Perseus
Of all of the Greek heroes, Perseus was one of the most celebrated. His mother was Danae and she was locked in a bronze chamber by her father, Akrisios (also known as Acrisius), and while there, she was impregnated by Zeus, in the form of a golden shower. Akrisios then put Danae and her son, Perseus, in a chest and set them adrift in the sea. The chest washed ashore on the island of Seriphos.
When Perseus was grown, King Polydektes, commanded that Perseus bring back the head of Medousa. With the help of the gods, Perseus got an invisible helmet, magical sword, and winged sandals. Then he stole the single eye of the Graiai (three ancient hags), and they told him where to find the Gorgones. Perseus approached the Medousa when she was asleep and beheaded her. On his way back to the king in Greece, with the head of Medousa, he came upon the princess, Andromeda, and she was chained to the rocks as a sacrifice to a sea monster. Perseus killed the monster and rescued the girl. He then brought her back to Greece as his bride. On the island of Seriphos, Perseus turned king Polydektes to stone. Then he traveled to his grandfather’s kingdom to claim the throne. The old man fled and was later accidentally killed by Perseus at a game with a discus which went astray.
Perseus was a famous Argive hero. He was not only the son of Zeus and Danae, but he was the grandson of Acrisius. Persius is sometimes called Chrusopatros or Aurigena, because of the way he was conceived. It seems that Zeus morphed himself into a golden shower and came down through the roof of the chamber. Acrisius had put his daughter in the chamber because he did not want her to bear a son. He stated that if she ever had a son, he would kill his father. Zeus was the one that caused the chest containing Danae and Perseus to land on the island of Seriphos. Seriphos was one of the Cyclade islands. Dictys, who was a fisherman, found them and took them to his brother, king Polydectes. Another version of the story says that the chest was carried to the coast of Italy and king Pilumnus married Danae. The main story says that king Polydectes, king of Seriphos, made Danae his slave. The king it seems, was interested in Danae but she didn’t want any relationship with him, so the king sent Perseus away, with the thoughts of gaining possession of Danae. Another story says that the king married Danae and sent Perseus off to get the head of Medousa to give to Danae as a wedding gift.
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