Perseus, however, could not afford a gift and when he arrived to the wedding empty-handed, Polydectes rebuked him; this angered Perseus and he boadly proclaimed that he would bring the king anything else he wanted and Polydectes then demanded that Perseus bring him the head of the Gorgon Medusa. The son of Zeus was woefully unprepared for the task at hand, and considered abandoning the quest until Hermes and Athena appeared before him.
The two gods advised Perseus to seek out the Gray Sisters , as they would be able to tell him were Medusa was located. The three beings each shared one tooth and one eye between them and so Perseus snatched the eye, promising to return it only if they told him of Medusa's whereabouts. They did and having discovered her location, Perseus set out to face the dreaded creature, though not before the two deities gave him some additional help — Hermes loaned Perseus his sword and his winged sandals , and Athena gave the demigod a bronze shield , its surface having been polished so that he might use it to avoid Medusa's gaze.
Other items included a replica of Hades ' Helm of Darkness , which rendered whoever wore it invisible, and a bag which he could safely store Medusa's head in. Now that he was properly armed, Perseus made his way to Medusa's island, which lay at the westernmost edge of the world. There he found the monster asleep in her cave and, using the polished surface of his shield to observe her reflection, he swiftly cut off Medusa's head, stuffing it into his bag; from the blood that poured out from the wound, two creatures, Pegasus and Chrysaor , sprang forth.
Medusa's sisters, Stheno and Euryale , were alerted by the noise and gave chase, but the hero escaped them, the helmet that he was wearing having rendered him invisible. On his way back to Seriphos, Perseus soared over the kingdom of Aethiopia, where he spotted a girl chained to a rock by the shore. Curious, Perseus flew down and asked the girl her name and why she had been chained; her name, she said, was Andromeda, and her mother, Queen Cassiopeia, had boasted that Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids , which incited the wrath of Poseidon , who sent a sea monster to ravage their kingdom as punishment.
In order to free the kingdom of this plight, Andromeda was chained to a rock by the shore so that she might be offered as a sacrifice to the monster in order to appease Poseidon.
Perseus vowed to slay the sea monster, however, and did just that, after which he freed Andromeda. Dictys was a son of Magnes and a naiad nymph, brother of Polydectes. Magnes being a son of Aeolus , would make Dictys and Polydectes Aeolids. Polydectes wanted to marry her, but did not want or like her son, Perseus.
Polydectes invited Perseus to a celebration. Perseus, who brought no gift, rashly promised to the king that he would give any gift that the king wished.
Perseus readily agreed. Only later, did Perseus realising the depth of his promise, founded that his task was seemingly all but impossible. Sources Library , written by Apollodorus. Metamorphoses was written by Ovid. Fabulae was written by Hyginus. Theogony was written by Hesiod. Shield of Heracles was possibly written by Hesiod.
Genealogy: House of Perseus. Even if Perseus managed to kill Medusa, the other two Gorgons would fall upon him before he could escape. Athena directed him to a cave the Libya, where two hags some say three , known as the Graeae , who shared a single eye and a single tooth. Perseus had to snatch the eye as they passed them, forcing the hags to tell where to find weapons to defeat the Gorgons.
The Graeae told him of the whereabouts of the nymphs. The nymphs readily aided Perseus in his quest, giving him a magic bag kibisis , a pair of winged sandals and the cap of invisibility. The god Hermes gave him either a sickle of adamant. Note that this adamantine sickle was probably the same one that the Titan Cronus had used against his father Uranus , and that Zeus had to fight against the monster Typhon ; see the Creation.
Perseus found their lair, surrounded by people and animal that had turned into stone. Invisible, Perseus watches them through the reflection of the shield and waited until the Gorgons were asleep. Avoiding the two immortal Gorgons, Perseus crept up to Medusa and severed her head from her body. Snatching the head and placing it in the magic bag, Perseus quickly flew away, as the other two Gorgons awoken, but could not see their attacker, therefore not being able pursue him.
Related Articles Athena , Hermes , Poseidon. Gorgons , Medusa , Graeae , Pegasus , Chrysaor. Some accounts have it that Perseus fought the monster and killed Cetus with his sickle. Others say that he turned the creature into stone by displaying the head of Medusa to the monster. At this point, Cepheus and Cassiopeia had left the court to avoid confrontation and taking side. In the meanwhile, King Polydectes began to be inflamed by passion for Danae, who was still a charming lady although many years had passed since her youth.
Danae, however, did not wish this marriage. So he decided to set up a plan to get rid of this annoying youth. He challenged Perseus to dare a difficult task, to kill the fearsome Gorgon Medusa and bring back her head. Gorgon Medousa was a terrible monster with snakes in her head and she could turn into stone everyone that looked her face. By killing Medousa, Perseus would prove his braveness, as fits to the son of Zeus. Polydectes was sure that Perseus would not survive this dangerous task.
What Polydectes had not known was that Perseus was beloved by the gods. To help him, god Hermes gave him a curved sword and a pair of winged sandals other versions of the myth say that Hermes did not give Perseus a pair of winged sandals but a white winged horse while Athena gave him a mirror of polished bronze and a cap from Hades that could make invisible anyone who would wear it.
With these divine aids, Perseus started his long journey to the cave of Medousa, somewhere in Africa. He indeed found lying in her deep cave. Since he was wearing the winged sandals, he could fly around her and since he was wearing the magical cap of Hades, he was invisible.
In order to avoid looking Medousa directly to her face and thereby being turned into a stone, Perseus approached Medousa looking at her reflection in the mirror and cut off her head with the sword of Hermes. So easily then, the brave and intelligent Perseus managed to complete this difficult task! As he was flying over Africa in his return home, Perseus encountered Atlas the Titan, a mythical giant, who challenged him. In their confrontation, Perseus used Medousa's head to turn the Titan into stone.
Perseus continued his journey home and, as he passed the kingdom of Ethiopia, he came upon the beautiful and helpless maiden Andromeda, chained to the rocks waiting to be devoured by a sea monster. The beautiful Andromeda was the daughter of the Ethiopian king Cepheus and queen Cassiopeia. One day, the vain queen had bragged that her daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids, the sea nymphs.
The sea nymphs fell angry to hear that and complained to Poseidon, the god of the sea. A furious Poseidon unleashed the sea monster Cetus to frequently ravage the coast and devastate the land of Ethiopia in order to avenge the insult to his wards, the Nereids. The desperate king Cephus appealed Zeus, who suggested the sacrifice of Andromeda as the only way to appease the wrathful Poseidon.
Thus it was that our hero Perseus found himself face to face with the beautiful Andromeda chained helplessly onto the rocks, awaiting her doom. Perseus immediately fell in love with the lovely maiden and promptly killed Cetus the beast, who had been licking his lips at the prospect of having a delicious meal.
Perseus took Andromeda to her father Cepheus and asked for her hand in marriage. This infuriated Andromeda's uncle Phineus, to whom the maiden was already promised. During the ensuing quarrel, Perseus turned Phineus into a stone by showing him the head of the Gorgon Medousa. A happily married Perseus returned to the island of Serifos with his wife, Andromeda, only to find Polydectes still pursuing his unwilling mother, Danae.
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