The Myth of Perseus and the Medusa

There was once a king in Greece who did a very cruel thing. An oracle had foretold to him that
he would be killed by his own grandson. He was determined that this should not come to pass,
so he tried to cheat the gods. He placed his beautiful daughter and her baby son in a chest, and
threw them into the sea, thinking that by doing this he would never see them again, and need
never fear his little grandson.

But the waves were kind to the princess and her child. The chest floated lightly upon the water,
and at last came to rest upon the sandy beach of an island. Here it was found by a fisherman,
and the princess and her child were received and cared for by the ruler of the island. They lived
there for many years, while the boy, who was called Perseus, grew to be a strong and active
youth. For some time the people were very kind to them; but at last the ruler of the island
became vexed at the mother of Perseus, and made her his slave. Then, because Perseus had
become such a strong young man, the king began to be afraid that he would try to avenge the
injury which had been done to his other. So he sent him far away on a dangerous journey, to the
very ends of the earth.

There dwelt a terrible woman called Medusa, the Gorgon. The hair of the Gorgon was a mass of
living snakes; and she was so hideous to behold, that just to look upon her turned one to stone.
Perseus was commanded to bring home the head of this woman; and although he set out
obediently, he did not know at all where to find her. But while he was wandering helplessly
about, the god Hermes and the goddess Athena came to his aid, and gave him courage for his
dreadful task. They told him that he must have a pair of winged sandals to help him on his way,
and also a helmet which would make him invisible.

These wonderful things were in the cave of some water-nymphs, and he could find out where
these nymphs were only by going to some dreadful old woman who had but one eye and one
tooth among them. These they were obliged to pass around from one to the other as they
needed them. Hermes led Perseus to these old women, and then left him. At first Perseus could
not get them to tell him what he wished to learn. But when he stole their one eye as they passed
it from one to another to look at him, they were glad enough to tell him what he wanted, in order
to get back their eye again.

When at last Perseus reached the cave of the nymphs, he easily obtained the sandals and the
helmet. Putting these on, he soon reached the cave of Medusa, and found her lying asleep on
the ground. But he did not dare to approach her face to face, for fear lest he should be turned to
stone. Then it was that the goddess Athena came to his aid, and gave him her bright shield to
use as a mirror. Holding this before
him, Perseus walked backward,
looking not upon Medusa, but only
upon her reflection in the shield.
When he was near enough, he struck
off her head with a curved sickle
which Hermes had given him, and,
still without looking at it he thrust the
head into a bag, and hurried away.

Picture of Perseus and the Medusa

One of his adventures ended in his gaining a beautiful princess as his wife. As he passed
through the country of the Ethiopians, he found everyone in great distress. The queen of the
country was a very vain woman, who had boasted that she was more beautiful than the nymphs
who lived in the sea nearby. This had made the nymphs so angry that they had begged the
great god Poseidon to punish the queen. He did this by rolling a great flood of his salty water
upon the land, and sending with it a sea monster, that devoured both beasts and men. The
country suffered so much from these misfortunes that the king sent to an oracle, to discover how
they might escape from t hem. The oracle replied that the only help was to sacrifice the king's
daughter Andromeda to the sea monster.
For a long time the king refused to do this; for Andromeda was a beautiful girl, and he loved her
dearly. But at last he could resist the wishes of his suffering people no longer. Andromeda was
led from her father's house to a rock upon the seashore, and chained there alone, to await the
coming of the monster. But, before she had been harmed, Perseus passed that way. He
wondered at finding a beautiful maiden weeping in chains, and went to her aid. He killed the
monster as it came out of the deep, and broke the chains that found Andromeda. Then they
went together to her father's city; and Perseus claimed Andromeda as his bride, because he had
saved her from a dreadful death.

The people were glad enough to be rid of the monster and to have their beautiful princess back
alive one more; but they did not wish to give her away again to this strange young man. So
Perseus took her without their consent; and when some of them tried to prevent it he turned the
men to stone with his Gorgon head, and went on his way homeward with Andromeda at his side.
When he came to his old home, he used Medusa's head again. This time it was the man who
had mistreated his mother whom he turned to stone. In his place as king he put the good
fisherman who had found him and his mother in the chest on the shore of the sea.

Then Perseus went across the sea to find the grandfather who had been so afraid of him when
he was a little child. When the old king learned that his grandson had not been drowned after all,
and that he was alive and coming to see him, he was more afraid than ever. Now he was sure
that the oracle would come true, and that this young man would kill him for what he had done so
long ago to him and his mother So he fled from his city, and hid himself. But Perseus followed
him and found him, and showed him that he came only to do honor to him. Then his grandfather
welcomed him, and ceased to fear him, and caused games to be held to celebrate the coming of
this strong and noble grandson who had come to him in his old age. But, alas! In the midst of the
games a dreadful accident happened. One of the games was hurling the quoits; and as Perseus
was throwing the round, flat piece of iron, it slipped from his grasp, and struck his grandfather so
that he fell dead. So the oracle was fulfilled at last.

Perseus was so sorry for what he had done, that he would not accept the throne of his
grandfather, though the people wished him to do so. He exchanged this kingdom for another
one, where he would not always be reminded of what he had accidentally done; and there he
lived happily with Andromeda for many years.