The Story of Perseus

This is the story of a boy, a boy who was born in a prison, high up in a tower, who floated to freedom in a chest, and who fought the monster at the very edge of the world. This is a story of snakes, poisonous snakes forming the hair on a woman’s head. And it is the story of a look that can freeze your blood and turn you into stone.

Once upon a time, in an age long since past and a place no longer talked of, there was a king called Acrisius. And the king had a daughter called Danae. Of course, she was beautiful, and kind and happy. But one day, her life fell apart. Her father visited the Oracle. Now the Oracle was a fortune-teller who lived in a cave deep in the mountains. The king made this pilgrimage against the advice of his courtiers and his friends who warned him of the dangers of trying to see into the future. “It is not given to humans to know what will befall them,” they told him, “we should live our lives, taking each day as a gift. Evil comes to those who try to dictate the future. Knowledge of this will only bring harm.” But the king was determined. He was desperate to know whether he would have a grandson, if there would be an heir to his throne. The Oracle reassured him. She told him that he would indeed have a grandson. But before the king had time to rejoice, she continued, “And in this grandson lies your own doom.” The king was horrified! “What doom?” he demanded. “How can my grandson bring about my doom?” “The Oracle laughed, a cold, hateful laugh. “You will meet your death at the hand of your grandson!” She cackled. And the king was left alone in the cave with his thoughts.

The king was a cowardly man, and he was terrified. As soon as he had made the long journey back to his palace, he sent for Danae. She ran towards him, delighted to see that he had returned safe and well. But he pushed her affectionate embraces away. “Take my daughter, and shut her in the top of the highest tower,” he told his guards. “And never let her out.” So Danae was led away, bewildered and weeping to her prison, a room in the very top of the highest tower.

From this day onward, Acrisius never saw his daughter. She was kept in her prison, and he roamed his palace, miserable and scared. Danae grew used to the large round room with its wooden floor and the window in the ceiling through which she could see only sky. She loved the bright sunlight that fell on her bed and woke her each day. It seemed her only connection with the outside world. And one day the sunlight bought her a surprise. Zeus, the king of the gods, took pity on this beautiful young girl, trapped in her lonely prison, and he came to her in a shower of gold.

A baby was born of this union, a baby boy. Danae named this boy Perseus. He grew swiftly into a beautiful toddling boy, and still he and his mother inhabited their prison in the top of the highest tower in the palace. Danae would entertain her son by telling him stories, tales of the outside world which he had never seen. She told him of monsters who lived at

the edge of the world, and of the Gorgons, the terrible sisters living on a rock far, far, away. “Medusa, the Gorgon has a head of snakes, poisonous, writhing snakes surrounding her terrible face,” Danae told her son, “but the worst thing is her dreadful power. Just one look petrifies you. Whoever looks at her face is instantly turned to stone.” Perseus listened with excitement and horror to these tales. He pictured the Gorgon, Medusa, and her terrible sisters. He imagined her head surrounded by the wriggling, writhing snakes. He thought about the statues of all those warriors who had tried to kill her and who had been petrified as they looked upon her face. His mother made him a wooden sword from one of the slats of her bed, peeled and sharpened upon the stone sill of the step. Perseus would run up and down, swiping and slashing an imaginary head of snakes with his sword. And the sounds of his cries and laughter drifted along the silent corridors of the palace and reached the ears of the king.

Acrisius listened. Could it be a child, even a grandson? He ran, with fear in his heart, to the very top of the tower, and threw open the door. There, in the round room, was his daughter Danae. And her arms were clasped tightly round her son, the boy, Perseus.

Danae pleaded and wept. She begged her father not to kill Perseus. She promised to take him far away, where he would never know who he was. But the king was terrified. Here, despite all his care, was the grandson the Oracle had predicted. He ordered Danae and Perseus to be thrown into a chest and thrown off the highest cliff into the sea.

For days and days they tossed and turned, Danae and Perseus, curled in their tiny prison, floating on the waves and bobbing beneath the sea. Finally, just as Danae thought they would die of thirst and cramp, they washed up on a shore, and light flooded into the chest as the lid was raised. A smiling, bearded man looked down at them. “Well,” he said, “look at what the sea has brought me.”

For more than ten years, Danae and Perseus lived on the rocky shore of this island. Dictys, the kindly and gentle man who had taken them in, was a fisherman. Perseus grew, helping Dictys fish and learning his lessons from his mother. But their peace was shattered by the arrival of the King of the island, Polydectes. Polydectes fell in love with the beautiful Danae, and brought them to his palace, swearing that he would marry Danae, against her will, in five days. Perseus was furious, but powerless to defend his mother against the cruel and powerful king. He swore that he would bring Polydectes a wedding gift worthy of him, none other than the head of Medusa. “I will bring you the Gorgon’s head!” he cried, and left the palace, with Polydectes’ mocking laughter ringing in his ears.

Perseus wandered along the edge of the shore, and dug his heels in the sand. How was he to get to the ends of the earth and kill the Gorgon? As he mused, two figures appeared before him, shining over the edge of the sea. One was Hermes, the messenger of the gods, and the other was Athene, Zeus’s daughter. “I am your sister,” she told him. “And

Zeus, my father, has sent you these to assist you in your quest.” And she held up a bright silver sword, and a shield, so brightly polished that its surface shone like a mirror and

Perseus could see the rocky shore behind him reflected in its shiny surface. “I also give you this gift,” Athene continued, handing Perseus a cap of invisibility. “Whosoever wears this, cannot be seen.” “And I bring you these,” said Hermes, holding up a pair of winged sandals and a large leather pouch. “You must first fly to the far end of the northern shores to where the Graeae, three eyeless and toothless sisters, live.”

Perseus set off northwards. He knew that these old and horrible, swan-like three women possessed only one eye and one tooth between them, which they shared and quarrelled over. Perseus flew night and day using his winged sandals. Eventually, towards the end of the second day, he came to the Graeae, cackling in their nest on the edge of the rock, blown by winds and lashed by the wild seas. Perseus swooped down and, before they could react, snatched their one eye. “You shall not have this back until you tell me how to find Medusa!” He held the eye high, and repeated his threat. The sisters wailed and groaned but they could neither see Perseus nor reach their eye. They told him how to find Medusa, and he threw their eye down to their grasping claws as he flew upwards and further north to the edge of the earth.

Perseus landed on the far shore of the rocky, barren island where the Gorgon and her sisters lived. Medusa awoke. She raised her horrible writhing head and the snakes twirled and hissed. “My sisters,” she whispered, “my sisters, there is someone here. A man has come to see us.” Perseus knew that if he gazed upon the Gorgon’s head he too would be turned to stone, petrified like all the other warriors and animals whose statues stood around the rocks, frozen in the places and positions where they had looked upon the Medusa’s face. He placed his invisibility cap firmly on his head, and he grasped his sword in his right hand and his shield in his left. He forced himself to look, steadfastly, not forwards towards the Gorgons, but into the mirror of his shield. He could see the horrible crouching shapes of the Gorgon’s sisters, and her towering figure above them. He could see, as he crept silently forward, her head of writhing snakes, and her wild eyes looking, seeking out the warrior to look at. “I know you are here,” she hissed, “I know it. I feel your presence. Look at me. Gaze on me as you strike me down.” But Perseus kept his head firmly turned away from the hissing figure and the writhing head. He stared into his shield. One more step and he could strike with his sword. Perseus stepped bravely forward and, staring hard into his shield, swept in a wide ark with his gleaming sword. There was a horrible unearthly shriek, and the Gorgon’s terrible head fell crashing and wriggling to his feet. Still looking only into his shield, Perseus swept up the head and plunged it straight away into the pouch given him by Hermes. Amidst the wailing and shrieking of Medusa’s sisters, he flew up and away, southwards towards home.

Perseus arrived at Polydectes’ palace just as the wedding celebrations were about to begin. Firmly holding the pouch he strode purposefully into the hall. “Well,” Polydectes drawled, raising a glass of blood-red wine to his lips, one hand lazily stroking Danae’s golden hair.

“Well, the wanderer returns. And what gift have you brought to celebrate your mother’s wedding?” “Mother.” Called Perseus, and Danae slipped from the seat beside Polydectes and rand to Perseus’ side. “I have brought you this,” said Perseus, “as I promised!” He

reached into the pouch and brought out the still writhing head of Medusa. And as Polydectes and his astonished courtiers gazed open-mouthed upon it, they turned into grey-lined stone.

Danae and Perseus returned to their home with Dictys, but Perseus was no longer content to live out his life assisting Dictys in his fishing. He pondered over his life, and how his grandfather had been terrified of his very existence. “I shall seek him out and return to my home,” he told his mother, “and I will assure him he has nothing to fear from me.” So Perseus set out to find his home and the King Acrisius who had thrown Danae and him into the sea so long ago. He travelled slowly, and stopped on his way to take part in some games on the island of Pelasgian Larissa. Unbeknown to Perseus, Acrisius was also attending the games. And as Perseus threw the discus far out above the crowd, a freak wind caught it and it whirled around, hitting Acrisius and killing him. Thus was the Oracle proven correct, and thus do we come to understand that humans live their lives wisely if they do not probe the future.

Activities for Perseus Story

Activity 1

Perseus is brought five gifts by the gods, Athene and Hermes. Ask the children if they can remember what these are. Which of these would you like to own? Discuss the sorts of things you could do in your life if you had your chosen gift (i.e. the sword, the mirror- shield, the pouch, the winged sandals, the cap of invisibility). Then write a paragraph describing what you would do if you had your gift. Share your paragraphs with each other.

Activity 2

Perseus and his mother were locked in a room at the top of the highest tower in the palace. What sorts of things would you miss if you were locked in a high tower like this? Make a list of ten things – they can be objects or activities. Write a brief description of each one, e.g. ‘playing computer, beating my own score, racing against the clock, skilfully manipulating the controls…’, or ‘walking my dog, running down the hill and leaning against the wind.’ Choose the best from each child and display these over a painting of the tower room.

Activity 3

Medusa, the Gorgon, is a woman with a head of poisonous snakes and eyes which can petrify anyone who looks upon her. There are many other Greek mythical monsters. Look up these: Minotaur, Cyclops, Typhon, the Hydra, Cerberus, the Chimaera,

Choose your favourite and write a description. Can you paint it as well?

Activity 4

We know that Perseus took the long way back to his grandfather Acrisius, and that he stopped on the games at Pelasgian Larissa. He had many other adventures. Make one up!

Activity 5

On his way back from the Medusa, Perseus meets Andromeda. Look up the story of how Perseus saves Andromeda from Poseidon’s sea monster. Work in a group to act out the story so that you can tell it to the class.

Poems on related themes:

Give me a House, by Charles Causley (Read Me, p 277) on theme of gifts. Good to learn.

Argus and Ulysses, by Elaeanor Farjeon (Read Me, p 245) good to learn.

Heroes, by Benjamin Zephaniah (Read Me 2, p 22) on what makes a hero.

Somewhere in the Sky, by Leo Aylen (The Works, p 77) on impatience to know things before the appropriate time.