One set of twins was Helen and Polydeuces, children of Zeus and the other twins were Castor and Clytemnestra, children of her husband Tyndareus. For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://maven.io/company/pages/privacy, The Birth of Perseus: The Greek Myth of Danae and the Shower of Gold. Such a marriage would mean Polydectes would leave Perseus mother in peace. He takes them to the court of his brother, King Polydectes, who allows them to live with him. Once again, a king looks at Danaes son and decides to get him out of the way. Taking Ancient Mythology Economically. Unwilling to provoke the wrath of the gods or the Furies by killing his offspring and grandchild, King Acrisius cast Dana and Perseus into the sea in a wooden chest. She named the boy Perseus. Metis was pregnant at the time and this gastronomic feat resulted in Athena being born through the head of Zeus. Hesiod makes no mention of Medusa being grotesque, nor does he indicate that she and her Gorgon sisters are beautiful. At this time King Teutamides is holding an athletics competition as part of his fathers funeral and Perseus competes; during the discus-throwing, a fateful wind (lets face it, probably guided by the spiteful gods) turns Perseuss throw aside and the discus hits his grandfather in the foot. He promises to instead bring Polydectes the head of the Gorgon Medusa, and Polydectes holds him to his word. The Greeks invented everything from Western warfare to mystical prayer, from logic to statecraft. Perseus was given the seemingly impossible task of obtaining the head of Medusa; Perseus believed that it was to be a wedding gift for the marriage of Polydectes and Hippodameia. Seeing how each man had been facing forward at the time of death, Perseus put his magical helmet on and turned invisible. But they were never given the chance. Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danae When he was born, his grandfather, Acrisius consulted an oracle and Prayed to know what the infant's fate would be. Perseus, intrigued by this, asked what could he do that would be considered heroic. Copyright 2020 HubPages Inc. and respective owners.HubPages Inc, a part of Maven Inc. As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. We partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. For the vast majority of us who have read the story, we realize on closer examination that Medusa had one heck of an art collection; It was a testimony of death, men frozen in stone, crying out for life. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. In order to procure this great wealth, Perseus headed to the market to acquire certain tools and more importantly, to make contracts in order to conduct his business in Libya. The earliest source regarding Medusa and the Gorgons is nothing like what one reads today. Perseus and Hermes flew to the location of the Gray Sisters. Perseus goes straight to the palace to display his promised gift to the king; Polydectes and his entire court are all turned to stone. Dictys was the brother to King Polydectes, and the beauty of Danae meant that the king was soon trying to seduce his brothers guest. The term Gorgon comes from the Greek gorgos, meaning grim, fierce, terrible, anything that is dreadful. Some articles have Google Maps embedded in them. In conclusion, the story of Medusa and the Gorgons is intriguing from the classical Greek point of view. This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. Perseus exploits the conflict by seizing control of both and bargaining them back to their rightful owners in exchange for the betrayal of the Gorgons. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. They consent to a quick wedding, but during the celebrations her thwarted suitor brings armed men to the table. He wants to marry Danae, but she is resolutely uninterested and manages to keep him at bay for years, despite her immensely precarious position. You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. The chest floats past the island of Seriphos and is caught by Dictys, a fisherman, who opens the chest and releases its traumatised occupants. Through less than noble behavior of the noblest one of all, Zeus became father to numerous children. Nobody knew the Gorgons whereabouts, even though they were said to have lived west of Seriphus. After her death, Andromeda was made into a constellation by the gods, along with her husband and mother. Her parents are less pleased. because it was the most dreadful and cruel year for mankind; nothing grew, no seed sprang up, and it seemed the whole race of man would die from famine. (Public Domain). Even when married though, Zeus was not monogamous, and many of the stories that are told about Zeus are not about heroic acts, but are about the gods love life. One story even has her lead them in battle. Suspecting that Perseus and Danae are plotting revenge, Acrisius flees to Larissa. She, its said, was violated in Minervas [Athenas] shrine by the Lord of the Sea (Rector Pelagi) [Poseidon]. The prophecy offered up by the Oracle though hardly set Acrisius mind at rest, for although Danae was destined to bear a male heir for the king, that son was then destined to kill King Acrisius. MEDUSA & GORGONES. http://www.theoi.com. Once Perseus arrived, he encountered the three old women, who were blind, and passed around a single eye with which to see. But no mortal can look at a God! Hesiod mentions that Medusa and Gorgons lived beyond the famous stream of Oceanus. Oceanus to the Greeks and Romans was an enormous river encircling the world, as described by Homer in the Iliad. (CC BY-SA 3.0). Leiden: Brill, 1992. This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. Hades contributed his helmet, which would make Perseus invisible once he put it on. Euryale, Stheno and Medusa were once very beautiful, until Medusa slept with Poseidon (the big name god of the sea, as opposed to all the other ones) in one of his niece Athenes temples. Disappointed by his lack of male heirs, King Acrisius asked the oracle of Delphi if this would change. The ensuing war was as much of a standoff as everything else in the twins lives to date. He crossed to Crete where, in due course, Europa gave birth to many sons. The stories of Greek mythology are often thought of as stories of heroic adventures, where good overcomes evil. The girls became famous later in life. He was mighty, glorious, awesome and mythology's most well-known philanderer. Minerva (Athena) still, to strike her foes with dread, upon her breastplate wears the snakes she made.. When Perseus landed outside the entrance of Medusas lair, what stood before him was a grotesque art scene of warriors who failed to slay the beast due to looking directly into Medusas eyes. http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Gorgones.html. Perseus flies to the remote sanctuary of the Gorgons, in the land of the Hyperboreans. Danae was free from the unwanted attention of the king for ever. Danae was the only offspring of King Acrisius and Queen Eurydice. Because of this, one has to look to the early Greek narratives to find a possible origin. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1983. Sculpture from Parthenon Marbles, representational. Perseus also gives back the helmet and sandals to his divine supporters. Bulfinchs Mythology: The Age of Fable, the Age of Chivalry, Legends of Charlemagne. Copyright 2020 HubPages Inc. and respective owners. Europa, the daughter of King Agenor of Sidon, was a highly born woman of Carthage and a descendant of Io, an earlier conquest of Zeus. They also know the location of the Stygian Nymphs, who give Perseus his bag and sandals in an alternate story. She had two sets of twins, each pair being a boy and a girl. Looking farther back in Greek literature, the story becomes mysterious, and when looking at the story from a linguistic point of view, it becomes fascinating. As if Athena erupting out of his head wasn't enough, Zeus gave birth on another occasion as well. Medusa retains her beauty but is condemned to loneliness: if any man meets her eyes, he will turn to stone. Danae rejected the kings advances but Polydectes kept on trying. Corretti, Christine. Basilica of the Holy Blood Does it Really Hold the Blood of Jesus? He escapes with Medusas bloody head in his bag. She gives birth to a son, naming him Perseus. 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