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A son of Zeus by Danae, the daughter of Acrisius (Il. 14.319). Perseus slew Medusa and rescued Andromeda, who became his wife.
Once upon a time there were two princes who were twins. Their names
were Acrisius and Proetus, and they lived in the pleasant vale of Argos, far
away in Hellas. They had fruitful meadows and vineyards, sheep and oxen, great
herds of horses feeding down in Lerna Fen, and all that men could need to make
them blest: and yet they were wretched, because they were jealous of each other.
From the moment they were born they began to quarrel; and when they grew up
each tried to take away the other's share of the kingdom, and keep all for himself.
So first Acrisius drove out Proetus; and he went across the seas, and brought
home a foreign princess for his wife, and foreign warriors to help him, who
were called Cyclopes; and drove out Acrisius in his turn; and then they fought
a long while up and down the land, till the quarrel was settled, and Acrisius
took Argos and one half the land, and Proetus took Tiryns and the other half.
And Proetus and his Cyclopes built around Tiryns great walls of unhewn stone,
which are standing to this day.
But there came a prophet to that hard-hearted Acrisius and prophesied
against him, and said, 'Because you have risen up against your own blood, your
own blood shall rise up against you; because you have sinned against your kindred,
by your kindred you shall be punished. Your daughter Danae shall bear a son,
and by that son's hands you shall die. So the Gods have ordained, and it will
surely come to pass.' And at that Acrisius was very much afraid; but he did
not mend his ways. He had been cruel to his own family, and, instead of repenting
and being kind to them, he went on to be more cruel than ever: for he shut up
his fair daughter Danae in a cavern underground, lined with brass, that no one
might come near her. So he fancied himself more cunning than the Gods: but you
will see presently whether he was able to escape them.
Now it came to pass that in time Danae bore a son; so beautiful
a babe that any but King Acrisius would have had pity on it. But he had no pity;
for he took Danae and her babe down to the seashore, and put them into a great
chest and thrust them out to sea, for the winds and the waves to carry them
whithersoever they would. The north-west wind blew freshly out of the blue mountains,
and down the pleasant vale of Argos, and away and out to sea. And away and out
to sea before it floated the mother and her babe, while all who watched them
wept, save that cruel father, King Acrisius. So they floated on and on, and
the chest danced up and down upon the billows, and the baby slept upon its mother's
breast: but the poor mother could not sleep, but watched and wept, and she sang
to her baby as they floated; and the song which she sang you shall learn yourselves
some day.
And now they are past the last blue headland, and in the open sea;
and there is nothing round them but the waves, and the sky, and the wind. But
the waves are gentle, and the sky is clear, and the breeze is tender and low;
for these are the days when Halcyone and Ceyx build their nests, and no storms
ever ruffle the pleasant summer sea. And who were Halcyone and Ceyx? You shall
hear while the chest floats on. Halcyone was a fairy maiden, the daughter of
the beach and of the wind. And she loved a sailor-boy, and married him; and
none on earth were so happy as they. But at last Ceyx was wrecked; and before
he could swim to the shore the billows swallowed him up. And Halcyone saw him
drowning, and leapt into the sea to him; but in vain. Then the Immortals took
pity on them both, and changed them into two fair sea-birds; and now they build
a floating nest every year, and sail up and down happily for ever upon the pleasant
seas of Greece.
So a night passed, and a day, and a long day it was for Danae;
and another night and day beside, till Danae was faint with hunger and weeping,
and yet no land appeared. And all the while the babe slept quietly; and at last
poor Danae drooped her head and fell asleep likewise with her cheek against
the babe's. After a while she was awakened suddenly; for the chest was jarring
and grinding, and the air was full of sound. She looked up, and over her head
were mighty cliffs, all red in the setting sun, and around her rocks and breakers,
and flying flakes of foam. She clasped her hands together, and shrieked aloud
for help. And when she cried, help met her: for now there came over the rocks
a tall and stately man, and looked down wondering upon poor Danae tossing about
in the chest among the waves.
He wore a rough cloak of frieze, and on his head a broad hat to
shade his face; in his hand he carried a trident for spearing fish, and over
his shoulder was a casting-net; but Danae could see that he was no common man
by his stature, and his walk, and his flowing golden hair and beard; and by
the two servants who came behind him, carrying baskets for his fish. But she
had hardly time to look at him, before he had laid aside his trident and leapt
down the rocks, and thrown his casting-net so surely over Danae and the chest,
that he drew it, and her, and the baby, safe upon a ledge of rock.
Then the fisherman took Danae by the hand, and lifted her out of
the chest, and said -
'O beautiful damsel, what strange chance has brought you to this island in so
flail a ship? Who are you, and whence? Surely you are some king's daughter;
and this boy has somewhat more than mortal.'
And as he spoke he pointed to the babe; for its face shone like
the morning star. But Danae only held down her head, and sobbed out -
'Tell me to what land I have come, unhappy that I am; and among what men I have
fallen!'
And he said,
'This isle is called Seriphos, and I am a Hellen, and dwell in it. I am the
brother of Polydectes the king; and men call me Dictys the netter, because I
catch the fish of the shore.'
Then Danae fell down at his feet, and embraced his knees, and cried
-
'Oh, sir, have pity upon a stranger, whom a cruel doom has driven to your land;
and let me live in your house as a servant; but treat me honourably, for I was
once a king's daughter, and this my boy (as you have truly said) is of no common
race. I will not be a charge to you, or eat the bread of idleness; for I am
more skilful in weaving and embroidery than all the maidens of my land.'
And she was going on; but Dictys stopped her, and raised her up,
and said -
'My daughter, I am old, and my hairs are growing grey; while I have no children
to make my home cheerful. Come with me then, and you shall be a daughter to
me and to my wife, and this babe shall be our grandchild. For I fear the Gods,
and show hospitality to all strangers; knowing that good deeds, like evil ones,
always return to those who do them.'
So Danae was comforted, and went home with Dictys the good fisherman,
and was a daughter to him and to his wife, till fifteen years were past
This text is cited Feb 2003 from the Charles Kingsley's (1819 - 1875) Page URL below.
Fifteen years were past and gone, and the babe was now grown to be
a tall lad and a sailor, and went many voyages after merchandise to the islands
round. His mother called him Perseus; but all the people in Seriphos said that
he was not the son of mortal man, and called him the son of Zeus, the king of
the Immortals. For though he was but fifteen, he was taller by a head than any
man in the island; and he was the most skilful of all in running and wrestling
and boxing, and in throwing the quoit and the javelin, and in rowing with the
oar, and in playing on the harp, and in all which befits a man. And he was brave
and truthful, gentle and courteous, for good old Dictys had trained him well;
and well it was for Perseus that he had done so. For now Danae and her son fell
into great danger, and Perseus had need of all his wit to defend his mother and
himself.
I said that Dictys' brother was Polydectes, king of the island. He
was not a righteous man, like Dictys; but greedy, and cunning, and cruel. And
when he saw fair Danae, he wanted to marry her. But she would not; for she did
not love him, and cared for no one but her boy, and her boy's father, whom she
never hoped to see again. At last Polydectes became furious; and while Perseus
was away at sea he took poor Danae away from Dictys, saying, 'If you will not
be my wife, you shall be my slave.' So Danae was made a slave, and had to fetch
water from the well, and grind in the mill, and perhaps was beaten, and wore a
heavy chain, because she would not marry that cruel king.
But Perseus was far away over the seas in the isle of Samos, little
thinking how his mother was languishing in grief. Now one day at Samos, while
the ship was lading, Perseus wandered into a pleasant wood to get out of the sun,
and sat down on the turf and fell asleep. And as he slept a strange dream came
to him - the strangest dream which he had ever had in his life.
There came a lady to him through the wood, taller than he, or any
mortal man; but beautiful exceedingly, with great grey eyes, clear and piercing,
but strangely soft and mild. On her head was a helmet, and in her hand a spear.
And over her shoulder, above her long blue robes, hung a goat-skin, which bore
up a mighty shield of brass, polished like a mirror. She stood and looked at him
with her clear grey eyes; and Perseus saw that her eye-lids never moved, nor her
eyeballs, but looked straight through and through him, and into his very heart,
as if she could see all the secrets of his soul, and knew all that he had ever
thought or longed for since the day that he was born. And Perseus dropped his
eyes, trembling and blushing, as the wonderful lady spoke.
'Perseus, you must do an errand for me.'
'Who are you, lady? And how do you know my name?'
'I am Pallas Athene; and I know the thoughts of all men's hearts, and discern
their manhood or their baseness. And from the souls of clay I turn away, and they
are blest, but not by me. They fatten at ease, like sheep in the pasture, and
eat what they did not sow, like oxen in the stall. They grow and spread, like
the gourd along the ground; but, like the gourd, they give no shade to the traveller,
and when they are ripe death gathers them, and they go down unloved into hell,
and their name vanishes out of the land.
'But to the souls of fire I give more fire, and to those who are manful I give
a might more than man's. These are the heroes, the sons of the Immortals, who
are blest, but not like the souls of clay. For I drive them forth by strange paths,
Perseus, that they may fight the Titans and the monsters, the enemies of Gods
and men. Through doubt and need, danger and battle, I drive them; and some of
them are slain in the flower of youth, no man knows when or where; and some of
them win noble names, and a fair and green old age; but what will be their latter
end I know not, and none, save Zeus, the father of Gods and men. Tell me now,
Perseus, which of these two sorts of men seem to you more blest?'
Then Perseus answered boldly: 'Better to die in the flower of youth,
on the chance of winning a noble name, than to live at ease like the sheep, and
die unloved and unrenowned.'
Then that strange lady laughed, and held up her brazen shield, and
cried: 'See here, Perseus; dare you face such a monster as this, and slay it,
that I may place its head upon this shield?'
And in the mirror of the shield there appeared a face, and as Perseus
looked on it his blood ran cold. It was the face of a beautiful woman; but her
cheeks were pale as death, and her brows were knit with everlasting pain, and
her lips were thin and bitter like a snake's; and instead of hair, vipers wreathed
about her temples, and shot out their forked tongues; while round her head were
folded wings like an eagle's, and upon her bosom claws of brass.
And Perseus looked awhile, and then said: 'If there is anything so
fierce and foul on earth, it were a noble deed to kill it. Where can I find the
monster?'
Then the strange lady smiled again, and said: 'Not yet; you are too
young, and too unskilled; for this is Medusa the Gorgon, the mother of a monstrous
brood. Return to your home, and do the work which waits there for you. You must
play the man in that before I can think you worthy to go in search of the Gorgon.'
Then Perseus would have spoken, but the strange lady vanished, and
he awoke; and behold, it was a dream. But day and night Perseus saw before him
the face of that dreadful woman, with the vipers writhing round her head.
So he returned home; and when he came to Seriphos, the first thing
which he heard was that his mother was a slave in the house of Polydectes. Grinding
his teeth with rage, he went out, and away to the king's palace, and through the
men's rooms, and the women's rooms, and so through all the house (for no one dared
stop him, so terrible and fair was he), till he found his mother sitting on the
floor, turning the stone hand-mill, and weeping as she turned it. And he lifted
her up, and kissed her, and bade her follow him forth. But before they could pass
out of the room Polydectes came in, raging. And when Perseus saw him, he flew
upon him as the mastiff flies on the boar. 'Villain and tyrant!' he cried; 'is
this your respect for the Gods, and thy mercy to strangers and widows? You shall
die!' And because he had no sword he caught up the stone hand-mill, and lifted
it to dash out Polydectes' brains.
But his mother clung to him, shrieking, 'Oh, my son, we are strangers
and helpless in the land; and if you kill the king, all the people will fall on
us, and we shall both die.'
Good Dictys, too, who had come in, entreated him. 'Remember that
he is my brother. Remember how I have brought you up, and trained you as my own
son, and spare him for my sake.'
Then Perseus lowered his hand; and Polydectes, who had been trembling
all this while like a coward, because he knew that he was in the wrong, let Perseus
and his mother pass. Perseus took his mother to the temple of Athene, and there
the priestess made her one of the temple-sweepers; for there they knew she would
be safe, and not even Polydectes would dare to drag her away from the altar. And
there Perseus, and the good Dictys, and his wife, came to visit her every day;
while Polydectes, not being able to get what he wanted by force, cast about in
his wicked heart how he might get it by cunning.
Now he was sure that he could never get back Danae as long as Perseus
was in the island; so he made a plot to rid himself of him. And first he pretended
to have forgiven Perseus, and to have forgotten Danae; so that, for a while, all
went as smoothly as ever. Next he proclaimed a great feast, and invited to it
all the chiefs, and landowners, and the young men of the island, and among them
Perseus, that they might all do him homage as their king, and eat of his banquet
in his hall.
On the appointed day they all came; and as the custom was then, each
guest brought his present with him to the king: one a horse, another a shawl,
or a ring, or a sword; and those who had nothing better brought a basket of grapes,
or of game; but Perseus brought nothing, for he had nothing to bring, being but
a poor sailor-lad. He was ashamed, however, to go into the king's presence without
his gift; and he was too proud to ask Dictys to lend him one. So he stood at the
door sorrowfully, watching the rich men go in; and his face grew very red as they
pointed at him, and smiled, and whispered, 'What has that foundling to give?'
Now this was what Polydectes wanted; and as soon as he heard that Perseus stood
without, he bade them bring him in, and asked him scornfully before them all,
'Am I not your king, Perseus, and have I not invited you to my feast? Where is
your present, then?'
Perseus blushed and stammered, while all the proud men round laughed,
and some of them began jeering him openly. 'This fellow was thrown ashore here
like a piece of weed or drift- wood, and yet he is too proud to bring a gift to
the king.' 'And though he does not know who his father is, he is vain enough to
let the old women call him the son of Zeus.' And so forth, till poor Perseus grew
mad with shame, and hardly knowing what he said, cried out, - 'A present! who
are you who talk of presents? See if I do not bring a nobler one than all of yours
together!' So he said boasting; and yet he felt in his heart that he was braver
than all those scoffers, and more able to do some glorious deed. 'Hear him! Hear
the boaster! What is it to be?' cried they all, laughing louder than ever.
Then his dream at Samos came into his mind, and he cried aloud, 'The
head of the Gorgon.' He was half afraid after he had said the words for all laughed
louder than ever, and Polydectes loudest of all. 'You have promised to bring me
the Gorgon's head? Then never appear again in this island without it. Go!' Perseus
ground his teeth with rage, for he saw that he had fallen into a trap; but his
promise lay upon him, and he went out without a word. Down to the cliffs he went,
and looked across the broad blue sea; and he wondered if his dream were true,
and prayed in the bitterness of his soul. 'Pallas Athene, was my dream true? and
shall I slay the Gorgon? If thou didst really show me her face, let me not come
to shame as a liar and boastful. Rashly and angrily I promised; but cunningly
and patiently will I perform.'
But there was no answer, nor sign; neither thunder nor any appearance;
not even a cloud in the sky. And three times Perseus called weeping, 'Rashly and
angrily I promised; but cunningly and patiently will I perform.' Then he saw afar
off above the sea a small white cloud, as bright as silver. And it came on, nearer
and nearer, till its brightness dazzled his eyes. Perseus wondered at that strange
cloud, for there was no other cloud all round the sky; and he trembled as it touched
the cliff below. And as it touched, it broke, and parted, and within it appeared
Pallas Athene, as he had seen her at Samos in his dream, and beside her a young
man more light- limbed than the stag, whose eyes were like sparks of fire. By
his side was a scimitar of diamond, all of one clear precious stone, and on his
feet were golden sandals, from the heels of which grew living wings.
They looked upon Perseus keenly, and yet they never moved their eyes;
and they came up the cliffs towards him more swiftly than the sea-gull, and yet
they never moved their feet, nor did the breeze stir the robes about their limbs;
only the wings of the youth's sandals quivered, like a hawk's when he hangs above
the cliff. And Perseus fell down and worshipped, for he knew that they were more
than man.
But Athene stood before him and spoke gently, and bid him have no
fear. Then - 'Perseus,' she said, 'he who overcomes in one trial merits thereby
a sharper trial still. You have braved Polydectes, and done manfully. Dare you
brave Medusa the Gorgon?'
And Perseus said, 'Try me; for since you spoke to me in Samos a new
soul has come into my breast, and I should be ashamed not to dare anything which
I can do. Show me, then, how I can do this!'
'Perseus,' said Athene, 'think well before you attempt; for this deed requires
a seven years' journey, in which you cannot repent or turn back nor escape; but
if your heart fails you, you must die in the Unshapen Land, where no man will
ever find your bones.'
'Better so than live here, useless and despised,' said Perseus. 'Tell me, then,
oh tell me, fair and wise Goddess, of your great kindness and condescension, how
I can do but this one thing, and then, if need be, die!'
Then Athene smiled and said -
'Be patient, and listen; for if you forget my words, you will indeed die. You
must go northward to the country of the Hyperboreans, who live beyond the pole,
at the sources of the cold north wind, till you find the three Grey Sisters, who
have but one eye and one tooth between them. You must ask them the way to the
Nymphs, the daughters of the Evening Star, who dance about the golden tree, in
the Atlantic island of the west. They will tell you the way to the Gorgon, that
you may slay her, my enemy, the mother of monstrous beasts. Once she was a maiden
as beautiful as morn, till in her pride she sinned a sin at which the sun hid
his face; and from that day her hair was turned to vipers, and her hands to eagle's
claws; and her heart was filled with shame and rage, and her lips with bitter
venom; and her eyes became so terrible that whosoever looks on them is turned
to stone; and her children are the winged horse and the giant of the golden sword;
and her grandchildren are Echidna the witch-adder, and Geryon the three-headed
tyrant, who feeds his herds beside the herds of hell. So she became the sister
of the Gorgons, Stheino and Euryte the abhorred, the daughters of the Queen of
the Sea. Touch them not, for they are immortal; but bring me only Medusa's head.'
'And I will bring it!' said Perseus; 'but how am I to escape her eyes? Will she
not freeze me too into stone?'
'You shall take this polished shield,' said Athene, 'and when you come near her
look not at her herself, but at her image in the brass; so you may strike her
safely. And when you have struck off her head, wrap it, with your face turned
away, in the folds of the goat-skin on which the shield hangs, the hide of Amaltheie,
the nurse of the Aegis-holder. So you will bring it safely back to me, and win
to yourself renown, and a place among the heroes who feast with the Immortals
upon the peak where no winds blow.'
Then Perseus said, 'I will go, though I die in going. But how shall
I cross the seas without a ship? And who will show me my way? And when I find
her, how shall I slay her, if her scales be iron and brass?' Then the young man
spoke: 'These sandals of mine will bear you across the seas, and over hill and
dale like a bird, as they bear me all day long; for I am Hermes, the far-famed
Argus-slayer, the messenger of the Immortals who dwell on Olympus.'
Then Perseus fell down and worshipped, while the young man spoke
again:
'The sandals themselves will guide you on the road, for they are divine and cannot
stray; and this sword itself, the Argus-slayer, will kill her, for it is divine,
and needs no second stroke. Arise, and gird them on, and go forth.'
So Perseus arose, and girded on the sandals and the sword.
And Athene cried, 'Now leap from the cliff and be gone.'
But Perseus lingered. 'May I not bid farewell to my mother and to
Dictys? And may I not offer burnt-offerings to you, and to Hermes the far- famed
Argus-slayer, and to Father Zeus above?'
'You shall not bid farewell to your mother, lest your heart relent at her weeping.
I will comfort her and Dictys until you return in peace. Nor shall you offer burnt-offerings
to the Olympians; for your offering shall be Medusa's head. Leap, and trust in
the armour of the Immortals.'
Then Perseus looked down the cliff and shuddered; but he was ashamed
to show his dread. Then he thought of Medusa and the renown before him, and he
leaped into the empty air. And behold, instead of falling he floated, and stood,
and ran along the sky. He looked back, but Athene had vanished, and Hermes; and
the sandals led him on northward ever, like a crane who follows the spring toward
the Ister fens.
This text is cited Feb 2003 from the Charles Kingsley's (1819 - 1875) Page URL below.
So Perseus started on his journey, going dry-shod over land and sea;
and his heart was high and joyful, for the winged sandals bore him each day a
seven days' journey. And he went by Cythnus, and by Ceos, and the pleasant Cyclades
to Attica; and past Athens and Thebes, and the Copaic lake, and up the vale of
Cephissus, and past the peaks of Oeta and Pindus, and over the rich Thessalian
plains, till the sunny hills of Greece were behind him, and before him were the
wilds of the north. Then he passed the Thracian mountains, and many a barbarous
tribe, Paeons and Dardans and Triballi, till he came to the Ister stream, and
the dreary Scythian plains. And he walked across the Ister dry-shod, and away
through the moors and fens, day and night toward the bleak north-west, turning
neither to the right hand nor the left, till he came to the Unshapen Land, and
the place which has no name.
And seven days he walked through it, on a path which few can tell;
for those who have trodden it like least to speak of it, and those who go there
again in dreams are glad enough when they awake; till he came to the edge of the
everlasting night, where the air was full of feathers, and the soil was hard with
ice; and there at last he found the three Grey Sisters, by the shore of the freezing
sea, nodding upon a white log of drift-wood, beneath the cold white winter moon;
and they chanted a low song together, 'Why the old times were better than the
new.'
There was no living thing around them, not a fly, not a moss upon
the rocks. Neither seal nor sea-gull dare come near, lest the ice should clutch
them in its claws. The surge broke up in foam, but it fell again in flakes of
snow; and it frosted the hair of the three Grey Sisters, and the bones in the
ice-cliff above their heads. They passed the eye from one to the other, but for
all that they could not see; and they passed the tooth from one to the other,
but for all that they could not eat; and they sat in the full glare of the moon,
but they were none the warmer for her beams. And Perseus pitied the three Grey
Sisters; but they did not pity themselves.
So he said, 'Oh, venerable mothers, wisdom is the daughter of old
age. You therefore should know many things. Tell me, if you can, the path to the
Gorgon.'
Then one cried, 'Who is this who reproaches us with old age?' And
another, 'This is the voice of one of the children of men.'
And he, 'I do not reproach, but honour your old age, and I am one
of the sons of men and of the heroes. The rulers of Olympus have sent me to you
to ask the way to the Gorgon.'
Then one, 'There are new rulers in Olympus, and all new things are
bad.' And another, 'We hate your rulers, and the heroes, and all the children
of men. We are the kindred of the Titans, and the Giants, and the Gorgons, and
the ancient monsters of the deep.' And another, 'Who is this rash and insolent
man who pushes unbidden into our world?' And the first, 'There never was such
a world as ours, nor will be; if we let him see it, he will spoil it all.' Then
one cried, 'Give me the eye, that I may see him;' and another, 'Give me the tooth,
that I may bite him.'
But Perseus, when he saw that they were foolish and proud, and did
not love the children of men, left off pitying them, and said to himself, 'Hungry
men must needs be hasty; if I stay making many words here, I shall be starved.'
Then he stepped close to them, and watched till they passed the eye from hand
to hand. And as they groped about between themselves, he held out his own hand
gently, till one of them put the eye into it, fancying that it was the hand of
her sister.
Then he sprang back, and laughed, and cried - 'Cruel and proud old
women, I have your eye; and I will throw it into the sea, unless you tell me the
path to the Gorgon, and swear to me that you tell me right.'
Then they wept, and chattered, and scolded; but in vain. They were
forced to tell the truth, though, when they told it, Perseus could hardly make
out the road. 'You must go,' they said, 'foolish boy, to the southward, into the
ugly glare of the sun, till you come to Atlas the Giant, who holds the heaven
and the earth apart. And you must ask his daughters, the Hesperides, who are young
and foolish like yourself. And now give us back our eye, for we have forgotten
all the rest.'
So Perseus gave them back their eye; but instead of using it, they
nodded and fell fast asleep, and were turned into blocks of ice, till the tide
came up and washed them all away. And now they float up and down like icebergs
for ever, weeping whenever they meet the sunshine, and the fruitful summer and
the warm south wind, which fill young hearts with joy.
But Perseus leaped away to the southward, leaving the snow and the
ice behind: past the isle of the Hyperboreans, and the tin isles, and the long
Iberian shore, while the sun rose higher day by day upon a bright blue summer
sea. And the terns and the sea-gulls swept laughing round his head, and called
to him to stop and play, and the dolphins gambolled up as he passed, and offered
to carry him on their backs. And all night long the sea-nymphs sang sweetly, and
the Tritons blew upon their conchs, as they played round Galataea their queen,
in her car of pearled shells. Day by day the sun rose higher, and leaped more
swiftly into the sea at night, and more swiftly out of the sea at dawn; while
Perseus skimmed over the billows like a sea-gull, and his feet were never wetted;
and leapt on from wave to wave, and his limbs were never weary, till he saw far
away a mighty mountain, all rose-red in the setting sun. Its feet were wrapped
in forests, and its head in wreaths of cloud; and Perseus knew that it was Atlas,
who holds the heavens and the earth apart.
He came to the mountain, and leapt on shore, and wandered upward,
among pleasant valleys and waterfalls, and tall trees and strange ferns and flowers;
but there was no smoke rising from any glen, nor house, nor sign of man.
At last he heard sweet voices singing; and he guessed that he was
come to the garden of the Nymphs, the daughters of the Evening Star. They sang
like nightingales among the thickets, and Perseus stopped to hear their song;
but the words which they spoke he could not understand; no, nor no man after him
for many a hundred years. So he stepped forward and saw them dancing, hand in
hand around the charmed tree, which bent under its golden fruit; and round the
tree-foot was coiled the dragon, old Ladon the sleepless snake, who lies there
for ever, listening to the song of the maidens, blinking and watching with dry
bright eyes.
Then Perseus stopped, not because he feared the dragon, but because
he was bashful before those fair maids; but when they saw him, they too stopped,
and called to him with trembling voices -
'Who are you? Are you Heracles the mighty, who will come to rob our garden, and
carry off our golden fruit?'
And he answered -
'I am not Heracles the mighty, and I want none of your golden fruit. Tell me,
fair Nymphs, the way which leads to the Gorgon, that I may go on my way and slay
her.'
'Not yet, not yet, fair boy; come dance with us around the tree in the garden
which knows no winter, the home of the south wind and the sun. Come hither and
play with us awhile; we have danced alone here for a thousand years, and our hearts
are weary with longing for a playfellow. So come, come, come!'
'I cannot dance with you, fair maidens; for I must do the errand of the Immortals.
So tell me the way to the Gorgon, lest I wander and perish in the waves.'
Then they sighed and wept; and answered -
'The Gorgon! she will freeze you into stone.'
'It is better to die like a hero than to live like an ox in a stall. The Immortals
have lent me weapons, and they will give me wit to use them.'
Then they sighed again and answered,
'Fair boy, if you are bent on your own ruin, be it so. We know not the way to
the Gorgon; but we will ask the giant Atlas, above upon the mountain peak, the
brother of our father, the silver Evening Star. He sits aloft and sees across
the ocean, and far away into the Unshapen Land.'
So they went up the mountain to Atlas their uncle, and Perseus went
up with them. And they found the giant kneeling, as he held the heavens and the
earth apart. They asked him, and he answered mildly, pointing to the sea- board
with his mighty hand,
'I can see the Gorgons lying on an island far away, but this youth can never come
near them, unless he has the hat of darkness, which whosoever wears cannot be
seen.'
Then cried Perseus, 'Where is that hat, that I may find it?'
But the giant smiled. 'No living mortal can find that hat, for it
lies in the depths of Hades, in the regions of the dead. But my nieces are immortal,
and they shall fetch it for you, if you will promise me one thing and keep your
faith.'
Then Perseus promised; and the giant said, 'When you come back with
the head of Medusa, you shall show me the beautiful horror, that I may lose my
feeling and my breathing, and become a stone for ever; for it is weary labour
for me to hold the heavens and the earth apart.'
Then Perseus promised, and the eldest of the Nymphs went down, and
into a dark cavern among the cliffs, out of which came smoke and thunder, for
it was one of the mouths of Hell. And Perseus and the Nymphs sat down seven days,
and waited trembling, till the Nymph came up again; and her face was pale, and
her eyes dazzled with the light, for she had been long in the dreary darkness;
but in her hand was the magic hat. Then all the Nymphs kissed Perseus, and wept
over him a long while; but he was only impatient to be gone. And at last they
put the hat upon his head, and he vanished out of their sight.
But Perseus went on boldly, past many an ugly sight, far away into
the heart of the Unshapen Land, beyond the streams of Ocean, to the isles where
no ship cruises, where is neither night nor day, where nothing is in its right
place, and nothing has a name; till he heard the rustle of the Gorgons' wings
and saw the glitter of their brazen talons; and then he knew that it was time
to halt, lest Medusa should freeze him into stone. He thought awhile with himself,
and remembered Athene's words. He rose aloft into the air, and held the mirror
of the shield above his head, and looked up into it that he might see all that
was below him. And he saw the three Gorgons sleeping as huge as elephants. He
knew that they could not see him, because the hat of darkness hid him; and yet
he trembled as he sank down near them, so terrible were those brazen claws.
Two of the Gorgons were foul as swine, and lay sleeping heavily,
as swine sleep, with their mighty wings outspread; but Medusa tossed to and fro
restlessly, and as she tossed Perseus pitied her, she looked so fair and sad.
Her plumage was like the rainbow, and her face was like the face of a nymph, only
her eyebrows were knit, and her lips clenched, with everlasting care and pain;
and her long neck gleamed so white in the mirror that Perseus had not the heart
to strike, and said,
'Ah, that it had been either of her sisters!' But as he looked, from among her
tresses the vipers' heads awoke, and peeped up with their bright dry eyes, and
showed their fangs, and hissed; and Medusa, as she tossed, threw back her wings
and showed her brazen claws; and Perseus saw that, for all her beauty, she was
as foul and venomous as the rest.
Then he came down and stepped to her boldly, and looked steadfastly
on his mirror, and struck with Herpe stoutly once; and he did not need to strike
again.
Then he wrapped the head in the goat-skin, turning away his eyes,
and sprang into the air aloft, faster than he ever sprang before. For Medusa's
wings and talons rattled as she sank dead upon the rocks; and her two foul sisters
woke, and saw her lying dead. Into the air they sprang yelling and looked for
him who had done the deed. Thrice they swung round and round, like hawks who beat
for a partridge; and thrice they snuffed round and round, like hounds who draw
upon a deer. At last they struck upon the scent of the blood, and they checked
for a moment to make sure; and then on they rushed with a fearful howl, while
the wind rattled hoarse in their wings.
On they rushed, sweeping and flapping, like eagles after a hare;
and Perseus' blood ran cold, for all his courage, as he saw them come howling
on his track; and he cried, 'Bear me well now, brave sandals, for the hounds of
Death are at my heels!' And well the brave sandals bore him, aloft through cloud
and sunshine, across the shoreless sea; and fast followed the hounds of Death,
as the roar of their wings came down the wind. But the roar came down fainter
and fainter, and the howl of their voices died away; for the sandals were too
swift, even for Gorgons, and by nightfall they were far behind, two black specks
in the southern sky, till the sun sank and he saw them no more.
Then he came again to Atlas, and the garden of the Nymphs; and when
the giant heard him coming he groaned, and said, 'Fulfil thy promise to me.'
Then Perseus held up to him the Gorgon's head, and he had rest from
all his toil; for he became a crag of stone, which sleeps for ever far above the
clouds.
Then he thanked the Nymphs, and asked them, 'By what road shall I
go homeward again, for I wandered far round in coming hither?' And they wept and
cried, 'Go home no more, but stay and play with us, the lonely maidens, who dwell
for ever far away from Gods and men.' But he refused, and they told him his road,
and said, 'Take with you this magic fruit, which, if you eat once, you will not
hunger for seven days. For you must go eastward and eastward ever, over the doleful
Lybian shore, which Poseidon gave to Father Zeus, when he burst open the Bosphorus
and the Hellespont, and drowned the fair Lectonian land. And Zeus took that land
in exchange, a fair bargain, much bad ground for a little good, and to this day
it lies waste and desert with shingle, and rock, and sand.' Then they kissed Perseus,
and wept over him, and he leapt down the mountain, and went on, lessening and
lessening like a sea-gull, away and out to sea.
This text is cited Feb 2003 from the Charles Kingsley's (1819 - 1875) Page URL below.
So Perseus flitted onward to the north-east, over many a league of
sea, till he came to the rolling sand-hills and the dreary Lybian shore. And he
flitted on across the desert: over rock-ledges, and banks of shingle, and level
wastes of sand, and shell-drifts bleaching in the sunshine, and the skeletons
of great sea- monsters, and dead bones of ancient giants, strewn up and down upon
the old sea-floor. And as he went the blood-drops fell to the earth from the Gorgon's
head, and became poisonous asps and adders, which breed in the desert to this
day.
Over the sands he went, - he never knew how far or how long, feeding
on the fruit which the Nymphs had given him, till he saw the hills of the Psylli,
and the Dwarfs who fought with cranes. Their spears were of reeds and rushes,
and their houses of the egg-shells of the cranes; and Perseus laughed, and went
his way to the north-east, hoping all day long to see the blue Mediterranean sparkling,
that he might fly across it to his home. But now came down a mighty wind, and
swept him back southward toward the desert. All day long he strove against it;
but even the winged sandals could not prevail. So he was forced to float down
the wind all night; and when the morning dawned there was nothing to be seen,
save the same old hateful waste of sand.
And out of the north the sandstorms rushed upon him, blood- red pillars
and wreaths, blotting out the noonday sun; and Perseus fled before them, lest
he should be choked by the burning dust. At last the gale fell calm, and he tried
to go northward again; but again came down the sandstorms, and swept him back
into the waste, and then all was calm and cloudless as before. Seven days he strove
against the storms, and seven days he was driven back, till he was spent with
thirst and hunger, and his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth. Here and there
he fancied that he saw a fair lake, and the sunbeams shining on the water; but
when he came to it it vanished at his feet, and there was nought but burning sand.
And if he had not been of the race of the Immortals, he would have perished in
the waste; but his life was strong within him, because it was more than man's.
Then he cried to Athene, and said -
'Oh, fair and pure, if thou hearest me, wilt thou leave me here to die of drought?
I have brought thee the Gorgon's head at thy bidding, and hitherto thou hast prospered
my journey; dost thou desert me at the last? Else why will not these immortal
sandals prevail, even against the desert storms? Shall I never see my mother more,
and the blue ripple round Seriphos, and the sunny hills of Hellas?'
So he prayed; and after he had prayed there was a great silence.
The heaven was still above his head, and the sand was still beneath his feet;
and Perseus looked up, but there was nothing but the blinding sun in the blinding
blue; and round him, but there was nothing but the blinding sand. And Perseus
stood still a while, and waited, and said, 'Surely I am not here without the will
of the Immortals, for Athene will not lie. Were not these sandals to lead me in
the right road? Then the road in which I have tried to go must be a wrong road.'
Then suddenly his ears were opened, and he heard the sound of running
water. And at that his heart was lifted up, though he scarcely dare believe his
ears; and weary as he was, he hurried forward, though he could scarcely stand
upright; and within a bowshot of him was a glen in the sand, and marble rocks,
and date- trees, and a lawn of gay green grass. And through the lawn a streamlet
sparkled and wandered out beyond the trees, and vanished in the sand. The water
trickled among the rocks, and a pleasant breeze rustled in the dry date-branches
and Perseus laughed for joy, and leapt down the cliff, and drank of the cool water,
and ate of the dates, and slept upon the turf, and leapt up and went forward again:
but not toward the north this time; for he said, 'Surely Athene hath sent me hither,
and will not have me go homeward yet. What if there be another noble deed to be
done, before I see the sunny hills of Hellas?'
So he went east, and east for ever, by fresh oases and fountains,
date-palms, and lawns of grass, till he saw before him a mighty mountain-wall,
all rose-red in the setting sun. Then he towered in the air like an eagle, for
his limbs were strong again; and he flew all night across the mountain till the
day began to dawn, and rosy-fingered Eos came blushing up the sky. And then, behold,
beneath him was the long green garden of Egypt and the shining stream of Nile.
And he saw cities walled up to heaven, and temples, and obelisks, and pyramids,
and giant Gods of stone. And he came down amid fields of barley, and flax, and
millet, and clambering gourds; and saw the people coming out of the gates of a
great city, and setting to work, each in his place, among the water-courses, parting
the streams among the plants cunningly with their feet, according to the wisdom
of the Egyptians.
But when they saw him they all stopped their work, and gathered round
him, and cried - 'Who art thou, fair youth? and what bearest thou beneath thy
goat-skin there? Surely thou art one of the Immortals; for thy skin is white like
ivory, and ours is red like clay. Thy hair is like threads of gold, and ours is
black and curled. Surely thou art one of the Immortals;' and they would have worshipped
him then and there; but Perseus said -
'I am not one of the Immortals; but I am a hero of the Hellens. And I have slain
the Gorgon in the wilderness, and bear her head with me. Give me food, therefore,
that I may go forward and finish my work.'
Then they gave him food, and fruit, and wine; but they would not
let him go. And when the news came into the city that the Gorgon was slain, the
priests came out to meet him, and the maidens, with songs and dances, and timbrels
and harps; and they would have brought him to their temple and to their king;
but Perseus put on the hat of darkness, and vanished away out of their sight.
Therefore the Egyptians looked long for his return, but in vain, and worshipped
him as a hero, and made a statue of him in Chemmis, which stood for many a hundred
years; and they said that he appeared to them at times, with sandals a cubit long;
and that whenever he appeared the season was fruitful, and the Nile rose high
that year.
Then Perseus went to the eastward, along the Red Sea shore; and then,
because he was afraid to go into the Arabian deserts, he turned northward once
more, and this time no storm hindered him. He went past the Isthmus, and Mount
Casius, and the vast Serbonian bog, and up the shore of Palestine, where the dark-
faced Aethiops dwelt. He flew on past pleasant hills and valleys, like Argos itself,
or Lacedaemon, or the fair Vale of Tempe.
But the lowlands were all drowned by floods, and the highlands blasted
by fire, and the hills heaved like a babbling cauldron, before the wrath of King
Poseidon, the shaker of the earth. And Perseus feared to go inland, but flew along
the shore above the sea; and he went on all the day, and the sky was black with
smoke; and he went on all the night, and the sky was red with flame.
And at the dawn of day he looked toward the cliffs; and at the water's
edge, under a black rock, he saw a white image stand. 'This,' thought he, 'must
surely be the statue of some sea- God; I will go near and see what kind of Gods
these barbarians worship.' So he came near; but when he came, it was no statue,
but a maiden of flesh and blood; for he could see her tresses streaming in the
breeze; and as he came closer still, he could see how she shrank and shivered
when the waves sprinkled her with cold salt spray. Her arms were spread above
her head, and fastened to the rock with chains of brass; and her head drooped
on her bosom, either with sleep, or weariness, or grief. But now and then she
looked up and wailed, and called her mother; yet she did not see Perseus, for
the cap of darkness was on his head. Full of pity and indignation, Perseus drew
near and looked upon the maid. Her cheeks were darker than his were, and her hair
was blue-black like a hyacinth; but Perseus thought, 'I have never seen so beautiful
a maiden; no, not in all our isles. Surely she is a king's daughter. Do barbarians
treat their kings' daughters thus? She is too fair, at least, to have done any
wrong I will speak to her.'
And, lifting the hat from his head, he flashed into her sight. She
shrieked with terror, and tried to hide her face with her hair, for she could
not with her hands; but Perseus cried -
'Do not fear me, fair one; I am a Hellen, and no barbarian. What cruel men have
bound you? But first I will set you free.' And he tore at the fetters, but they
were too strong for him; while the maiden cried -
'Touch me not; I am accursed, devoted as a victim to the sea- Gods. They will
slay you, if you dare to set me free.'
'Let them try,' said Perseus; and drawing, Herpe from his thigh, he cut through
the brass as if it had been flax. 'Now,' he said, 'you belong to me, and not to
these sea-Gods, whosoever they may be!' But she only called the more on her mother.
'Why call on your mother? She can be no mother to have left you here. If a bird
is dropped out of the nest, it belongs to the man who picks it up. If a jewel
is cast by the wayside, it is his who dare win it and wear it, as I will win you
and will wear you. I know now why Pallas Athene sent me hither. She sent me to
gain a prize worth all my toil and more.'
And he clasped her in his arms, and cried, 'Where are these sea-Gods,
cruel and unjust, who doom fair maids to death? I carry the weapons of Immortals.
Let them measure their strength against mine! But tell me, maiden, who you are,
and what dark fate brought you here.'
And she answered, weeping -
"I am the daughter of Cepheus, King of Iopa, and my mother is Cassiopoeia of the
beautiful tresses, and they called me Andromeda, as long as life was mine. And
I stand bound here, hapless that I am, for the sea-monster's food, to atone for
my mother's sin. For she boasted of me once that I was fairer than Atergatis,
Queen of the Fishes; so she in her wrath sent the sea-floods, and her brother
the Fire King sent the earthquakes, and wasted all the land, and after the floods
a monster bred of the slime, who devours all living things. And now he must devour
me, guiltless though I am - me who never harmed a living thing, nor saw a fish
upon the shore but I gave it life, and threw it back into the sea; for in our
land we eat no fish, for fear of Atergatis their queen. Yet the priests say that
nothing but my blood can atone for a sin which I never committed.'
But Perseus laughed, and said, 'A sea-monster? I have fought with
worse than him: I would have faced Immortals for your sake; how much more a beast
of the sea?'
Then Andromeda looked up at him, and new hope was kindled in her
breast, so proud and fair did he stand, with one hand round her, and in the other
the glittering sword. But she only sighed, and wept the more, and cried - 'Why
will you die, young as you are? Is there not death and sorrow enough in the world
already? It is noble for me to die, that I may save the lives of a whole people;
but you, better than them all, why should I slay you too? Go you your way; I must
go mine.'
But Perseus cried, 'Not so; for the Lords of Olympus, whom I serve,
are the friends of the heroes, and help them on to noble deeds. Led by them, I
slew the Gorgon, the beautiful horror; and not without them do I come hither,
to slay this monster with that same Gorgon's head. Yet hide your eyes when I leave
you, lest the sight of it freeze you too to stone.'
But the maiden answered nothing, for she could not believe his words.
And then, suddenly looking up, she pointed to the sea, and shrieked - 'There he
comes, with the sunrise, as they promised. I must die now. How shall I endure
it? Oh, go! Is it not dreadful enough to be torn piece-meal, without having you
to look on?' And she tried to thrust him away.
But he said, 'I go; yet promise me one thing ere I go: that if I
slay this beast you will be my wife, and come back with me to my kingdom in fruitful
Argos, for I am a king's heir. Promise me, and seal it with a kiss.' Then she
lifted up her face, and kissed him; and Perseus laughed for joy, and flew upward,
while Andromeda crouched trembling on the rock, waiting for what might befall.
On came the great sea-monster, coasting along like a huge black galley,
lazily breasting the ripple, and stopping at times by creek or headland to watch
for the laughter of girls at their bleaching, or cattle pawing on the sand-hills,
or boys bathing on the beach. His great sides were fringed with clustering shells
and sea-weeds, and the water gurgled in and out of his wide jaws, as he rolled
along, dripping and glistening in the beams of the morning sun. At last he saw
Andromeda, and shot forward to take his prey, while the waves foamed white behind
him, and before him the fish fled leaping. Then down from the height of the air
fell Perseus like a shooting star; down to the crests of the waves, while Andromeda
hid her face as he shouted; and then there was silence for a while.
At last she looked up trembling, and saw Perseus springing toward
her; and instead of the monster a long black rock, with the sea rippling quietly
round it. Who then so proud as Perseus, as he leapt back to the rock, and lifted
his fair Andromeda in his arms, and flew with her to the cliff-top, as a falcon
carries a dove? Who so proud as Perseus, and who so joyful as all the Aethiop
people? For they had stood watching the monster from the cliffs, wailing for the
maiden's fate. And already a messenger had gone to Cepheus and Cassiopoeia, where
they sat in sackcloth and ashes on the ground, in the innermost palace chambers,
awaiting their daughter's end. And they came, and all the city with them, to see
the wonder, with songs and with dances, with cymbals and harps, and received their
daughter back again, as one alive from the dead.
Then Cepheus said, 'Hero of the Hellens, stay here with me and be
my son-in-law, and I will give you the half of my kingdom.' 'I will be your son-in-law,'
said Perseus, 'but of your kingdom I will have none, for I long after the pleasant
land of Greece, and my mother who waits for me at home.'
Then Cepheus said, 'You must not take my daughter away at once, for
she is to us like one alive from the dead. Stay with us here a year, and after
that you shall return with honour.'
And Perseus consented; but before he went to the palace he bade the
people bring stones and wood, and built three altars, one to Athene, and one to
Hermes, and one to Father Zeus, and offered bullocks and rams.
And some said, 'This is a pious man;' yet the priests said, 'The
Sea Queen will be yet more fierce against us, because her monster is slain.' But
they were afraid to speak aloud, for they feared the Gorgon's head. So they went
up to the palace; and when they came in, there stood in the hall Phineus, the
brother of Cepheus, chafing like a bear robbed of her whelps, and with him his
sons, and his servants, and many an armed man; and he cried to Cepheus - 'You
shall not marry your daughter to this stranger, of whom no one knows even the
name. Was not Andromeda betrothed to my son? And now she is safe again, has he
not a right to claim her?'
But Perseus laughed, and answered, 'If your son is in want of a bride,
let him save a maiden for himself. As yet he seems but a helpless bride-groom.
He left this one to die, and dead she is to him. I saved her alive, and alive
she is to me, but to no one else. Ungrateful man! have I not saved your land,
and the lives of your sons and daughters, and will you requite me thus? Go, or
it will be worse for you.' But all the men-at-arms drew their swords, and rushed
on him like wild beasts. Then he unveiled the Gorgon's head, and said, 'This has
delivered my bride from one wild beast: it shall deliver her from many.' And as
he spoke Phineus and all his men-at-arms stopped short, and stiffened each man
as he stood; and before Perseus had drawn the goat-skin over the face again, they
were all turned into stone. Then Persons bade the people bring levers and roll
them out; and what was done with them after that I cannot tell.
So they made a great wedding-feast, which lasted seven whole days,
and who so happy as Perseus and Andromeda?
But on the eighth night Perseus dreamed a dream; and he saw standing
beside him Pallas Athene, as he had seen her in Seriphos, seven long years before;
and she stood and called him by name, and said - 'Perseus, you have played the
man, and see, you have your reward. Know now that the Gods are just, and help
him who helps himself. Now give me here Herpe the sword, and the sandals, and
the hat of darkness, that I may give them back to their owners; but the Gorgon's
head you shall keep a while, for you will need it in your land of Greece. Then
you shall lay it up in my temple at Seriphos, that I may wear it on my shield
for ever, a terror to the Titans and the monsters, and the foes of Gods and men.
And as for this land, I have appeased the sea and the fire, and there shall be
no more floods nor earthquakes. But let the people build altars to Father Zeus,
and to me, and worship the Immortals, the Lords of heaven and earth.'
And Perseus rose to give her the sword, and the cap, and the sandals;
but he woke, and his dream vanished away. And yet it was not altogether a dream;
for the goat-skin with the head was in its place; but the sword, and the cap,
and the sandals were gone, and Perseus never saw them more.
Then a great awe fell on Perseus; and he went out in the morning
to the people, and told his dream, and bade them build altars to Zeus, the Father
of Gods and men, and to Athene, who gives wisdom to heroes; and fear no more the
earthquakes and the floods, but sow and build in peace.
And they did so for a while, and prospered; but after Perseus was
gone they forgot Zeus and Athene, and worshipped again Atergatis the queen, and
the undying fish of the sacred lake, where Deucalion's deluge was swallowed up,
and they burnt their children before the Fire King, till Zeus was angry with that
foolish people, and brought a strange nation against them out of Egypt, who fought
against them and wasted them utterly, and dwelt in their cities for many a hundred
years.
This text is cited Feb 2003 from the Charles Kingsley's (1819 - 1875) Page URL below.
And when a year was ended Perseus hired Phoenicians from Tyre, and
cut down cedars, and built himself a noble galley; and painted its cheeks with
vermilion, and pitched its sides with pitch; and in it he put Andromeda, and all
her dowry of jewels, and rich shawls, and spices from the East; and great was
the weeping when they rowed away. But the remembrance of his brave deed was left
behind; and Andromeda's rock was shown at Iopa in Palestine till more than a thousand
years were past. So Perseus and the Phoenicians rowed to the westward, across
the sea of Crete, till they came to the blue Aegean and the pleasant Isles of
Hellas, and Seriphos, his ancient home.
Then he left his galley on the beach, and went up as of old; and
he embraced his mother, and Dictys his good foster- father, and they wept over
each other a long while, for it was seven years and more since they had met. Then
Perseus went out, and up to the hall of Polydectes; and underneath the goat-skin
he bore the Gorgon's head. And when he came into the hall, Polydectes sat at the
table- head, and all his nobles and landowners on either side, each according
to his rank, feasting on the fish and the goat's flesh, and drinking the blood-red
wine. The harpers harped, and the revellers shouted, and the wine-cups rang merrily
as they passed from hand to hand, and great was the noise in the hall of Polydectes.
Then Persons stood upon the threshold, and called to the king by name. But none
of the guests knew Perseus, for he was changed by his long journey. He had gone
out a boy, and he was come home a hero; his eye shone like an eagle's, and his
beard was like a lion's beard, and he stood up like a wild bull in his pride.
But Polydectes the wicked knew him, and hardened his heart still
more; and scornfully he called - 'Ah, foundling! have you found it more easy to
promise than to fulfil?' 'Those whom the Gods help fulfil their promises; and
those who despise them, reap as they have sown. Behold the Gorgon's head!' Then
Perseus drew back the goat-skin, and held aloft the Gorgon's head. Pale grew Polydectes
and his guests as they looked upon that dreadful face. They tried to rise up from
their seats: but from their seats they never rose, but stiffened, each man where
he sat, into a ring of cold grey stones.
Then Perseus turned and left them, and went down to his galley in
the bay; and he gave the kingdom to good Dictys, and sailed away with his mother
and his bride. And Polydectes and his guests sat still, with the wine-cups before
them on the board, till the rafters crumbled down above their heads, and the walls
behind their backs, and the table crumbled down between them, and the grass sprung
up about their feet: but Polydectes and his guests sit on the hillside, a ring
of grey stones until this day.
But Perseus rowed westward toward Argos, and landed, and went up
to the town. And when he came, he found that Acrisius his grandfather had fled.
For Proetus his wicked brother had made war against him afresh; and had come across
the river from Tiryns, and conquered Argos, and Acrisius had fled to Larissa,
in the country of the wild Pelasgi. Then Perseus called the Argives together,
and told them who he was, and all the noble deeds which he had done. And all the
nobles and the yeomen made him king, for they saw that he had a royal heart; and
they fought with him against Argos, and took it, and killed Proetus, and made
the Cyclopes serve them, and build them walls round Argos, like the walls which
they had built at Tiryns; and there were great rejoicings in the vale of Argos,
because they had got a king from Father Zeus.
But Perseus' heart yearned after his grandfather, and he said, 'Surely
he is my flesh and blood, and he will love me now that I am come home with honour:
I will go and find him, and bring him home, and we will reign together in peace.'
So Perseus sailed away with his Phoenicians, round Hydrea and Sunium, past Marathon
and the Attic shore, and through Euripus, and up the long Euboean sea, till he
came to the town of Larissa, where the wild Pelasgi dwelt.
And when he came there, all the people were in the fields, and there
was feasting, and all kinds of games; for Teutamenes their king wished to honour
Acrisius, because he was the king of a mighty land. So Perseus did not tell his
name, but went up to the games unknown; for he said, 'If I carry away the prize
in the games, my grandfather's heart will be softened toward me.' So he threw
off his helmet, and his cuirass, and all his clothes, and stood among the youths
of Larissa, while all wondered at him, and said, 'Who is this young stranger,
who stands like a wild bull in his pride? Surely he is one of the heroes, the
sons of the Immortals, from Olympus.'
And when the games began, they wondered yet more; for Perseus was
the best man of all at running, and leaping, and wrestling and throwing the javelin;
and he won four crowns, and took them, and then he said to himself, 'There is
a fifth crown yet to be won: I will win that, and lay them all upon the knees
of my grandfather.'
And as he spoke, he saw where Acrisius sat, by the side of Teutamenes
the king, with his white beard flowing down upon his knees, and his royal staff
in his hand; and Perseus wept when he looked at him, for his heart yearned after
his kin; and he said, 'Surely he is a kingly old man, yet he need not be ashamed
of his grandson.' Then he took the quoits, and hurled them, five fathoms beyond
all the rest; and the people shouted, 'Further yet, brave stranger! There has
never been such a hurler in this land.'
Then Perseus put out all his strength, and hurled. But a gust of
wind came from the sea, and carried the quoit aside, and far beyond all the rest;
and it fell on the foot of Acrisius, and he swooned away with the pain. Perseus
shrieked, and ran up to him; but when they lifted the old man up he was dead,
for his life was slow and feeble. Then Perseus rent his clothes, and cast dust
upon his head, and wept a long while for his grandfather. At last he rose, and
called to all the people aloud, and said - 'The Gods are true, and what they have
ordained must be. I am Perseus, the grandson of this dead man, the far-famed slayer
of the Gorgon.'
Then he told them how the prophecy had declared that he should kill
his grandfather, and all the story of his life. So they made a great mourning
for Acrisius, and burnt him on a right rich pile; and Perseus went to the temple,
and was purified from the guilt of the death, because he had done it unknowingly.
Then he went home to Argos, and reigned there well with fair Andromeda;
and they had four sons and three daughters, and died in a good old age. And when
they died, the ancients say, Athene took them up into the sky, with Cepheus and
Cassiopoeia. And there on starlight nights you may see them shining still; Cepheus
with his kingly crown, and Cassiopoeia in her ivory chair, plaiting her star-spangled
tresses, and Perseus with the Gorgon's head, and fair Andromeda beside him, spreading
her long white arms across the heaven, as she stood when chained to the stone
for the monster. All night long, they shine, for a beacon to wandering sailors;
but all day they feast with the Gods, on the still blue peaks of Olympus.
This text is cited Feb 2003 from the Charles Kingsley's (1819 - 1875) Page URL below.
Son of Zeus and Danae, the daughter of Acrisius. A sketch of
his fabulous history has already been given under a previous article;
and it remains here but to relate the particulars of his enterprise against the
Gorgons. When Perseus had made his rash promise to Polydectes, by which he bound
himself to bring the latter the Gorgon's head, he retired full of grief to the
extremity of the island of Scyros, where Hermes came to him, promising that he
and Athene would be his guides. Hermes brought him first to the Graiae, whose
eye and tooth he stole and would not restore until they had furnished him with
directions to the abode of the nymphs who were possessed of the winged shoes,
the magic wallet, and the helmet of Pluto which made the wearer invisible. Having
obtained from the Graiae the requisite information, he came to the nymphs, who
gave him their precious possessions: he then flung the wallet over his shoulder,
placed the helmet on his head, and fitted the shoes to his feet. Thus equipped,
and grasping the short curved sword (harpe) which Hermes gave him, he mounted
into the air, accompanied by the gods, and flew to the ocean, where he found the
three Gorgons asleep. (See Gorgones.) Fearing to gaze on their faces, which changed
the beholder to stone, he looked on the head of Medusa as it was reflected on
his shield, and, Athene guiding his hand, he severed it from her body. The blood
gushed forth, and with it the winged steed Pegasus and Chrysaor, the father of
Geryon, for Medusa was at that time pregnant by Poseidon. Perseus took up the
head, put it into his wallet, and set out on his return. The two sisters awoke,
and pursued the fugitive; but, protected by the helmet of Pluto, he eluded their
vision, and they were obliged to give over the bootless chase. Perseus pursued
his aerial route, and after having, in the course of his journey, punished the
inhospitality of Atlas by changing him into a rocky mountain, he came to the country
of the Ethiopians. Here he liberated Andromeda, whom he married. He is also said
to have come to the Hyperboreans, by whom he was hospitably received. On his return
to Seriphos, he found his mother with Dictys in a temple, whither they had fled
from the violence of Polydectes. Perseus then went to the palace of Polydectes,
and metamorphosed him and all his guests, and, some say, the whole island, into
stone. He then presented the kingdom to Dictys. He gave the winged sandals and
the helmet to Hermes, who restored them to the nymphs and to Pluto, and the head
of Gorgon to Athene, who placed it in the middle of her shield or breast-plate.
Perseus then went to Argos, accompanied by Danae and Andromeda.
Acrisius, remembering the oracle, escaped to Larissa, in the country of the Pelasgians;
but Perseus followed him, in order to persuade him to return. Some writers state
that Perseus, on his return to Argos, found Proetus, who had expelled his brother
Acrisius, in possession of the kingdom; and that Perseus slew Proetus, and was
afterwards killed by Megapenthes, the son of Proetus. The more common tradition,
however, relates that when Teutamidas, king of Larissa, celebrated games in honour
of his guest Acrisius, Perseus, who took part in them, accidentally hit the foot
of Acrisius with the discus, and thus killed him. Acrisius was buried outside
the city of Larissa, and Perseus, leaving the kingdom of Argos to Megapenthes,
the son of Proetus, received from him in exchange the government of Tiryns. According
to others, Perseus remained in Argos, and successfully opposed the introduction
of the Bacchic orgies. Perseus is said to have founded the towns of Midea and
Mycenae. By Andromeda he became the father of Perses, Aicaeus, Sthenelus, Heleus,
Mestor, Electryon, Gorgophone, and Autochthe. Perseus was worshipped as a hero
in several places in Greece and even in Egypt.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
She was the daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos, and mother of Perseus by Zeus (Il. 14.319).
Danae. The daughter of Acrisius, king of Argos, by Eurydice, daughter of Lacedaemon. Acrisius inquired of the oracle about a son; and the god replied that he would himself have no male issue, but that his daughter would bear a son, whose hand would deprive him of life. Fearing the accomplishment of this prediction, he framed a brazen subterranean chamber, in which he shut up his daughter and her nurse, in order that she might never become a mother. (The Latin poets call the place of confinement a brazen tower.) But Zeus had seen and loved the maiden; and, under the form of a golden shower, he poured through the roof into her bosom. Danae became, in consequence, the mother of a son, whom she and her nurse reared in secrecy until he had attained his fourth year. Acrisius then chanced to hear the voice of the child at play. He brought out his daughter and her nurse, and, putting the latter instantly to death, drew Danae privately, with her child, to the altar of Hercean Zeus, where he made her answer on oath whose was her son. She replied that he was the offspring of Zeus. Her father gave no credit to her protestations. Enclosing her and the boy in a coffer, he cast them into the sea, at the mercy of the winds and waves, a circumstance which has afforded a subject for a beautiful lyric by the poet Simonides. The coffer was carried to the little island of Seriphus, where a person named Dictys drew it out in his nets (diktua); and, freeing Danae and Perseus from their confinement, treated them with the greatest kindness. Polydectes, the brother of Dictys, reigned over the island. He fell in love with Danae; but her son Perseus, who was now grown up, was an invincible obstacle in his way. He had, therefore, recourse to artifice to deliver himself of his presence; and, feigning that he was about to become a suitor to Hippodamia, the daughter of Oenomaus, he managed to send Perseus, who had bound himself by a rash promise, in quest of the head of the Gorgon Medusa, which he pretended that he wished for a bridal gift. When Perseus had succeeded, by the aid of Hermes, in slaying the Gorgon, he proceeded to Seriphus, where he found that his mother and Dictys had been obliged to fly to the protection of the altar from the violence of Polydectes. He immediately went to the royal residence; and when, at his desire, Polydectes had summoned thither all the people to see the head of the Gorgon, it was displayed, and each became a stone of the form and position which he exhibited at the moment of the transformation. Having established Dictys as king of Seriphus, Perseus returned with his mother to Argos; and, not finding Acrisius there, proceeded to Larissa in Thessaly, whither the latter had retired through fear of the fulfilment of the oracle. Here he inadvertently killed Acrisius.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
The daughter of Cepheus, king of Aethiopia, and Cassiopea. In consequence of her mother boasting that the beauty of her daughter surpassed that of the Nereids, Poseidon sent a sea-monster to lay waste the country. The oracle of Ammon promised deliverance if Andromeda was given up to the monster, and Cepheus was obliged to chain his daughter to a rock. Here she was found and saved by Perseus, who slew the monster and obtained her as his wife. She had been previously promised to Phineus, and this gave rise to the famous fight of Phineus and Perseus at the wedding, in which the former and all his associates were slain. After her death she was placed among the stars.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Andromeda (Andromede), a daughter of the Aethiopian king Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Her mother boasted of her beauty, and said that she surpassed the Nereids. The latter prevailed on Poseidon to visit the country by an inundation, and a sea-monster was sent into the land. The oracle of Ammon promised that the people should be delivered from these calamities, if Andromeda was given up to the monster; and Cepheus, being obliged to yield to the wishes of his people, chained Andromeda to a rock. Here she was found and saved by Perseus, who slew the monster and obtained her as his wife (Apollod. ii. 4.3; Hygin. Fab. 64; Ov. Met. iv. 663, &c.). Andromeda had previously been promised to Phineus (Hyginus calls him Agenor), and this gave rise to the famous fight of Phineus and Perseus at the wedding, in which the former and all his associates were slain (Ov. Met. v. 1, &c.). Andromeda thus became the wife of Perseus, and bore him many children (Apollod. ii. 4.5). Athena placed her among the stars, in the form of a maiden with her arms stretched out and chained to a rock, to commemorate her delivery by Perseus (Hygin. Poet. Astr. ii. 10, &c.; Eratosth. Catast. 17; Arat. Phaen. 198). Conon (Narrat. 40) gives a wretched attempt at an historical interpretation of this mythus. The scene where Andromeda was fastened to the rock is placed by some of the ancients in the neighbourhood of lope in Phoenicia, while others assign to it a place of the same name in Aethiopia. The tragic poets often made the story of Andromeda the subject of dramas, which are now lost. The moment in which she is relieved from the rock by Perseus is represented in an anaglyph still extant. (Les plus beaux Monumens de Rome, No. 63)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Quoit: invented by Perseus
Kibisis: A wallet given to Perseus by the nymphs, Medusa's head put in it.
Sickle: given to Perseus by Hermes
Cap: given to Perseus by nymphs
Winged sandals: worn by Perseus
Knielaufender: term referring to the "running" posture in Archaic art, whereby both legs are bent, with one knee on the ground and the other in the air (used especially for gorgons, Nike, and Perseus)
Gorgo. Homer makes mention of the terrible head of the Gorgon, a formidable monster (Odyss. xi. 633). This head is a terror in Hades, and in the aegis of Zeus. Hesiod speaks of three Gorgons: Stheno (Valeria, the mighty), Euryale (Lativolva, the wide-wandering), and Medusa (Guberna, the ruler). They are the daughters of the aged sea-god Phorcys and Ceto, and sisters of the Graiae. They dwell on the farthest shore of Ocean, in the neighbourhood of Night and of the Hesperides. They are awful beings, with hair and girdles of snakes, whose look turns the beholder to stone. They are also often represented with golden wings, brazen claws, and enormous teeth. Medusa is mortal, but the other two immortal. When Perseus cut off Medusa's head, Chrysaor and the winged horse Pegasus, with whom she was with child by Poseidon, sprang forth from the streaming blood. The head was given by Perseus to Athene, who set it in her shield. Heracles received a lock of the hair from Athene as a present. When endeavouring to persuade Cephalus of Tegea to take part in his expedition against Hippocoon of Sparta, the king represented that he feared an attack from his enemies the Argives in Heracles's absence. Heracles accordingly gave to Sterope, the daughter of Cephalus, the lock of Medusa's hair in a brazen urn, bidding her, in case the enemy approached, to avert her head and hold it three times over the walls, for the mere aspect of it would turn the enemy to flight. In consequence of the belief in this power of the Gorgon 's head, or Gorgoneion, to paralyze and terrify an enemy, the Greeks carved images of it in its most terrifying forms, not only on armour of all sorts, especially shields and breastplates, but also on walls and gates. Thus, on the south wall of the Athenian Acropolis, a large gilded Gorgoneion was set on an aegis (Pausan. i. 21. 4). In the popular belief the Gorgon 's head was also a means of protection against all enchantment, whether of word or act, and we thus find it throughout Greek history employed as a powerful amulet, and often carved with graceful settings on decorative furniture and costly ornaments. But the Greek artists, with their innate sense of beauty, knew, even in the case of the Gorgon , how to give adequate expression to the idea which lay at the root of the story. The story said that Medusa had been a fair maiden, whose luxuriant hair had been turned by Athene into snakes in revenge for the desecration of her sanctuary. Accordingly the head of Medusa is represented in works of art with a countenance of touching beauty, and a wealth of hair wreathed with snakes. The face was imagined as itself in the stillness of death, and thus bearing the power to turn the living to stone. The most beautiful surviving instance of this conception is the Rondanini Medusa now at Munich. The story of Medusa has suggested several fine bits of English verse, among them D. G. Rossetti's Aspecta Medusa and Hake's sonnet, The Infant Medusa.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Gorgo and Gorgones. Homer knows only one Gorgo, who, according to the Odyssey (xi. 633), was one of the frightful phantoms in Hades: in the Iliad (v. 741, viii. 349, xi. 36; comp. Virg. Aen. vi. 289), the Aegis of Athena contains the head of Gorgo, the terror of her enemies. Euripides (Ion, 989) still speaks of only one Gorgo, although Hesiod (Theoy. 278) had mentioned three Gorgones, the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto, whence they are sometimes called Phorcydes or Phorcides (Aeschyl. Prom. 793, 797; Pind. Pyth. xii. 24; Ov. Met. v. 230). The names of the three Gorgones are Stheino (Stheno or Stenusa), Euryale, and Medusa (Hes. l. c.; Apollod. ii. 4.2), and they are conceived by Hesiod to live in the Western Ocean, in the neighbourhood of Night and the Hesperides. But later traditions place them in Libya (Herod. ii. 91; Paus. ii. 21.6). They are described (Scut. Here. 233) as girded with serpents, raising their heads, vibrating their tongues, and gnashing their teeth; Aeschylus adds that they had wings and brazen claws, and enormous teeth. On the chest of Cypselus they were likewise represented with wings (Paus. v. 18.1). Medusa, who alone of her sisters was mortal, was, according to some legends, at first a beautiful maiden, but her hair was changed into serpents by Athena, in consequence of her having become by Poseidon the mother of Chrysaor and Pegasus, in one of Athena's temples (Hes. Theog. 287, &c.; Apollod. ii. 4.3; Ov. Met. iv. 792). Her head was now of so fearful an appearance, that every one who looked at it was changed into stone. Hence the great difficulty which Perseus had in killing her; and Athena afterwards placed the head in the centre of her shield or breastplate. There was a tradition at Athens that the head of Medusa was buried under a mound in the Agora (Paus. ii. 21.6, v. 12.2). Athena gave to Heracles a lock of Medusa (concealed in an urn), for it had a similar effect upon the beholder as the head itself. When Heracles went out against Lacedaemon he gave the lock of hair to Sterope, the daughter of Cepheus, as a protection of the town of Tegea, as the sight of it would put the enemy to fight (Paus. viii. 47.4; Apollod. ii. 7.3). The mythus respecting the family of Phorcys, to which also the Graeae, Hesperides, Scylla, and other fabulous beings belonged, has been interpreted in various ways by the ancients themselves. Some believed that the Gorgones were formidable animals with long hair, whose aspect was so frightful, that men were paralysed or killed by it, and some of the soldiers of Marius were believed to have thus met with their death (Athen. v. 64). Pliny (H. N. iv. 31) thought that they were a race of savage, swift, and hair-covered women; and Diodorus (iii. 55) regards them as a race of women inhabiting the western parts of Libya, who had been extirpated by Heracles in traversing Libya.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Dec 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Polydectes, brother of Dictys, was then king of Seriphus and fell
in love with Danae, but could not get access to her, because Perseus was grown
to man's estate. So he called together his friends, including Perseus, under the
pretext of collecting contributions towards a wedding gift for Hippodamia, daughter
of Oenomaus. Now Perseus having declared that he would not stick even at the Gorgon's
head, Polydectes required the others to furnish horses, and not getting horses
from Perseus ordered him to bring the Gorgon's head. So under the guidance of
Hermes and Athena he made his way to the daughters of Phorcus, to wit, Enyo, Pephredo,
and Dino; for Phorcus had them by Ceto, and they were sisters of the Gorgons,
and old women from their birth. The three had but one eye and one tooth, and these
they passed to each other in turn. Perseus got possession of the eye and the tooth,
and when they asked them back, he said he would give them up if they would show
him the way to the nymphs. Now these nymphs had winged sandals and the kibisis,
which they say was a wallet. [ But Pindar and Hesiod in The Shield say of Perseus:--
"But all his back had on the head of a dread monster, < The Gorgon,> and
round him ran the kibisis". (Hesiod, Shield of Hercules, 223-4.)
The kibisis is so called because dress and food are deposited in it. ] They had
also the cap < of Hades>.
When the Phorcides had shown him the way, he gave them back the tooth
and the eye, and coming to the nymphs got what he wanted. So he slung the wallet
(kibisis ) about him, fitted the sandals to his ankles, and put the cap on his
head. Wearing it, he saw whom he pleased, but was not seen by others. And having
received also from Hermes an adamantine sickle he flew to the ocean and caught
the Gorgons asleep. They were Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. Now Medusa alone was
mortal; for that reason Perseus was sent to fetch her head. But the Gorgons had
heads twined about with the scales of dragons, and great tusks like swine's, and
brazen hands, and golden wings, by which they flew; and they turned to stone such
as beheld them. So Perseus stood over them as they slept, and while Athena guided
his hand and he looked with averted gaze on a brazen shield, in which he beheld
the image of the Gorgon, he beheaded her. When her head was cut off, there sprang
from the Gorgon the winged horse Pegasus and Chrysaor, the father of Geryon; these
she had by Poseidon.
So Perseus put the head of Medusa in the wallet (kibisis ) and went back again;
but the Gorgons started up from their slumber and pursued Perseus: but they could
not see him on account of the cap, for he was hidden by it.
Being come to Ethiopia, of which Cepheus was king, he found the king's
daughter Andromeda set out to be the prey of a sea monster. For Cassiepea, the
wife of Cepheus, vied with the Nereids in beauty and boasted to be better than
them all; hence the Nereids were angry, and Poseidon, sharing their wrath, sent
a flood and a monster to invade the land. But Ammon having predicted deliverance
from the calamity if Cassiepea's daughter Andromeda were exposed as a prey to
the monster, Cepheus was compelled by the Ethiopians to do it, and he bound his
daughter to a rock. When Perseus beheld her, he loved her and promised Cepheus
that he would kill the monster, if he would give him the rescued damsel to wife.
These terms having been sworn to, Perseus withstood and slew the monster and released
Andromeda. However, Phineus, who was a brother of Cepheus, and to whom Andromeda
had been first betrothed, plotted against him; but Perseus discovered the plot,
and by showing the Gorgon turned him and his fellow conspirators at once into
stone. And having come to Seriphus he found that his mother and Dictys had taken
refuge at the altars on account of the violence of Polydectes; so he entered the
palace, where Polydectes had gathered his friends, and with averted face he showed
the Gorgon's head; and all who beheld it were turned to stone, each in the attitude
which he happened to have struck. Having appointed Dictys king of Seriphus, he
gave back the sandals and the wallet (kibisis ) and the cap to Hermes, but the
Gorgon's head he gave to Athena. Hermes restored the aforesaid things to the nymphs
and Athena inserted the Gorgon's head in the middle of her shield. But it is alleged
by some that Medusa was beheaded for Athena's sake; and they say that the Gorgon
was fain to match herself with the goddess even in beauty.
This extract is from: Apollodorus, Library and Epitome (ed. Sir James George Frazer, 1921). Cited Feb 2003 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
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