The Story of Perseus and Medusa

The story of Perseus and Medusa began in ancient Greece.  The story begins with King Akrisios; he was the king of Argos who had a daughter named Danae.  His family line was descended from Zeus and he wanted a son to carry on the family line.  Having the family line end here with a woman was considered disgraceful and so he went and sought the counsel of the Oracle at Delphi about having a son.  Instead of affirming his wishes she confirmed his fears that he would have no sons.  As if this was not bad enough, the Oracle also told him that he would be killed by his future grandson.  King Akrisios was a very selfish man and decided that he would rather have his daughter locked away in a bronze chamber (depending on the version of the story it was either a tower or an underground vault) so that she would be kept out of the sight of men and so he would never have to worry about any marriages or grandchildren. 

            However, as is common in Greek legend, when you try and avoid fate it never works.  Fate always finds a way to complete itself and is unavoidable.  While Danae was locked up in her bronze prison Zeus saw her and became entranced by her beauty.  He visited her as a golden mist and she became pregnant with his son whom she named Perseus.  When King Akrisios found out about her son he did not believe that he was a child of Zeus and had Danae and Perseus locked in a chest and thrown into the sea.  He did not want to kill the boy outright incase the story was true so instead he left it up to Zeus to save them by letting their fate into his hands.  All night the chest floated and bobbed about in the ocean and this would have killed them both if not for Dictys, the fisherman who found them on the coast of the small island called Seriphos.  He hauled in the chest in his next and took them into his home and raised Perseus as his own son.  Dictys was the younger brother of the ruler of the island named Polydectes who was an older, cruel man.  Polydectes fell in love with Danae and wanted to marry her but she would not have him, whether it was because she had heard of his cruelty or not is unknown but he could not abduct her due to her wild son.  Polydectes decided a good way to get rid of Perseus was to send him on an impossible quest, one that would ultimately end his life and one that Perseus would choose himself, being known for boasting, this would be easy.  When Polydectes declared he was to marry a princess from another land but needed a gift to give her father he demanded from every man on the island a horse.  Being poor, Perseus had no horse so he said he’d give something better, the head of Medusa the gorgon.

            There are three gorgons in Greek mythology named Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa.  Medusa was the only mortal one of the three, having been turned into a gorgon for challenging Athena’s beauty or for having relations with Poseidon in Athena’s temple.  All three had the bodies of reptiles, golden wings, bronze talons and tusks, and snakes for hair.  They were so hideous that one look would turn the unfortunate viewer to stone.  To bring back the head of Medusa would be an impossible task.  In different versions of this story Perseus brings back the head of Medusa to pay off a debt of Dictys or to oust Polydectes from power.  Athena and Hermes helped Perseus in his quest to slay Medusa; after Perseus consulted with the Three Fates about where Medusa’s lair was Hermes gave him winged sandals so he could fly there.  He also gave him a sack called a kibisis, which is made for holding bulky items and makes the items invisible as well as giving him a sickle shaped sword made of adamantine.  Athena gave him her shield and directions to use it to see Medusa’s reflection to he would be able to see where she was and behead her without getting turned into stone. 

Perseus approached the island where the gorgons lived and they were all asleep.  Their lair was covered with the statues of fallen warriors who had attempted to either catch a glimpse or kill Medusa.  He crept in and silently beheaded Medusa without actually looking at her.  He put her head in the kibisis and flew away on the shoes of Hermes.  The two sisters, Stheno ad Euryale, woke and chased after Perseus but were unable to catch him.  In other versions of this story Perseus has the Helm of Hades which makes him invisible or he is given a hat that makes him invisible by the nymphs that the fates send him to see before Athena and Hermes help him.  Also Medusa was supposedly pregnant with Poseidon’s children when Athena transformed her, so when Perseus kills Medusa a full grown warrior and a perfect horse with wings emerge from the stump of Medusa’s body.  The man fathered Geryon, the herder of the west and the horse is known as Pegasus whom Athena and a different hero tame in another story.      

Perseus got married to a princess named Andromeda and takes her with him back to his home on Seriphos and stops Polydectes from taking his mother Danae as his wife.  He exposed the head of Medusa to Polydectes and turned him and all who came to his aid into stone.  He then names Dictys as the new king of Seriphos and sails away to find his real grandfather.  When he dose find his real grandfather he kills him unknowingly by hitting him with a diskos he threw in a competition.  By the time he reached the man he heard someone say his name was Akrisios and Perseus knew the Oracles prophecy had come true. 
  
Martin, R. P. Myths of the ancient greeks. New Amer Library, 2003.
Hamilton, E. Mythology. Back Bay Books, 1998. 
Graves, Robert. Greek Gods And Heroes. Laurel Leaf, 1966.  
Cotterell, Arthur, and Rachel Storm. The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of World Mythology, A Comprehensive A-Z Of The Myths And Legends Of Greece, Rome, Egypt, Persia, India, China And The Norse And Celtic Lands. 2010.  
http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/imageswomen/papers/kottkegorgon/gorgonmyth.html
 http://www.online-mythology.com/perseus_medusa/