Perseus. The son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Danaë, Perseus was the hero of several interrelated myths. Because of a prophecy that he would be killed by his grandson, Danaë’s father, King Acrisius, had locked the girl in a tower (or underground chamber) to keep her chaste, but she was impregnated by Zeus in the form of a golden shower. When the child was born, Acrisius set mother and son afloat in a chest. They drifted to the island of Seriphus, where the king, Polydectes, offered them protection. Polydectes fell in love with Danaë, but she spurned his advances. Thinking that Perseus was an impediment to his union with Danaë, Polydectes sent the young man on a mission to secure the head of the Gorgon Medusa, in the expectation that he would be killed. However, with the assistance of the gods Athena (Minerva) and Hermes (Mercury), Perseus succeeded.

   On his way back to Seriphus, according to Ovid, Perseus turned Atlas into a stone mountain after being slighted by the Titan. He also saved the Ethiopian princess Andromeda, whom he married after turning another suitor, Phineus, into stone with the power of the Gorgon’s head. Upon reaching home, Perseus rescued his mother from Polydectes and took the throne.

   Perseus later left his brother (or uncle) Dictys in command of the island and sailed to his native Argos. Invited to Larissa to participate in funeral games, he came upon his grandfather, Acrisius. During the games, Perseus accidentally killed Acrisius with an errant discus throw, thus fulfilling the prophecy. Although heir to his grandfather’s throne, Perseus chose instead to go to Asia, where Perses, his son by Andromeda, became the ruler of the Persians. In another version of the myth, Perseus traded the rule of Argos for that of Tiryns and founded Mycenae.

   Perseus’s story was in wide currency by Homer’s time. Aeschylus wrote a tetralogy on the hero, and it is known that Sophocles and Euripides each wrote an Andromeda; all of these plays are lost. In post-classical art Perseus is often depicted with his trophy, Medusa’s head, or riding the winged horse Pegasus.


Listings are arranged under the following headings:

   Perseus and Medusa and Perseus and Andromeda; and see also Danaë.