Mythmaking

Perseus is a mythological figure I hold especially dear due to my childhood obsession with Clash of the Titans, the film that first sparked my interest in mythology. With the arrival of August, it seems appropriate to devote some time to him as this is the month in which the spectacular Perseid meteor shower can be seen, peaking this year on the twelfth of August if you're lucky enough to live in the northern hemisphere, where the light show is the most active.

Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danaë and founder of the Perseid dynasty. This is his story:

King Acrisius of Argos had only one child, a daughter named Danaë. She was beautiful above all the other women of the land, but the King was not content because he was desperate for a son and heir. He travelled to the Oracle of Delphi, where he was told by the Pythia that not only would he would never be the father of a boy, his daughter would have a son who would kill him.

In an attempt to escape his fate, he tried to ensure that Danaë would not have any children. He imprisoned her in a house built of bronze and sunk underground. He hoped that in this way she would not come into contact with anyone and so he would not have to kill her, thus sparing his own life.

However, Zeus, King of the Gods, learned of Danae's existance and fell in love with her. In the form of a shower of gold he fell sparkling into the bronze chamber and impregnated her. She gave birth to Perseus thereafter; "Perseus Eurymedon, for by that name his mother called him also", writes Apollonius Rhodius in the Argonautica, 'Eurymodeon' translating as 'far ruling'.

For a time she tried to conceal the child from her father, but the narrow limits of the bronze house made it increasingly difficult and soon Perseus was discovered by his grandfather. Acrisius was very angry but was afraid to kill the boy or his mother because he feared Zeus. Instead, he had a great chest made, placed the two in it and cast it into the sea in the hope that they might drift away to shores so distant that he would never see them again. Zeus learned of Acrisius's plan and instructed Poseidon to protect the chest. Thus, rather than heading for open and more dangerous waters, the tiny boat drifted to the island of Seriphos, the realm of Polydectes. There, Danae and Perseus were saved by Dictys, a fisherman and brother of the King. They lived there for many years, Danaë being content to let her son follow the fisherman's humble trade, but in the end more trouble came.

Polydectes, the king, fell in love with Danaë, but he wanted only her and not her son, who was now a strong, handsome and courageous young man. He set himself to think of a way of getting rid of Perseus; he spoke with him and told him that there was nothing he would rather have than the head of Medusa, the Gorgon. He announced that he was to be married and called his friends and subjects to the celebration. Each guest customarily brought the bride to be a gift, except Perseus who wasn't aware of the custom. Mortified, he stood and declared that he would go off and kill Medusa and bring back her head as his gift. This was exactly what the king had planned. Polydectes fully expected Perseus never to return alive.

Perseus sailed off to Greece to learn where the Gorgons were to be found. As he wandered, he met Hermes and Athena. The goddess Athena took off her shield of polished bronze and gave it to him. She told him he would be able to see Medusa in it as in a mirror and so avoid her deadly power. Hermes allowed Perseus the use of his winged sandals so he would be able to fly to the island where Medusa lived with her sisters, and he crafted an adamantine sword that would cut through the Gorgon's neck with one blow.

The deities told Perseus that to find the island of the Gorgons, he must consult the nymphs of the North. To find the nymph's abode, he must go to the land of the Graeae, where all was dim and shrouded in twilight. These three crone sisters were grey and withered as in extreme age. They had but one eye for the three, which they would take turns with, each removing it from her forehead after she had used it for a time and then handing it to another. Hermes told Perseus to remain hidden until one of them took their eye out of their forehead to pass it on. At that moment, he would rush forward and seize the eye and refuse to give it back until they told him how to reach the nymphs of the North.

When he found the Graeae, Perseus carried out Hermes' plan and was successful in learning where the nymphs of the North lived. And so he now was bound for the country of the Hesperides. No one had ever been able to reach their land, but wearing the winged sandals, the road was open to Perseus. There he found the Hesperidae banqueting and holding joyful revelry. They welcomed him kindly and gave him gifts of the helm of Hades, which made the wearer invisible and the Kibisis, a bag into which he could place the head of Medusa. Finally, they also told him how to get to the island of the Gorgons.

Perseus thanked the Hesperidae and flew back across the ocean and over the sea to the island. The Gorgons were asleep when Perseus found them. In the mirror of the shield, he saw a creature with great wings, a body covered with golden scales and hair a mass of twisting snakes. Perseus approached the sleeping Medusa backwards, watching her reflection in Athena's shield. When he could hear her breath and the hissing of the serpents in her hair, he drew his sword and with one blow swiftly decapitated her. As her blood flowed, the winged horse Pegasus and the giant Chrysaor, offspring from Medusa's coupling with Poseidon, sprang from her neck. The other two Gorgons were unsurprisingly awoken by the clamour and were horrified at the sight of their slain sister. They tried to pursue the slayer, but Perseus had on the helm of Hades and they could not see him.

After the slaughter of Medusa, Perseus, bearing her head, flew far and wide, over land and sea. As night came on, he reached the western limit of the earth where the sun goes down. Here he would gladly have rested till morning. It was the realm of King Atlas whose bulk surpassed that of all other men. He was rich in flocks and herds and had no neighbour or rival to dispute his state. His chief pride was in his gardens whose fruit was of gold, hanging from golden branches, half hid with golden leaves. Perseus said to him, "I come as a guest. If you honour illustrious descent, I claim Zeus for my father; if mighty deeds, I plead the conquest of the Gorgon. I seek rest and food." But Atlas remembered that an ancient prophecy had warned him that a son of Zeus should one day rob him of his golden apples. So he answered, "Begone! or neither your false claims of glory nor parentage shall protect you!" and he attempted to thrust him out. Perseus, finding the giant too strong for him turned his face away and held up the Gorgon's head. Atlas, with all his bulk, was changed into stone. His beard and hair became forests, his arms and shoulders cliffs, his head a summit, and his bones rocks. Each part increased in bulk until he became a mountain, and, such was the pleasure of the gods, heaven with all its stars rests upon his shoulders.

Perseus continued on his journey and eventually arrived at the country of the Aethiopians, of which Cepheus was king. Cassiopeia, his queen, proud of her beauty, had dared to compare herself to the sea-nymphs, the Nereids, which roused their indignation to such a degree that they sent a prodigious monster, Ceto, to ravage the coast. Cepheus consulted the oracle in order to find out how to appease the sea-nymphs and was directed to expose his daughter Andromeda as a sacrifice to be devoured by the monster. Perseus offered to kill Ceto on the condition that he be allowed to marry Andromeda, should she be spared. The king and queen agreed and Perseus turned Ceto to stone, using the head of Medusa. Perseus married Andromeda and returned to Seriphos with her

When he returned to the island where he was raised, he found no one. Dictys and Danaë had fled from the furious Polydectes when she refused to marry him. They had taken refuge in the temple. The king was having a banquet at the palace, and Perseus seized the opportunity. He walked into the palace and took out the head of Medusa and all the guests and the King were turned into stone.

Having completed his tasks, Perseus returned his magical gifts to their owners and gifted the head of Medusa to Athena, who set it in her shield. He made Dictys king of the island of Sephiros whilst he and his mother returned with Andromeda to Greece to reconcile with Acrisius.

When they reached Argos, they discovered that Acrisius had been driven away. Perseus heard that the King of Larissa was holding a great athletic banquet and he journeyed to take part. In the discus-throwing competition, when his turn came and he hurled the heavy missile, it swerved and fell among the spectators. Acrisius, who was amongst the crowd, was struck by the discus and killed instantly. The oracle was fulfilled. Having killed Acrisius, Perseus was now entitled to the throne of Argos, but his grief and shame at killing the king prevented him from accepting the honour. Instead, he gave the kingdom to Megapenthes, nephew of Acrisius, in exchange for Megapenthes' kingdom of Tiryns.

Perseus and Andromeda had seven sons and two daughters. They eventually took up official residence in Mycenae, where they lived happily until their deaths, when they were placed amongst the stars.

"...to perpetuate the story of his courage, I command that from henceforth, he will be set among the stars and constellations. He, Perseus, the lovely Andromeda, the noble Pegasus, and even the vain Cassiopeia. Let the stars be named after then forever. As long as man shall walk the Earth and search the night sky in wonder, they will remember the courage of Perseus forever. Even if we, the gods, are abandoned or forgotten, the stars will never fade. Never. They will burn till the end of the time."

--Zeus, Clash of the Titans

Labels: clash of the titans, greek, mythology, perseids, perseus