![]() ![]() ZEUS & DANAE (Homer Iliad 14.319, Pindar Pythian 12. The hero was depicted in classical art as a youth with winged boots and cap, and armed with a sickle-shaped sword. Perseus was the ancestor of the royal houses of Mykenai (Mycenae), Elis, Sparta, Messenia, and distant Persia. The old man fled in fear for his life but was later accidentally killed by Perseus at the funeral games of a king with a discus throw gone awry. Upon reaching Seriphos, the hero turned King Polydektes to stone, and then travelled on to his grandfather's kingdom to claim the throne. He slew the beast and brought her with him back to Greece as his bride. On his journey back to Greece, Perseus came across the Aithiopian (Ethiopian) princess Andromeda chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea-monster. Perseus approached Medousa as she slept and beheaded her with eyes averted to avoid her petrifying visage. He then sought out the ancient Graiai (Graeae) and stealing their single eye compelled them to reveal the location of the Gorgones. With the help of the gods, Perseus obtained winged sandals, an invisible helm and a magical sword. ![]() When Perseus was fully grown, King Polydektes (Polydectes) commanded he fetch the head of Medousa (Medusa). They were carried safely to the island of Seriphos where they were offered refuge by the kindly, fisherman Diktys. ![]() ![]() When Akrisios discovered the child, he placed the two in a chest and set them adrift at the sea. The god Zeus, however, infiltrated her prison in the guise of a golden shower and impreganted her. He was the son of the Argive princess Danae who was locked away in a bronze chamber by her father Akrisios (Acrisius) who lived in fear of a prophecy that he would one day be killed by her son. PERSEUS was one of the most celebrated heroes of Greek mythology. Destroyer ( persô) Perseus, Athena and head of Medusa, Apulian red-figure krater C4th B.C., Museum of Fine Arts Boston ![]()
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