Perseus and Medusa

Perseus is the son of Zeus and Danae. Acrisius was an ancient king of Argos, There was a prophecy that a son of his daughter, Danae, would kill Acrisius. To stop Danae having any children, Acrisius locked his daughter in a bronze chamber open only to the sky. However Zeus drifted in and she had a child. That child was Perseus.

Acrisius was scared by this but couldn’t kill Perseus as he feared that he would anger Zeus, so he left Danae and Perseus in a wooden box and threw them in the sea. They drifted to the island of Seriphos. Here they were found and looked after by a fisherman by the name of Dictys.

Perseus and Medusa

Perseus grew up on the island and was later sent to kill the Gorgon, "Medusa" by King Polydectes, king of the Island. Medusa was a monster with snakes for hair and if you looked into her eyes you turned to stone.

Hermes was sent by Zeus to help him. Hermes gave Perseus his winged sandals and winged hat. He also told him where to get Zeus’ sword, Athena’s sword and Hades helm of darkness.

Perseus fought Medusa but did not look at her eyes directly. Instead he looked into his polished shield and saw her reflection. In the end Perseus avoided looking into Medusa eyes and chopped off her head with his sword.

After killing Medusa, Perseus and Danae returned to Argos in search of Acrisius, his grandfather, but Acrisius had gone to Larissa. When Perseus arrived in Larissa, funeral games were being held and Perseus, being a great athlete, joined in. However, during the discus throwing competition, Perseus threw his discus and accidently killed Acrisius. By chance the prophecy had come true.