the far West, and young Perseus ended up in the kingdom of the giant Atlas. Fearing to fly at night, Perseus sank to the ground.
And the giant Atlas was a rich king of that country, and he owned many herds and huge gardens; in one of them grew a tree with golden branches, and the leaves and fruits were also all golden.

It was predicted to Atlas that one day the son of Zeus would appear and pluck golden fruits from the tree. Then Atlas surrounded his garden with a high wall and instructed the young Hesperides and the terrible dragon to guard the golden apples and not let anyone near them.

Perseus appeared to Atlas and, calling himself the son of Zeus, began to ask him to receive him. But Atlas remembered the ancient prediction and refused shelter to Perseus and wanted to drive him away. Then Perseus took Medusa's head out of the bag and showed it to Atlas. The giant could not resist the terrible power of Medusa and was petrified from horror. His head became the top of a mountain, and his shoulders and arms became its spurs; his beard and hair turned into dense forests. A spiky mountain rose and grew to enormous sizes. She reached the very sky, and it lay with all its stars on the shoulders of Atlas, and from then on the giant held this heavy burden.
Having thus taken revenge on Atlas, the next morning Perseus rose again on his winged sandals into the air, and he flew for a long time until he finally arrived at the shores of Ethiopia, where Cepheus reigned.
Perseus saw the young beautiful Andromeda chained to a rock on a deserted shore. She had to atone for the guilt of her mother Cassiopeia, who once, boasting of her beauty to the nymphs, said that she was the most beautiful of all. Angry, the nymphs complained to Poseidon and asked to punish her. And Poseidon sent a flood and a terrible sea monster to Ethiopia, devouring people and livestock.
The oracle predicted that Kepheus should give his daughter Andromeda to this terrible monster to be devoured; and so she was chained to a sea rock.
Perseus saw the beautiful Andromeda chained to a rock. She stood motionless, and the wind did not move her hair, and if there had not been tears in her eyes, one could have mistaken her for a marble statue.
The amazed Perseus looked at her, went down to her, and began asking the crying girl what her name was, where she was from and why she was chained to a desert rock. Not right away, but finally the girl told Perseus who she was and why she was chained to this rock.
Suddenly the sea waves rustled and a monster emerged from the depths of the sea. Opening its terrible mouth, it rushed towards Andromeda. The girl screamed in horror, King Kepheus and Cassiopeia came running to her scream, but they could not save their daughter and began to mourn her bitterly. Then Perseus shouted to them from above:
- I am Perseus, the son of Danae and Zeus, who cut off the head of the terrible Medusa. Promise me to give your daughter as my wife if I save her.
Kepheus and Cassiopeia agreed to this and promised to give him not only their daughter, but also their entire kingdom in addition.
At that time the monster swam, cutting through the waves like a ship, closer and closer, and now it was almost at the very rock. Then young Perseus rose high into the air, holding his shiny shield in his hand. The monster saw the reflection of Perseus in the water and rushed at him in rage. Like an eagle that pounces on a snake, so Perseus flew at the monster and plunged his sharp sword deep into it. The wounded monster flew high into the air, then rushed down at Perseus, like a wild boar pursued by dogs. But the young man in his winged sandals dodged the monster and began to strike him with his sword, blow after blow, and then black blood gushed from the monster’s mouth. During the battle, Perseus's wings got wet; with difficulty he flew to the shore and, noticing a rock rising from the sea, saved himself on it. Holding the stone with his left hand, he inflicted several more wounds on the monster with his right, and the monster, bleeding, sank to the bottom of the sea.
The young man rushed to Andromeda and freed her from the chains.
The delighted Kepheus and Cassiopeia joyfully met the young hero and took the bride and groom to their home. Soon a wedding feast was arranged, and Eros and Hymen were at their wedding with torches in their hands, playing flutes and lyres, singing funny songs; The wedding guests listened to the story of the exploits of the hero Perseus.
But suddenly a crowd appeared at Kefei’s house, led by the king’s brother Phineus, who had previously wooed Andromeda, but left her during the trouble.
And so Phineus demanded that Andromeda be given to him. He raised his spear at Perseus, but Cepheus shielded him. Then the enraged Phineus threw his spear at the young man with all his might, but did not hit. Perseus grabbed the same spear, and if Phineas had not hidden behind the altar, it would have pierced his chest, but the spear hit one of Phineus’s soldiers, who fell to the ground dead. And then a bloody battle began at a merry feast. Like a lion, Perseus fought against numerous enemies; the young hero was surrounded by a large crowd of enemies led by Phineus. Leaning against a high column, he hardly fought off the warriors attacking him, but finally saw that he could not defeat his enemies who were superior in strength. Then he took Medusa’s head out of the bag, and one after another, at the sight of her, the enemies turned to stone. Now the last warrior stands like a stone statue with a spear raised in his hand.

Phineus saw in horror that his warriors had turned to stone. He recognized them in stone sculptures, began to call them and, not believing his eyes, touched each of them - but he only had a cold stone at hand.
In horror, Phineus extended his hands to Perseus and asked to spare him. Laughing, Perseus answered him: “My spear will not touch you, but I will erect you as a stone monument in the house of my father-in-law.” And he raised the head of the terrible Medusa above Phineus. Phineus looked at her and immediately turned into a stone statue, expressing cowardice and humiliation.

Perseus married the beautiful Andromeda and went with his young wife to the island of Serif, where he saved his mother by turning King Polydectes, who was forcing her into marriage, into stone, and Perseus gave power over the island to his friend Dictys.
Perseus returned the winged sandals to Hermes, and the helmet of invisibility to Hades; Pallas Athena received the head of Medusa as a gift and attached it to her shield.
Then Perseus went with his young wife Andromeda and his mother to Argos, and then to the city of Larisa, where he took part in games and competitions. Perseus’s grandfather, who moved to the country of the Pelasgians, was also present at these games. Here the oracle's prediction was finally fulfilled.
While throwing the disc, Perseus accidentally hit his grandfather with it and inflicted a mortal wound on him.
In deep sorrow, Perseus found out who this old man was and buried him with great honors. Then he gave power over Argos to his relative Megapent, and he himself began to rule Tiryns.
Perseus lived happily with Andromeda for many years, and she bore him beautiful sons.

Myths and legends of ancient Greece. Illustrations.

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