Story #7
Storybook Project For:
Aaron Francl
afrancl@ou.edu


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Were The Greek Heroes Truly Heroes?

Story VII

The Story Of Perseus


Statue of Perseus Slaying Medusa

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 Introduction & Commentary

    Perseus was another hero that was born to a mortal woman, Danae, but had a father who was immortal. In fact, he had the same father as another very famous Greek hero: Heracles. That's right, that lovable, male bimbo himself, the King of the Gods, Zeus. Big surprise, I know! In case you didn't know by now, Zeus REALLY gets around and Danae was one of hundreds of mortal women that Zeus left with child.
    The story of Perseus begins with a warning by an oracle. The oracle spoke to his future grandfather, King Acrisius of Argos, and warned him that if his daughter, Danae, were to give birth to a child, that child would eventually grow up to slay him and take his throne. So doing what every lovable father would do, he locked Danae in a tower. Luckily for her, Zeus, disguised as a shower of gold, entered the tower, and proceeded to "work his magic". As a result of this encounter, Perseus was born. King Acrisius found out that his daughter had given birth to a son and promptly locked daughter and infant into a chest and floated it out to sea. What King Acrisius had hoped was that the chest would sink to the bottom; instead, it floated and beached safely upon the island of Seriphos.
    One day a fisherman, Dictys, happened to come upon the unusual chest and took an immediate liking towards its contents. Dictys took care of both mother and son, providing a good role model for young Perseus. Perseus eventually grew up to be a well cultured, strapping young man. One day Dictys's brother, who was actually king of Seriphos, Polydectes, took a liking to Perseus' mother Danae. This did not sit very well with young Perseus, since he was very protecting of his mother. Perseus went right up to the old king and basically told him to, "Back off." The king agreed, and said he would pursue another woman's hand, Hippodameia. The king told Perseus that he demanded a gift from every subject, including Perseus himself, in recognition of he and his new bride to be. Perseus told the king that he would give anything and everything to him if it meant that he would leave he and his mother alone.
    "I would give you horses, gems, treasures from all the ends of the earth if I had them. I would do anything - I would even bring back the head of the dreaded Medusa, if it meant that it would appease you," pleaded Perseus.
    "Then I agree," said the King.
    "Agree to what?" asked Perseus.
    "Bring me the head of the Gorgon Medusa," the King persisted, with a smirk of satisfaction. "Bring me the head of the creature so hideous that even a glance into her eyes can turn any man or beast to stone."
    Perseus had no choice but to agree.
    And so it was set. Perseus was to venture out, find Medusa and behead the dreaded Gorgon; with snakes for hair, boar's tusks for teeth, and whose very glance could turn any man into solid stone.

-The Story of Perseus-








       So it was clear to all that Perseus had a pretty tough job before him. Thankfully for him, he had a very powerful ally, the war goddess, Athena. Athena has showed up in many stories so far, and shows up in even more to come, (Odysseus) as an ally to the main hero of the story. Apparently it was a pretty good thing to have Athena on your side! Anyway, Athena really hated Medusa, so it wouldn't be a stretch for her to exact further revenge upon her. You see when Medusa was still a normal woman, she was actually a very beautiful young lady. Then one day she messed up and disgraced Athena inside her own temple. As a result of that, Athena promptly turned Medusa into the monster we all know her as today. You have to understand that Athena must have really hated her! I mean to not only turn her into such a hideous monster, but then to want to aid Perseus in her ultimate destruction on top of that??!!

    Athena appeared to Perseus with some very simple instructions to him on how to go about his task.
    "First, you must visit the nymphs who guard the Helmet of Invisibility," she instructed.
    "And where do I find these nymphs?" Perseus inquired.
    "Ask the Gray Sisters, the Graeae, they know, if they will tell you," Athena explained.
    "And where do I find the Gray Sisters?" Perseus asked again.
    "Go to the one who holds up the heavens, Atlas, he will tell you," she said.
    "And where do I find Atlas?" asked a frustrated Perseus.
    "You will find Atlas at the very edge of the world," Athena said.

    So let's get this straight. Perseus must go to Atlas to find out where the Gray Sisters are. Once he finds the Gray Sisters, he must then find the nymphs who guard the Helmet of Invisibility. Then with the Helmet of Invisibility he must go and behead the dreaded Medusa. Simple enough.

    After confusing the heck out of Perseus, she gave him her mirrored shield and suggested how he might use it to his aid, (you'll find out later). So Perseus set out, with the shield, to track down Atlas. Well, he indeed tracked down Atlas, who held up the heavens, and asked him where he might find the Gray Sisters. Atlas nodded his head in the direction of a nearby cave, and Perseus immediately set out towards its direction. He knew that the Gray Sisters all had gray hair, (obvious) and that they all shared a single eye, so he started to formulate a plan to get the information that he desired out of them. Perseus entered the cave, and asked the Gray Sisters the location of the water nymphs. They cackled at him and laughed, for they had no intention of telling him or aiding him in any way. So Perseus took the one thing that he knew they couldn't live without: the eye. The Gray Sisters, having no choice but to agree to Perseus' request, told Perseus that he could find the water nymphs in the River Styx.

    Now the River Styx was not an easy place to go to, because it was deep in Hades or the Underworld. After venturing down into Hades and being guided by the boatman, Charon, he found the water nymphs bathing in the River Styx. He requested the helmet, and got a couple little bonus extras that the nymphs suggested would help him even more in his quest. The nymphs gave him the Helmet of Invisibility, and even a special pouch that could be used to carry the head of Medusa. This pouch would allow for Medusa's head to retain its properties, namely turning anyone to look upon it to stone, thus allowing Perseus to use it as a future weapon against any enemy. The messenger god Hermes also helped out Perseus and gave him winged sandals to carry him above land and sea, and even a sword that could be used to behead Medusa.

    All of these little toys would definitely come in handy. The winged sandals, would propel Perseus away from Medusa's lair at great haste, since her two sisters would pursue him to avenge their sister's death. So Perseus reached Medusa's lair, and entered it with great caution. Tip-toeing around he could see, the aftermath of her previous visitors, for he was surrounded by petrified statues of men who had unfortunately gazed into Medusa's eyes. He found Medusa sleeping. Using caution, he used Athena's shield, as she suggested, as a mirror, instead of gazing directly at Medusa.
 
 

The Mirrored Shield of Perseus With the Reflection of Medusa

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    So Perseus crept up to the dreaded Gorgon ever so quietly, hoping to not wake her, and stood over her with sword in hand. Gazing into his mirrored shield he raised his arm and swiftly removed the head of Medusa. At just that moment, it is said that the winged horse Pegasus and the god of the sea Poseidon were born from the blood of the head of the Gorgon. Perseus quickly put on the winged sandals and fled the cave of the Gorgons. He was on his return home flight to Seriphos, when on his way he made an unscheduled stop. He stopped at the island of Ethiopia and noticed a young maiden chained to a rock.

    The maiden turned out to be Andromeda, daughter of King Cephus. The king had proclaimed that Andromeda was more beautiful than the daughters of the gods. This didn't sit well with the gods, and they sent a sea monster, the Cracken, to ravage his kingdom. King Cephus was told by an oracle that to appease the gods he must chain Andromeda to a rock and sacrifice her to the Cracken. Perseus decides to help her, but in return the king must agree to give his daughter, Andromeda, to him to be his wife; the king agreed to this arrangement.

    Perseus attacked The Cracken, and stabbed it repeatedly with his sword. He slashed violently at its throat, eventually bringing down the huge sea beast. He victoriously unshackled his new wife, who fell in love with him instantly. A banquet was thrown that evening in Perseus' honor as well as a celebration of the wedding. All of a sudden a commotion at the door erupted and in popped Phineus, who claimed that he was promised Andromeda's hand in marriage; by the way he brought a small army with him to assert his cause. Perseus was surrounded. He fought valiantly, killing many men, then decided he'd had enough and took out the head of Medusa. This brought an end to the conflict, for it turned all of the men, including Phineus, to stone.

    Finally Perseus returned home to Seriphos with his new bride. He found out that King Polydectes had not left his poor mother alone in his absence, so he decided to end his troubles once and for all. He entered the banquet hall of the king with all of his subjects surrounding him.

    "So you've returned. What have you brought me?" King Polydectes asked.
    "The head of the Gorgon Medusa as I promised. Care to see it?" asked Perseus.
    "Yes, I would," chuckled the king.

    These would be the final words of the king, for he and all of his subjects were instantly turned to stone. Perseus had his revenge.
 
 

Conclusion

    Well, that about does it for the story of Perseus. In case you're wondering, he did pretty much live happily ever after. He left Seriphos and returned to his home, Argos. His grandfather, King Acrisisus, heard that Perseus was on his way, and fled the island in fear of the oracle's prediction that he would be killed by his grandson. Perseus ended up agreeing to take part in an athletic contest in a far away land that actually ended up being where Acrisius fled to. Acrisius actually was in the crowd to view this event, not knowing that Perseus was a participant. Perseus was attempting to throw the discus, when the wind caught it and guided it, and eventually led it all the way to Acrisius' noggin, killing him on impact. So the oracle's prediction came true. Perseus would eventually pass on, but he and his wife Andromeda would live on forever in the stars in the sky. You see Athena immortalized them in their own constellations and actually they are still up there.
    Perseus definitely showed that he was a true hero. He showed his heroic traits in a number of ways: he defended his mother, and even risked his own life to defend a woman that he had never met. Perseus possesses one key ingredient to the equation of being a hero: unselfishness. You can definitely say that Perseus was a very unselfish hero, and went on a seemingly impossible quest just for his mother. He is very brave and courageous, and showed a trait that we haven't seen before in any of the heroes that we've looked at before and that again is his unselfishness. This trait alone sets him apart from other heroes and makes him truly unique.
 
 

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The Adventures of Theseus
 

Aaron Francl
afrancl@ou.edu

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