Perseus
King Acrisius of Argos once heard a prophecy spoken by the Oracle that his daughter Danae would have a son that would kill him. To try to stop this prophecy from happening, he locked Danae in a tower hoping she would be unable to have a child.
Looking down upon the kingdom one day, Zeus noticed the young lady crying in the tower. He wanted to help but didn’t want to scare her. Transforming into golden mist, he dropped down to Earth, slipped through the window, and greeted Danae.
About a year later, the guards watching the tower heard the cries of a baby coming from inside. Confused, they ran to King Acrisius to tell him the news.
King Acrisius panicked. He sent a few of his guards to seize Danae and the child, trap them in a wooden box, and throw them into the sea. Killing a family member was the greatest crime, so he was careful not to take the blame. In throwing the box into the sea, all harm done would be blamed on Poseidon.
Poseidon, however, took pity on Danae and the child. He calmed the waters around them and allowed fish to leap into the breathing holes for nourishment. He shifted the waves to guide the box to the nearest city, where it was found by a local fisherman named Dectes.
Dectes had just been pulling in a fresh batch when his net caught the box, so he pulled it ashore along with the rest of the fish. He was wondering if the box contained treasures or other riches when he heard the cry of an infant coming from inside it. When he opened the box, he found Danae and a baby huddled inside.
“Help!” Danae croaked.
Dectes was taken aback but helped them out of the box.
“Let me take you to my brother,” he said thoughtfully. “He is the king of this land. He will know what to do.”
King Polydectes graciously allowed the two of them to stay in the kingdom, where Perseus eventually grew up. Perseus was always faster and stronger than other kids his age, and he was protective of his mother. He soon realized that the king had eyes for his mother.
When Perseus became a young adult, the king decided he wanted to marry Danae. Danae had no choice but to follow along, but Perseus began plotting a way to get rid of this nuisance.
To announce the date of their wedding, King Polydectes held a party with all the townsfolk invited. Most of the citizens were wealthy and planned on bringing spectacular gifts. However, Perseus had very little money and would be unable to present something so extravagant. Instead, he offered something else.
“King Polydectes, I have little to offer but ask me for anything, and I shall attempt to get it for you,” Perseus said grudgingly.
“Anything?” Polydectes said, suddenly interested.
“Of course, King,” Perseus obliged, assuming that Polydectes would ask for a nice tapestry or piece of armor.
“Bring me the head of Medusa,” he ordered slyly. “Don’t come back empty handed.”
Polydectes chuckled, knowing that no man had ever come back from Medusa’s island alive so Perseus would finally be out of his skin forever.
Perseus trudged along the road, trying to think of a plan, but was thoroughly stumped. From inside of an abandoned shack, a voice beckoned, “Come in if you wish to succeed in this quest…”
Perseus, seeing no other option, put his guard up and peered inside. At the door, he was greeted by two divine figures.
“My Lord and Milady,” Perseus groveled to the two gods. “Lord Hermes and Athena, what do you mean?”
“We wish to help you in this seemingly impossible task. Go to the island of the Graeae. The three sisters will have equipment suitable for your needs as well as information, if you know how to get it. Also, as a means of transportation, Hermes has an extra pair of flying shoes which will be of much help in this quest. Good luck Perseus.”
And with that, the two gods disappeared in a ray of light.
Perseus wandered for days until he finally came upon the island. He found the sisters huddled around a cauldron bickering about their eye.
“Give me the eye!” they screamed at each other.
“I don’t have it.”
“Well, who does?”
“I have the eye, but I’m not giving it to you!”
“No, you had the eye for so long! Give me a chance.”
“Fine!”
The one holding the eye tossed it across the cauldron, and Perseus saw his moment. He ran to intercept the eye.
“Where’s the eye? Who has it?” they shrieked.
“I have it,” Perseus roared, stepping forward. “And if you don’t give me the information and equipment to fight Medusa, none of you will ever get it back.”
Perseus desperately wanted them to divulge the information, not only because he needed it but also because he wanted to get rid of the squirming eye in his hand.
“Go to the tree with the big rock next to it,” they instructed. “There, underneath the rock, you will find a mirrored shield and the sharpest blade forged by any mortal.”
Perseus, still holding the eye, jogged over to the boulder and tipped it over, revealing the wrapped shield and sword underneath. He quickly ran back to the sisters to get the ordeal over with.
“Now give me the information you promised, or this eye gets squashed,” Perseus said impatiently.
“Use the shield to reflect Medusa’s image. The reflection of Medusa will not turn you to stone. Once you can see her, cut off her head with this sword and place it in the wrappings, for even the dead head of Medusa can turn you to stone,” the Grey Sisters instructed and gave Perseus the coordinates to Medusa’s island.
Perseus, seeing no other option but to trust them, returned the eye back to them and flew off.
Arriving at the island at night gave Perseus an eerie feeling. There were statues littered on the grass, all in odd poses. As he got a closer look, he realized that the lifelike statues were most likely victims of Medusa. Perseus wandered into the building at the center of the island, where he saw a slow-moving figure creeping across the walls. Perseus instinctively put up his shield as the snake-haired monster crept up on him. Just as Medusa was right behind him, Perseus unsheathed his sword and cut her head off, spewing blood in all directions. The corpse of Medusa began to writhe and a majestic white stallion, the first Pegasus, emerged from its corpse.
Medusa had had two other sisters cursed alongside her after she had become too comfortable with Poseidon in Athena’s temple. Athena had transformed the three sisters into the Gorgons for this crime. Suffering the brunt of the curse, Medusa could turn people to stone. Her two sisters were transformed into ghastly beasts and were cursed with immortality to suffer for eternity.
After beheading Medusa, Perseus heard the shrieks of the two sisters coming toward him. Quickly stuffing Medusa’s head into the bag, he leaped into the air and narrowly escaped the Gorgons.
Content with his victory, Perseus was drifting through the sky admiring the Greek landscape when he saw a sea monster attacking a city. The city of Joppa in Palestine, now called Ethiopia, was ruled by a queen named Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia had angered many of the gods, but mainly Poseidon, by boasting that she was the most beautiful woman, even more beautiful than Poseidon’s Nereids. To punish the city, Poseidon sent a giant monster to attack it. The vain queen sent her daughter Andromeda to be sacrificed in hopes of making amends to Poseidon. Perseus looked down at the sight of the helpless girl about to be killed by the sea monster for her mother’s insults. Perseus landed in front of her, reached into his bag, and pulled out Medusa’s head, immediately turning the monster to stone. Perseus freed Andromeda, who-- not wanting anything to do with her mother anymore-- decided to leave the island with Perseus.
Finally with his gift in hand, Perseus showed up at the wedding of his mother to King Polydectes. Perseus was careful not to take out Medusa’s head because he did not want to turn the army to stone. However, Polydectes did not believe Perseus’s claims and sent his army to capture him for not doing his bidding. Perseus had no choice but to show off the head to the entire army, killing them instantly. Perseus swore to never kill Polydectes and let him live out his corrupt life.
Perseus, shocked at his own power, knew that no mortal should have this much power and decided to repay the two gods that had helped him. He gave the head of Medusa to Athena, knowing that the curse would not harm any god, much less the one who had cast the original curse. Athena took the head and added it to her cape, completing her aegis.
Later in his life, King Polydectes would die and at his funeral, Perseus would compete in a discus competition. By then, King Acrisius, Perseus’s grandfather, thought he had escaped his prophecy and didn’t realize that the young man throwing the discus was in fact his grandson. King Acrisius, feeling lucky, watched the games. When Perseus threw the discus, a strong gust of wind caught it and threw it off-course, sending it hurtling toward Acrisius’s head, killing him instantly. King Acrisius’s prophecy was fulfilled.