Live Your Myths

Greek Myth | Perseus and Medusa

Perseus's path, similar to many heroes in Greek mythology, was set before he was even born. His grandfather, Acrisius, the king of Argos, was told by the oracle of Delphi, that his grandson would one day end the king's life. Naturally, King Acrisius was concerned as any believer in the oracle would be. His first step was to prevent his daughter, Danae, from becoming pregnant in the first place. He went so far as to imprison Danae in an underground chamber. However, as so often seems to happen in these stories, this did not stop the mighty Zeus from impregnating the young woman. Danae later gave birth to Perseus.

Despite Zeus's track record with mortal women, King Acrisius did not believe Perseus was the god's child. The king locked his daughter and new grandson in a chest, then threw the chest into the ocean. He was undoubtedly quite certain that he had solved his imminent death issue. But alas, this was not to be so. Once the pair washed up on the shores of Serifos Island, they were rescued and adopted by the brother of Polydectes, who adopted them. Polydectes was the king of the island, which is a very important relationship indeed as the story progresses. Perseus seemed to have issues with the kings in his life.

Danae's beauty was great enough to catch the eye of Zeus, and also the eye of King Polydectes. But Perseus, now a handsome, strong young man, as well as a demi-god, was in the king's way. He could not marry Danae until he disposed of her son. So he sent Perseus on an impossible task: to retrieve the head of Medusa the Gorgon.

There are different versions of how Medusa came to look the way she did. The commonalities between them are as follows: she was a Gorgon, she had snakes for hair, and if you looked at her you turned to stone. The following is probably the most common Medusa origin story.

Medusa was one of the three Gorgon sisters. She was a mortal while the other two, Stheno and Euryale, were immortal. The sisters were incredibly beautiful, and Poseidon was madly in love with Medusa. The sisters' reptilian fate is most often attributed to one of two reasons. Medusa spurned Poseidon's advances, and he in turn cursed the sisters to have snakes for hair, or Poseidon acted improperly with Medusa in Athena's temple, and Athena then cursed the sisters. Either way, it ended poorly for the three women, and it was only going to end really badly for Medusa. 

In order for Perseus to complete his task and save his mother, he needed help from the gods. So he beseeched Athena and Hermes for their aid. Simply reaching the Gorgons was a nearly impossible task as they lived at the end of the world. The two gods and the nymphs gave him winged sandals, a cap of invisibility, a sword, and a mirrored shield.

With these tools, he reached the cave where the Gorgon's lived and cleaved Medusa's snaky head from her body. When drops of her blood fell to the ground, two new creatures appeared.

Pegasus, a winged horse, and Chrysaor, either a winged boar or a giant. Gory prize in hand, he flew back to deliver it to King Plolydectes. The king was turned to stone along with his supporters, and his mother was safe. Perseus eventually gave Medusa's head to Athena.

Mother and son traveled back to Argos where our story began. Perseus accidentally killed his grandfather, King Acrisius, by striking him with a discus. And the prophecy told by the oracle of Delphi was fulfilled. 

Perseus is the 24th largest constellation. It is best known for the annual Perseid meteor shower.

Our hero Perseus went on to rescue and marry the beautiful Princess Andromeda. They had nine children.

Medusa is the Greek and Spanish word for jellyfish. This is due to the long tentacles reaching out from their bodies. Just like Medusa's hair.