In Greek mythology, Perseus (US: /ˈpɜːr.si.əs/, UK: /ˈpɜː.sjuːs/; Greek: Περσεύς, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, the greatest Greek hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles.[1] He beheaded the Gorgon Medusa for Polydectes and saved Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus. He was the son of Zeus and the mortal Danaë, as well as the half-brother and great-grandfather of Heracles (as they were both children of Zeus, and Heracles' mother was descended from Perseus).
Because of the obscurity of the name "Perseus" and the legendary character of its bearer, most etymologists presume that it might be pre-Greek; however, the name of Perseus's native city was Greek and so were the names of his wife and relatives. There is some idea that it descended into Greek from the Proto-Indo-European language. In that regard Graves proposed the only Greek derivation available: Perseus might be from the Greek verb πέρθειν (pérthein, "to waste, ravage, sack, destroy") some form of which is familiar in Homeric epithets.[2] According to Buck, the -eus suffix is typically used to form an agent noun, in this case from the aorist stem, pers-. Pers-eus therefore is a "sacker [of cities]";[3] that is, a soldier by occupation, a fitting name for the first Mycenaean warrior.
The further origin of perth- is more obscure. Hofmann lists the possible root as *bher-, from which Latin ferio, "strike".[4] This corresponds to Pokorny's *bher-(3), "scrape, cut". Ordinarily *bh- descends to Greek as ph-. This difficulty can be overcome by presuming a dissimilation from the -th- in pérthein, which the Greeks would have preferred from a putative *phérthein.[5] Graves carries the meaning still further, to the Perse- in Persephone, goddess of death.[2] Ventris & Chadwick speculate about a Mycenaean goddess pe-re-*82 (Linear B: 𐀟𐀩𐁚), attested on tablet PY Tn 316, and tentatively reconstructed as *Preswa.[6]
A Greek folk etymology connected Perseus to the name of the Persian people, whom they called the Pérsai (from Old Persian Pārsa "Persia, a Persian"). However, the native name of the Persians – Pārsa in Persian – has always been pronounced with an -a-. Herodotus[7] recounts this story, devising a foreign son of Andromeda and Perseus, Perses, from whom the Persians took the name. Apparently the Persians also knew that story, as Xerxes tried to use it when bribing the Argives during his invasion of Greece,[8] but ultimately failed to do this.
King Acrisius of Argos had only one child, a daughter named Danaë. Disappointed by not having a male heir, Acrisius consulted the Oracle at Delphi, who warned him that he would one day be killed by his own grandson. To keep Danaë childless, Acrisius imprisoned her in a room atop a bronze tower in the courtyard of his palace:[a] This mytheme is also connected to Ares, Oenopion, Eurystheus, and others. Zeus came to her in the form of a shower of gold, and fathered her child.[10] Soon after, their child, a son, was born; Perseus-"Perseus Eurymedon,[b] for his mother gave him this name as well".[11]
Fearful for his future, but unwilling to provoke the wrath of the gods and the Erinyes by killing the offspring of Zeus and his daughter, Acrisius cast the two into the sea in a wooden chest.[12] Danaë's fearful prayer, made while afloat in the darkness, has been expressed by the poet Simonides of Ceos. Mother and child washed ashore on the island of Seriphos, where they were taken in by the fisherman Dictys ("fishing net"), who raised the boy to manhood. The brother of Dictys was Polydectes ("he who receives/welcomes many"), the king of the island.
When Perseus was grown, Polydectes came to lust for the beautiful Danaë. Perseus believed Polydectes was less than honorable, and protected his mother from him; then Polydectes plotted to send Perseus away in disgrace. He held a large banquet where each guest was expected to bring a gift.[c] Polydectes requested that the guests bring horses, under the pretense that he was collecting contributions for the hand of Hippodamia, daughter of Oinomaos. Perseus had no horse to give, so he asked Polydectes to name the gift; he would not refuse it. Polydectes held Perseus to his rash promise and demanded the snake-haired Medusa's head.
Medusa and her two immortal older sisters, Stheno and Euryale, were Gorgons, monsters with snakes for hair, sharp fangs and claws, wings of gold, and gazes that turned people to stone.
Before setting out on his quest, Perseus prayed to the gods and Zeus answered by sending two of his other children – Hermes and Athena – to bless their half-brother with the weapons needed to defeat Medusa. Hermes gave Perseus his own pair of winged sandals to fly with and lent him his harpe sword to slay Medusa with, and Hades' helm of darkness to become invisible with. Athena lent Perseus her polished shield for him to view Medusa's reflection without becoming petrified, and gave him a kibisis, a knapsack to safely contain the Gorgon's head which the goddess warned could still petrify even in death. Lastly, Athena instructed Perseus to seek out the Graeae, the Gorgons' sisters, for the snake-haired women's whereabouts (in other versions, it was the Hesperides nymphs who gave Perseus the weapons after he sought out the Graeae).
Following Athena's guidance, Perseus found the Graeae, who were three old swan-shaped witches sharing a single eye and a single tooth. As the witches passed their eye from one to another, Perseus snatched it from them, holding it for ransom in return for the Gorgons' location. The Graeae informed Perseus that the Gorgons lived on the Island of Sarpedon. Perseus then gave the Graeae their eye back and proceeded to the island.
On the Island of Sarpedon, Perseus came across a cave where Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa lay sleeping. Using Athena's reflective shield, Perseus overcame the looking taboo, walked into the cave backwards, safely observing and approaching the sleeping Gorgons. With Athena guiding the sword, Perseus beheaded Medusa. From Medusa's neck sprang her two children with Poseidon: the winged horse Pegasus ("he who sprang") and the giant Chrysaor ("sword of gold"). To avenge their sister's death, Stheno and Euryale flew after Perseus, but he escaped them by wearing Hades' invisibility helm.[13] From here he proceeded to visit King Atlas who had refused him hospitality; in revenge Perseus petrified him with Medusa's head and King Atlas became the Atlas mountains.[14]
On the way back to Seriphos, Perseus stopped in the kingdom of Aethiopia. This mythical Ethiopia was ruled by King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia, having boasted that her daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids, drew the vengeance of Poseidon, who sent an inundation on the land and a sea serpent,