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Legend of Perseus
Clash of the Titans – the actual story from Greek Mythology
Two films have been made about the exploits of the Greek hero,
Perseus. Entitled Clash of the Titans neither of the movies tells the real
story.
Perseus was the son of Danae and the high god of the Greeks, Zeus. Her
father, Acrisius, had locked her away when it was prophesized that his
grandson would kill him. Despite his efforts, Zeus visited Danae
disguised as a shower of gold and impregnated her. When Perseus was
born, Acrisius cast them into the sea in a locked chest. Mother and son
washed up on a beach on the island of Seriphos where a fisherman
named Dictys found them and took them to the temple of Athena. Here
Danae raised her son.
Goddess Athena
Trouble began when Perseus was a young man and Polydectes, king of Seriphos, fell in love with
Danae. She rejected him so he attempted to rape her. Dictys intervened and stopped him.
Polydectes then demanded gifts from the young men of the island. While other youths presented
him with horses and other expensive items, Perseus was poor and could give him nothing. The
goddess Athena, angry at the king for assaulting Danae in her temple, suggested that Perseus
bring Polydectes the head of the Gorgon, Medusa, as a great prize.
The Gorgons
There were three Gorgons, the daughters of Ceto and Phorcys. Two of them, Euryale and Stheno,
were immortal, the third, Medusa, was not. They are described as having wings of gold, serpents
for hair, bodies covered with scales, claws of brass, teeth like a wild boar and a stare that turned
men to stone.
Greek Gods Help
Athena knew that Perseus would not be able to slay Medusa without help so she asked her
siblings to assist him. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, gave him winged shoes so he could fly
and Hades, the god of the underworld, gave him a cap of darkness so he would be invisible.
Hephaestus, god of fire, gave him a sword capable of penetrating gorgon scales. Demeter,
goddess of agriculture, gave him a pouch that never ran out of food and Athena gave him a
bronze shield. Thus equipped, Perseus set out on his quest.
The Graeae
First he had to find the Gorgons. Legend had it they lived in Libya beyond the River Oceanus so
Perseus went to Hyperborea where the people there sent him to Africa where dwelt the Graeae,
sisters of the Gorgons who had been born with grey hair and had only one eye and one tooth
between them. They were the Gorgons first line of defense. Perseus came upon them wearing his
cap of darkness so they could not see him and snatched the eye away while it was being passed
around and threw it in a lake. Each Graeae thought the other had the eye so he was able to pass by
them without them knowing.
Medusa
Continuing on Perseus flew over land filled with people and animals turned to stone. He found
the Gorgons asleep and using his shield as a mirror so he would not have to look at them, cut off
Medusa’s head. Putting the head in a magic pouch he flew away before the sisters awoke. As
Perseus flew away drops of Medusa’s blood fell to earth and in one case became Pegasus, the
winged horse, in others turned into snakes.
Andromeda
On his way home, Perseus encountered Atlas who refused him hospitality. Perseus uncovered
Medusa’s severed head and turned the Titan into a mountain. As he was flying over the Ethiopian
kingdom of Cepheus he saw a young woman chained to a rock to appease Poseidon after her
mother had offended a sea-goddess. He fell in love with the beautiful Andromeda and offered to
save her from the sea-monster if they would consent to his marrying her. Cepheus agreed.
Phineus Attacks
When the sea-monster arrived for his snack, Perseus flew at him and using his magical sword
attacked and slew the creature. Cepheus and his queen welcomed Perseus as their son-in-law but
during the wedding feast, Phineus, the king’s brother, arrived and declared that Andromeda had
been promised to him. With two hundred men, Phineus attacked the wedding feast. Fortunately,
Peresus had his Medusa head handy and holding it aloft turned Phineus and his two hundred into
stone.
Revenge of Perseus
Perseus and Andromeda then went back to Seriphos where they found Polydectes about to force
Danae to marry him. When the king jeered at Perseus, refusing to believe he had killed Medusa,
Perseus flashed the head and turned him to stone. He gave the throne to Dictys, the fisherman
who had saved Danae and himself from the sea. When his grandfather, Acrisius learned of his
return he remembered the prophesy that Perseus would kill him and fled the country to Thessaly.
Many years later while Perseus was competing in the funeral games of the king of Thessaly, he
threw a discus that accidentally struck and killed Acrisius.
King of Tiryns
Perseus and Andromeda lived happily together, having 7 sons and 2 daughters. Perseus became
king of Tiryns and founded the city of Mycenae where he ruled. Upon her death Andromeda was
turned into a constellation by Athena.
The Legend of Pegasus
The symbolism of Greek Mythology is second to none. We all remember Medusa, Perseus,
Athena, Mount Olympus and of course, Pegasus, the white winged stallion, carrier of Zeus'
thunderbolts.
This is the legend of Pegasus, the winged white stallion, bred from the love of Poseidon, God of
the sea, for the beautiful, yet ill-fated virgin, Medusa, caretaker of Athena's temple.
Poseidon, so taken with Medusa's beauty, seduced her within the walls of Athena's temple.
Angered by this offense, Athena, unable to punish Poseidon, turned her vengeance on Medusa
and transformed her into a horrible monster with serpents for hair and a face so gruesome that
the sight of it turned any living creature to stone. She was sent to the isle of the Gorgons to
isolate her from the rest of the world.
The Greek Hero Perseus, son of Zeus and Danae, was sent to decapitate Medusa. He
accomplished this by reflecting her image in his mirrored shield, thus never looking directly at her,
and with one stroke of his sword, cut off Medusa's head. Out of Medusa's severed neck Pegasus
was born. Pegasus then flew to Mount Helicon where the nine Muses found and cared for the
winged equine. Pegasus was the most beautiful creature that the Ancient World had seen.
After a few years, Athena found out of Pegasus and gave the Greek Hero, Bellerophon, a golden
bridle to tame Pegasus. While Pegasus was drinking from a stream, Bellerophon approached him
from behind and threw the bridle over his head. Once bridled and tamed, Bellerophon mounted
Pegasus and they became as one, best friends in the world. Pegasus and Bellerophon galloped
over land and sea faster than the wind. While riding Pegasus, Bellerophon knew no bounds; he
even went on to conquer Chimera, the dreaded three-headed beast, part lion, goat and serpent.
Bellerophon, now arrogant with his successes, attempted to fly Pegasus up to Mount Olympus to
join the gods. Zeus punished Bellerophon's insolence by having a horsefly sting Pegasus,
causing Bellerophon to fall from his steed and come crashing back to Earth.
Alone Pegasus flew to Olympus where the winged horse was welcomed and became the carrier
of Zeus' thunderbolts. In honor of Pegasus and his service to the gods, Zeus set the constellation
of the winged horse in the Earth's night sky.
The constellation Pegasus lies between Pisces and
Andromeda. The northeast corner of the "Great Square
of Pegasus" is shared with the constellation Andromeda:
delta Pegasus was given to Andromeda to provide her
with a head.
So goes the legend of Pegasus!
THE KRAKEN or Cetus
Kraken are legendary sea monsters of giant proportions said to have dwelt off the coasts
of Norway and Iceland.
In modern German, Krake means octopus but can also refer to the legendary Kraken..
Although fictional and the subject of myth, the legend of the Kraken continues to present
day, with numerous references existing in popular culture, including film, literature,
television, video games and other miscellaneous examples (e.g. postage stamps, a
rollercoaster ride and a rum product).
The Kraken originated in Scandinavian folklore, though it is not usually called by that
name. While a giant octopus-type creature could certainly be part of Greek myths in the
octopus-rich waters, this doesn't seem to have occurred to the Greeks.
In the modern "Clash of the Titans", the
Kraken is a Titanic-era monster which is
under the control of the great god Zeus,
who can summon the kraken or order the
release of the kraken. Normally, the Greek
god Poseidon had dominion over the
oceans, and would be a more likely choice
to summon the kraken.
Later versions of the legend may have
originated from sightings of real giant
squid, which are variously estimated to
grow to 13–15 m (40–50 ft) in length (including tentacles). These creatures normally live
at great depths, but have been sighted at the surface and have reportedly attacked ships.
Cetus
In ancient Greek, the word ketos (Ancient
Greek: Κῆτος, Kētos, plural cetea Ancient
Greek: κήτεα) - Latinized as cetus - denotes a
large fish, a whale, a shark, or a sea monster.[1]
The sea monsters slain by Perseus and Heracles
were each referred to as a cetus by ancient
sources.[2] The term cetacean originates from
cetus. In Greek art, cetea were depicted as
serpentine fish. The name of the mythological
figure Ceto is derived from ketos. The name of
the constellation Cetus also derives from this
word.
The Graeae or The Moirae
The Graeae (English translation: "old
women", "grey ones", "grey sisters", or "grey
witches"; alternatively spelled Graiai
(Γραῖαι), Graiae, Graii), were three sisters
who shared one eye and one tooth among
them. They are one of several trios of archaic
goddesses in Greek mythology. The Graeae
were daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. Thus,
they were among the Phorcydes, all of which
were either aquatic (sea-based) or chthonic
(earth-based) dieties. The Graiae were sisters
to the Gorgons. The Graeae took the form of
old grey-haired women; though, at times poets
euphemistically described them as "beautiful."
In other legends they are described as being
half-swan.
Their age was so great that a human childhood for them was hardly conceivable. Hesiod
reports their names as Deino (Δεινώ "dread", the dreadful anticipation of horror), Enyo
(Ἐνυώ "horror" the "waster of cities" who had an identity separate from this sisterhood)
and Pemphredo (Πεμφρηδώ "alarm")Hyginus adds a fourth, Persis or Perso.
Like another set of crones at the oldest levels of both Germanic and Norse mythology,
they shared one eye and one tooth, which they took turns using. By stealing their eye
while they were passing amongst themselves, the hero Perseus forced them to tell the
whereabouts of the three objects needed to kill Medusa (in other versions the
whereabouts of Medusa herself), by ransoming their shared eye for the information. The
Moirae were usually described as cold, remorseless and unfeeling, and depicted as old
crones or hags.
The Moirae were supposed to appear three nights after a child's birth to determine the
course of its life, as in the story of Meleager and the firebrand taken from the hearth and
preserved by his mother to extend his lifeThe Greeks variously claimed that they were the
daughters of Zeus and the Titaness Themis (the "Institutor") or of primordial beings like
Nyx, the Night, Chaos or Ananke, Necessity.
The Moirae were usually described as cold, remorseless and unfeeling, and depicted as
old crones or hags.
Andromeda
In Greek mythology, Andromeda was the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, king and
queen of the kingdom Ethiopia.
Her mother Cassiopeia boasted that she was
more beautiful than the Nereids, the nymphdaughters of the sea god Nereus and often seen
accompanying Poseidon. To punish the Queen
for her arrogance, Poseidon, brother to Zeus and
god of the sea, sent a sea monster named Cetus to
ravage the coast of Ethiopia including the
kingdom of the vain Queen. The desperate King
consulted the Oracle of Apollo, who announced
that no respite would be found until the king
sacrificed his virgin daughter Andromeda to the
monster. She was chained naked to a rock on the
coast.
Perseus was returning from having slain the
Gorgon Medusa, he found Andromeda and slew
Cetus by approaching invisible with Hades's helm and slaying him. He set her free, and
married her in spite of Andromeda having been previously promised to her uncle
Phineus. At the wedding a quarrel took place between the rivals, and Phineus was turned
to stone by the sight of the Gorgon's head (Ovid, Metamorphoses v. 1).
Andromeda followed her husband to Tiryns in Argos, and together they became the
ancestors of the family of the Perseidae through the line of their son Perses. Perseus and
Andromeda had seven sons: Perseides, Perses, Alcaeus, Heleus, Mestor, Sthenelus, and
Electryon, and two daughters, Autochthoe and Gorgophone. Their descendants ruled
Mycenae from Electryon down to Eurystheus, after whom Atreus attained the kingdom,
and would also include the great hero Heracles. According to this mythology, Perseus is
the ancestor of the Persians.
After her death, Andromeda was placed by Athena amongst the constellations in the
northern sky, near Perseus and Cassiopeia. The constellation had been named after her.