Classical Mythology.tk

Acrisius was the king of Argos.  He had one daughter named Danaë but Acrisius wanted a son who would eventually succeed his throne.  He travelled to Apollo’s oracle at Delphi and asked who was to be the future king.  The oracle brought him bad news: he wouldn’t have a son but Danaë would and that boy would be responsible for his own death.  He considered killing his own daughter Danaë to avoid his fate but he feared the gods.  He would surely be punished by them if he did so.  He decided that he wouldn’t kill his daughter but lock her in a high bronze tower so she could not see any men!

Meanwhile, somewhere on the other side of ancient Greece there lived an old sea god named Phorcys.  Phorcys was married to his sister Ceto and they had many children.  Three of their children looked like old hags with had grey hair.  This trio was known as the Graiae, or gray women.  You will hear more about them later.  Three other daughters were named Euryale, Stheno and Medusa.  This trio was known as the Gorgons.  Euryae and Stheno were ugly, winged, scaled creatures with snakes for hair and one look at them could turn you to stone.  They also had large snake’s tongues and long sharp teeth.  The only mortal of the three, Medusa, was a beautiful young girl known for her curly blond hair.  Medusa was a very happy girl for she was dating the magnificent god of the sea, Poseidon himself.  One night, unfortunately, they made the mistake of sleeping together in Athena’s temple.  Athena was not happy with Medusa.  Medusa had not only slept in Athena’s palace but people were comparing Medusa’s beauty with that of Athena.  Athena did not like to be challenged so turned Medusa into the same hideous monster her sisters were.

Princess Danaë was locked away, lonely in the tower.  One day a golden shower sprinkled her.  This “golden shower” was really the all-powerful Zeus in disguise.  Before she knew it she was pregnant with a boy who she named Perseus.  Acrisius didn’t believe her at first and thought his brother Proetus, whom Acrisius was always fighting with, had seduced his daughter.  Eventually he came to the truth and was furious so he locked Danaë and the baby Perseus in a chest and flung it out to sea!  Zeus, with the help of Poseidon guided the chest safely to the island of Seriphus.  Dictys the kind fisherman opened it and found Danaë and Perseus.  Dictys welcomed them and hid them from his evil brother, King Polydectes, for many years.  However Polydectes found them and wanted Danaë as his wife.  Perseus grew to a young man and he and his mother delayed the wedding, for Danaë did not want to marry Polydectes.  Polydectes wanted Perseus out of the way and told him to fetch the head of Medusa.  Polydectes thought this would be an excellent wedding gift and Perseus agreed.  Nobody had ever lived trying to kill Medusa. 

Athena was a sworn enemy of Medusa and decided to aid Perseus.  She brought Hermes with her.  Hermes gave Perseus the invincible sickle of adamant (this was the same sickle that Cronus used to castrate Ouranos) in which he would use to behead Medusa.  Athena gave him a shield in which he would look into while decapitating Medusa, so to not really look at her.  Hermes and Athena told Perseus that he must seek out the Graeae first in his quest to find the Gorgon Medusa.  Perseus arrived at the realm of the Graeae.  The Graeae were old women who had had grey hair since the day of their birth.  The Graeae had only one eye and one tooth between them which they shared in shifts.  As one of them took out their eye and tooth to pass to her sister, Perseus snatched the eye and tooth.  They argued about who had the eye and tooth and then Perseus spoke.  He told them to tell him where the nymphs live.  They did not tell him immediately for they had made a promise to the Gorgons.  Perseus threatened to take away the eye and tooth forever.  They told him where the nymphs lived. 

Athena, Hermes and Perseus travelled to the land of the nymphs.  The nymphs gave Perseus some important instruments.  They gave him a magical wallet that could change its size to fit anything inside, namely the head of Medusa.  Hades had given his helmet of invisibility to the nymphs to lend to Perseus so that he would be unseen when he would attack Medusa.  He was also given some winged sandals called Talaria, quite resembling those of Hermes, so he could fly.  Hermes and Athena said farewell to Perseus and he was on his way to the cave of the Gorgons.  Perseus flew over the sea and soon was floating over the Gorgons’ lair.  Luckily the three Gorgon sisters were sleeping.  Wearing his cap of invisibility and his winged sandals, Perseus looked into Athena’s shield and decapitated Medusa.  Medusa’s headless body shook and started banging around and the other two Gorgons awoke.  They started screaming and tried to find the bandit who had beheaded their mortal sister.  Perseus flew away and put the terrible head in the magic wallet for safekeeping.  From Medusa’s blood sprung, fully grown, the winged horse Pegasus and the hero Chrysaor.  Pegasus and Chrysaor’s father is Poseidon.

King Cepheus of Joppa, Ethiopia was married to Cassiopeia.  They had one daughter named Andromeda.  Andromeda was soon to be wedded to Phineas, who happened to be Andromeda’s uncle.  Cassiopeia boasted that she and Andromeda were more beautiful than the Nereids.  This angered Poseidon and he flooded the city and sent a carnivorous female sea-monster named Cetus to attack Philistia, the capital of Joppa.  Cepheus consulted the oracle of the horned god Ammon.  The oracle told him the only way to save his kingdom was to sacrifice Andromeda to the monster.  Cepheus did not want to do this, but he figured that he must.  He chained Andromeda to a rock near the sea, for her to be devoured.  Perseus was on his way back to Seriphus.  He flew by the Titan Atlas.  Atlas was suspicious of Perseus.  Perseus showed him the head of Medusa and Atlas was turned into a stone mountain.  While flying over Ethiopia, Perseus saw a beautiful young, naked woman chained to a rock.  Perseus instantly fell in love with the girl, whose name you have probably guessed is Andromeda.  He saw the king and queen watching anxiously and asked what the situation was.  They told him the story and said that if he could kill the sea-monster, Andromeda would be given to him in marriage.  Perseus flew in, angrily, with the sword in one hand and the head of Medusa in his other.  The monster saw Perseus’ reflection in the sea and it attacked the water.  Perseus beheaded the sea-monster and then turned her body to stone.  Perseus untied Andromeda, washed his bloody hands and sacrificed a calf, a cow and a bull to Hermes, Athena and Zeus, respectively.

Andromeda begged her parents for the wedding to take place right then and there.  They accepted.  However the wedding was interrupted when Andromeda’s former fiancé, Cepheus’ twin brother, Phineas showed up, unhappy and demanding Andromeda as his wife.  Cepheus and Cassiopeia concluded that Phineas held priority and decided that Perseus must die.  Perseus had to face Phineas and his two hundred-man army.  Perseus managed to kill off a few, but resolved to bring out the head of Medusa.  Andromeda, Cepheus and Cassiopeia turned away and Phineas and his men were turned to stone.  The wedding proceeded and Perseus and Andromeda were soon husband and wife.  Perseus soon returned to the island of Seriphus and arrived at Polydectes’ palace.  He announced to Polydectes and his servants that he had succeeded in capturing the Gorgon’s head.  He shouted to Danaë, Dictys and Andromeda to close their eyes and Perseus brought out from his wallet, The Gorgon’s Head.  The fate of Polydectes and his servants was the same as Atlas, Phineas and his army, and that of Cetus’ the sea-monsters beheaded body, being instantly turned to stone.  Perseus and Andromeda's wedding followed.

Perseus returned the bronze shield to Athena and she placed the head of Medusa on her shield.  He also returned the sword to Hermes, and Perseus gave the wallet, the helmet of invisibility and the winged sandals for him to return to the nymphs.  With the help of Perseus, Dictys became the new king of Seriphus.  Perseus, Danaë, Andromeda and a group of Cyclopes set sail for Argos.  Acrisius had heard his grandson and future murderer was coming, so he went into hiding in Pelasgian Larissa, a nearby city.  Perseus came back only to discover that his grandfather had fled and Perseus’ great-uncle Proetus had seized power at Argos.  Perseus killed Proetus and continued his search for the former King Acrisius.  Coincidently, Perseus had been invited to some funeral games in Larissa, King Teutamides was holding for his father.  Perseus competed in the fivefold contest.  In one of the competitions, the discus-throw, Perseus threw the discus and the gods guided it through the wind where it hit an old man in the crowd in either the foot or head.  That man fell to the ground, dead.  That man was….. Acrisius.  The prophecy had been fulfilled!  Perseus was struck with grief and he buried Acrisius near Athena’s temple.  Not wishing to rule a kingdom which he had unintentionally gained through unintentional murder, he worked out an agreement with Megapenthes, the son of Proetus, and new king of Tiryns.  Megapenthes would rule Argos and Perseus and Andromeda would rule Tiryns.  Perseus fortified the city of Midea and founded Mycenae.  The Cyclopes built the city walls of Mycenae.  King Perseus and Queen Andromeda of Tiryns, Mycenae and Midea lived a happy life and had many children.  The children’s’ names were Sthenelus, Perses, Gorgophone, Alcaeus, Heleus, Mestor and Electryon, the grandfather of the greatest Greek hero of all time, Herakles.  Perseus was eventually killed by Dionysus, the great god of wine, for reasons unknown.  Perseus, Andromeda, Cepheus, Cassiopeia and Cetus were set among the stars as constellations by Athena and Poseidon.

Andromeda is Perseus’ great-great-great-grandfather’s cousin.