Perseus

Perseus (written in the Greek Alphabet as Περσεύς) is one of the most renowned heroes of Greek Mythology. According to legend, he is the founder of Mycenae (an ancient leader of the Mycenaean Greeks who took Troy from the hands of King Priam, and who assumed control of Crete after the fall of the Minoans).

The deeds of Perseus are legend — literally. He is said to have killed the Gorgon Medusa, and married an Ethiopian princess named Andromeda after he rescued her from the sea monster Cetus. Alongside Greek heroes Cadmus and Bellerophon, Perseus was the greatest hero and monster-killer of the Greeks in the age before Hercules. [1]

Perseus was born to a mortal princess named Danaë, the daughter of the King of Argos. However, Perseus father was no mortal man. According to legend his father was Zeus. [1]

Since Zeus was the father to both Herakles and Perseus, they are half-brothers through their divine lineage. However, the mother of Hercules was the granddaughter of Perseus, making Perseus his great-grandfather. [1]

Birth & Early Life

Origins of the Name

The origins of the name Perseus itself, are obscure. The name is not a Greek name (even though those of his mother, wife, and home town are all Greek). There are some who believe that the name descends into Greek from Proto-Indo-European language.

However, another interesting theory and connection is between the name of Perseus and Persis — the ancestral homeland of the Persian people and the name that they refer to themselves as. The Greeks themselves called them the Pérsai (from Old Persian Pārsa).

There is a possibility that Perseus and the tribe around him, in addition to founding the city of Mycenae (according to legend) could have potentially migrated from further east into the Greek sphere of influence even earlier, branching from another Indo-European people: the Persians of Ancient Iran.

The Birth of Perseus

King Acrisius of Argos once consulted the Oracle at Delphi for divine guidance from the gods because he was not given a male heir. His only child was a daughter, by the name of Danaë.

However, the knowledge that he was given did not allay his fears. The oracle told King Acrisius that he would be killed by his own grandson. To prevent this from taking place, he had only one path forwards: to prevent his daughter from bearing a child.

King Acrisius locked Danaë at the top of a bronze tower in his palace courtyard, barring all entry to see his daughter. Unfortunately, the will of kings is nothing compared to the will of the gods. For Zeus found a way to visit Danaë anyways. He came to her as a shower of gold, and fathered her child, who would be named “Perseus Eurymedon.” [1]

In his fear — but with enough wisdom to fear the gods more — he could not outright kill Danaë and Perseus. So he set them afloat in a wooden chest on the turbulent Mediterranean, where they washed up on the shores of the island of Seriphus. On the island they were taken in by the fisherman Dictys, who raised Perseus to manhood, while Dictys’ brother Polydictys was the king of the island. [1]

The Deeds of Perseus — Perseus In Myth

Perseus and Medusa