Perseus (1365-c. 1285 BC) was a legendary Ancient Greek hero and the founder of Mycenae. He famously slew the monsters Medusa and Cetus, and he was the half-brother (through Zeus) and great-grandfather of Heracles.
Biography[]
Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danae, the daughter of King Acrisius of Argos; his name means "sacker of cities". After the Oracle of Delphi warned Acrisius that he would one day be killed by his daughter's son, Acrisius had Danae imprisoned in a bronze chamber, open only to the sky; Zeus proceeded to impregnate her with a shower of gold, and she gave birth to Perseus. Acrisius had the two cast into the sea in a wooden chest, and they washed ashore on Seriphos and were taken in by the fisherman Dictys, who raised Perseus to manhood; he was the nephew of King Polydectes. Polydectes later became attracted to Danae, in spite of Perseus' opposition; as a result, when Perseus was unable to provide a horse as a gift to Polydectes during a festival in 1344 BC, Polydectes ordered Perseus to retrieve the head of the gorgon Medusa as a fitting substitute. Athena gifted Perseus a knapsack, Zeus a sword, Hades a helm of darkness, and Hermes winged sandals to fly, and Perseus entered the Gorgons' cave and slew Medusa as she slept, using his polished shield's reflection to look upon Medusa without turning to stone. Perseus then escaped the other Gorgons under his helm of darkness, and, when Atlas refused to show Perseus hospitality, Perseus turned Atlas to stone by showing him Medusa's severed head.
On his way home to Seriphos, Perseus stopped in Aethiopia, ruled by King Cepheus and his wife Queen Cassiopeia. After Cassiopeia boasted that her daughter was as beautiful as the Nereids, Poseidon sent the sea monster Cetus to ravage Aethiopia, and the oracle of Ammon prophesied that no relief would be found unless Andromeda was sacrificed. Perseus slew the monster and claimed Andromeda in marriage, and he turned her former betrothed Phineus to stone with Medusa's head after Phineus started a fight at their wedding. Andromeda then followed Perseus to Tiryns in Argos, and she gave birth to Perses, Heleus, Alcaeus, Stheneleus of Mycenae, Electryon, Mestor, Cynurus, Gorgophone, and Autocthe. On his return home, Perseus found that his mother had been subjected to Polydectes' violent advances, so he turned Polydectes to stone with Medusa's head and made his uncle Dictys, Danae's consort, king.
Perseus then returned his magical loans, gifting Medusa's head to Athena. Perseus then attended the funeral games of King Teutamides' father in Larissa in 1341 BC, and he accidentally struck and killed his grandfather Acrisius with a metal ring while competing in the ring-toss sport. Rather than inherit the Argive throne, Perseus gave the throne to Proteus' son Megapenthes, as he was ashamed to have become king through death. He went on to found the city of Mycenae on the road to Argos, and he founded Amandra (later Iconion, now Konya) in Anatolia before founding the city of Tarsus at the site of his city over the Cilicians (tarsos means the flat of one's foot in Greek).
Perseus was then said to have conquered the Medes and renamed their country to Persia, where he taught the magi about the Gorgon and taught the Persians to worship fire. Later in his life, circa 1285 BC, Perseus went to war and used Medusa's head in battle, but the nearly-blind Perseus accidentally turned the head to face himself, turning himself to stone; his son Merros went on to burn the head.
In a later myth, in 422 BC, Kassandra the Eagle Bearer was tasked by Hades with recruiting four heroes to guard the gates to the Underworld after slaying Cerberus. One of these heroes was Perseus, who resided in a recreation of the Gorgon's lair in the Scorched Lands. Kassandra fought Perseus and defeated him, despite Perseus' use of his gifts, tasking the Argive with guarding the Gate of the Slayer.