In Greek mythology, Perseus ( , ; ) 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. He beheaded the Gorgon Medusa for Polydectes and saved Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus. He was a demigod, being 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's mother was Perseus's granddaughter).

Etymology

Because of the obscurity of the name "Perseus" and the legendary character of its bearer, most etymologists think 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. Greek may have inherited it from Proto-Indo-European. In that regard Graves proposed the only Greek derivation available: Perseus might be from Greek pérthein (πέρθειν) "to waste, ravage, sack, destroy", some form of which is familiar in Homeric epithets. Carl Darling Buck says the -eus suffix typically forms an agent noun, in this case from the aorist stem, pers-. Pers-eus is thus a "sacker [of cities]"; 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". This corresponds to Pokorny's *bher-(3), "scrape, cut". Normally *bh- becomes ph- in Greek. But pérth- could be dissimilated from earlier *phérth-, per Grassmann's law. Graves carries the meaning still further, to Perse- in Persephone, goddess of death.

A Greek folk etymology connected Perseus to the name of the Persians, 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 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 to suborn the Argives during his invasion of Greece, but ultimately failed to do so.

Mythology

Birth

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: 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. Soon after, their child, a son, was born; Perseus. "Perseus Eurymedon, for his mother gave him this name as well".

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. Danaë's fearful prayer, made while afloat in the darkness, has been expressed by the poet Simonides of Ceos. The mother and child were 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.

Feud with Polydectes

When Perseus was growing up on the island of Seriphus,

Following Athena's guidance, Perseus found the Graeae, who were three old witches that shared 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 by looking at her reflection on the shield to guide himself. From here he proceeded to visit King Atlas of Mauretania, who had refused him hospitality; in revenge Perseus petrified him with Medusa's head and King Atlas became the Atlas mountains.

Marriage to Andromeda

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, Cetus, which destroyed man and beast. The oracle of Ammon announced that no relief would be found until the king sacrificed his daughter, Andromeda, to the monster, and so she was fastened to a rock on the shore. Wearing the winged sandals given to him by Hermes, Perseus reached Andromeda and used the harpe to behead the monster (in other versions, Perseus used Medusa's head to petrify Cetus). Andromeda ("queen of men") followed her husband to Tiryns in Argos, and became the ancestress of the family of the Perseidae who ruled at Tiryns through her son with Perseus, Perses. After her death, she was placed by Athena among the constellations in the northern sky, near Perseus and Cassiopeia. Sophocles and Euripides (and in more modern times Pierre Corneille) made the episode of Perseus and Andromeda the subject of tragedies, and its incidents were represented in many ancient works of art.

As Perseus was flying in his return above the sands of Libya, according to Apollonius of Rhodes, the falling drops of Medusa's blood created a race of toxic serpents, one of whom was to kill the Argonaut Mopsus. Upon returning to Seriphos and discovering that his mother had to take refuge from the violent advances of Polydectes, Perseus killed him with Medusa's head, and made Dictys the new king of Seriphos.

thumb|Perseus and Andromeda, 1st century AD fresco from the Casa della Saffo, [[Pompeii; he shows her the Medusa's head reflected in a pool.]]

Prophecy fulfilled

Perseus then returned his magical loans and gave Medusa's head as a votive gift to Athena, who set it on her aegis (which Zeus gave her) as the Gorgoneion. The fulfillment of the oracle was told several ways, each incorporating the mythic theme of exile. In Pausanias he did not return to Argos, but went instead to Larissa, where athletic games were being held. He had just invented the quoit and was making a public display of them when Acrisius, who happened to be visiting, stepped into the trajectory of the quoit and was killed: thus the oracle was fulfilled. This is an unusual variant on the story of such a prophecy, as Acrisius's actions on hearing the oracle did not, in this variant, cause his death.

In the Bibliotheca, the inevitable occurred by another route: Perseus did return to Argos, but when Acrisius learned of his grandson's approach, mindful of the oracle he went into voluntary exile in Pelasgiotis (Thessaly). There Teutamides, king of Larissa, was holding funeral games for his father. Competing in the discus throw, Perseus's throw veered-and struck Acrisius, killing him instantly. In a third tradition, Acrisius had been driven into exile by his brother Proetus. Perseus petrified the brother with Medusa's head and restored Acrisius to the throne. Then, accused by Acrisius of lying about having slain Medusa, Perseus proves himself by showing Acrisius the Gorgon's head, thus fulfilling the prophecy.

Having killed Acrisius, Perseus, who was next in line for the throne, gave the kingdom to Megapenthes ("great mourning"), son of Proetus, and took over Megapenthes's kingdom of Tiryns. The story is related in Pausanias, who gives as motivation for the swap that Perseus was ashamed to have become king of Argos by inflicting death. In any case, early Greek literature reiterates that manslaughter, even involuntary, requires the exile of the slaughterer, expiation and ritual purification. The exchange might well have proved a creative solution to a difficult problem.

King of Mycenae

thumb|300px|[[Perseus Freeing Andromeda by Piero di Cosimo () – Uffizi]]

The two main sources regarding the legendary life of Perseus—for the Greeks considered him an authentic historical figure—are Pausanias and the Bibliotheca. Pausanias asserts that the Greeks believed Perseus founded Mycenae as his capital. For whatever reasons, perhaps as outposts, Perseus fortified Mycenae according to Apollodorus along with Midea, an action that implies that they both previously existed. It is unlikely, however, that Apollodorus knew who walled in Mycenae; he was only conjecturing. Perseus took up official residence in Mycenae with Andromeda where he had a long, successful reign as king.

Suda

According to the Suda, Perseus, after he married Andromeda, founded a city and called it Amandra (Ἄμανδραν). In the city there was a stele depicting the Gorgon. The city later changed the name to Ikonion because it had the depiction (ἀπεικόνισμα) of the Gorgon. Then he fought the Isaurians and the Cilicians and founded the city of Tarsus because an oracle told him to found a city in the place where after the victory, the flat (ταρσός) of his foot will touch the earth while he is dismounting from his horse. Then he conquered the Medes and changed the name of the country to Persia. At Persia, he taught the magi about the Gorgon and, when a fireball fell from the sky, he took the fire and gave it to the people to guard and revere it. Later, during a war, he tried to use Medusa's head again, but because he was old and could not see well, the head did not work. Because he thought that it was useless, he turned it toward himself and he died. Later his son Merros (Μέρρος) burned the head.

Descendants

Perseus and Andromeda had seven sons: Perses, Alcaeus, Heleus, Mestor, Sthenelus, Electryon, and Cynurus, and two daughters, Gorgophone and Autochthe. Perses was left in Aethiopia and was believed to have been an ancestor of the Persians. The other descendants ruled Mycenae from Electryon to Eurystheus, after whom Atreus got the kingdom. However, the Perseids included the great hero, Heracles, stepson of Amphitryon, son of Alcaeus. The Heraclides, or descendants of Heracles, successfully contested the rule of the Atreids.

A statement by the Athenian orator Isocrates helps to date Perseus approximately. He said that Heracles was four generations later than Perseus, which corresponds to the legendary succession: Perseus, Electryon, Alcmena, and Heracles, who was a contemporary of Eurystheus. Atreus was one generation later, a total of five generations.

<!-- original research ---

Taking 1223 as the start of Atreus's reign and assuming an average generation of 25 years brings the date for the start of Perseus's reign to about 1373, which is approximately consistent with the archaeology.

It would have been Perseus after all who had the Cyclopean wall built ca. 1350. The Egyptian embassy of about 1380 might have been for the purpose of cementing diplomatic relations with the new dynasties in power. It is logical to assume that the first act of the Pelopids when they obtained the throne of Mycenae would be to strengthen the defenses, adding the extension to the north and the secret cistern about 1220.

-->

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan="10" |<big>Descendants of Perseus and Andromeda Before the Time of Heracles to the Aftermath of the Trojan War</big>

|-

| Children

|Perses

| Alcaeus

| Sthenelus

| Heleus

| Mestor

| Electryon

| Cynurus

|Gorgophone

| Autochthe

|-

|Grandchildren

|Achaemenid Persians

|Amphitryon, Anaxo, Perimede

|Eurystheus, Alcyone, Medusa

| –

|Hippothoe

|Alcmene, Stratobates, Anactor, Gorgophonus, Phylonomus, Celaeneus, Amphimachus, Lysinomus, Archelaus, Chirimachus, Licymnius

| –

|Aphareus, Leucippus, Tyndareus, Icarius

| –

|-

|Third Generation Descendants

| –

|Melas, Argius, Oeonus, Iphicles

|Admete, Perimedes, Alexander, Iphimedon, Eurybius, Mentor

| –

|Taphius

|Heracles, Iphicles, Oeonus, Melas, Argius,

| –

|Idas, Lynceus, Peisus; Hilaeira; Castor and Pollux, Helen, Clytemnestra, Timandra, Phoebe, Philonoe; Penelope, Perileos, Thoas, Iphthime, Aletes, Imeusimus, Damasippus

| –

|-

|Fourth Generation Descendants

| –

|Iolaus

| –

| –

|Pterelaus

|Heraclides, Iolaus

|

|Mnesileos; Anogon; Cleopatra; Iphigenia, Electra, Orestes, Chrysothemis, Laodice, Aletes, Erigone, Helen; Ladocus; Telemachus, Poliporthes, Acusilaus, Italus

| –

|-

|Fifth Generation Descendants

| –

|Leipephilene

| –

| –

|Chromius, Tyrannus, Antiochus, Mestor, Chersidamas, Eueres, Comaetho

|Leipephilene

|

|Medon, Strophius; Tisamenus, Penthilus; Persepolis, Latinus, Poliporthes

| –

|}

<gallery mode="packed" widths="180px" heights="180px" perrow="5">

File:Museo Nazionale Napoli - Perseus and Andromeda.jpg|alt=|Perseus freeing Andromeda after killing Cetus, 1st century AD fresco from the Casa Dei Dioscuri, Pompeii

File:The House of the Prince of Naples Plate 140 Triclinium North Wall Perseus and Andromeda MH.jpg|alt=|Perseus and Andromeda, 50 AD, fresco from the Casa del Principe di Napoli, Pompeii

File:Julius Troschel Perseus und Andromeda 1840-50.jpg|alt=|Julius Troschel: Perseus und Andromeda, c. 1845, Neue Pinakothek, Munich

File:Edward Burne-Jones - Perseus.jpeg|alt=|The Doom Fulfilled, 1888, Southampton City Art Gallery, from a series by Edward Burne-Jones

File:If looks could kill.jpg|alt=|Edward Burne-Jones: The Baleful Head, 1885, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. <small>same series; Perseus has Andromeda look at the Gorgon's head, but only as reflected in the well.</small>

File:Félix Vallotton Persée tuant le dragon 1910.JPG|Félix Vallotton, Perseus Killing the Dragon, 1910, oils, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire (Geneva)

</gallery>

:With Medusa

<gallery mode="packed" widths="180px" heights="180px" perrow="5">

File:Perseus Canova Pio-Clementino Inv969.jpg|Marble sculpture by Antonio Canova (Vatican City), c. 1800

File:Dalí.Perseo.JPG|Sculpture by Salvador Dalí

Perseus and Medusa Statue Full - Trentham Gardens, Staffordshire.jpg|Produced by order of George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland in 1840. Erected in Trentham Estate.

File:Perseus With the Head of Medusa-Grand Cascade of Peterhof.jpg|Sculpture by

File:Camille Claudel.- Persée et la Gorgonne..jpg|Perseus and the Gorgon, Camille Claudel, 1905

File:Perseo in Villa San Marco Stabiae.jpg|Roman fresco, Villa San Marco, Stabiae

</gallery>

On Pegasus

The replacement of Bellerophon as the tamer and rider of Pegasus by the more familiar culture hero Perseus was not simply an error of painters and poets of the Renaissance. The transition was a development of Classical times which became the standard image during the Middle Ages and has been adopted by the European poets of the Renaissance and later: Giovanni Boccaccio's Genealogia deorum gentilium libri (10.27) identifies Pegasus as the steed of Perseus, and Pierre Corneille places Perseus upon Pegasus in Andromède. Various modern representations of Pegasus depict the winged horse with Perseus, including the fantasy film Clash of the Titans and its 2010 remake.

Argive genealogy in Greek mythology

Constellation

thumb|Perseus with Medusa's head, from [[Urania's Mirror, a set of constellation cards, London, c. 1825]]

The constellation of Perseus is one of the classical Greek constellations. The legend says that because he was so brave fighting Cetus for someone else he was given a place in the stars forever. It is located in the east in the winter at about the Latitude 10-N. It is not far from the stars Betelgeuse and Sirius; his wife's constellation Andromeda is also nearby. It is southward from Cassiopeia, and to the left of Taurus. His constellation contains the most famous variable star Algol and some deep sky objects such as Messier 34, the Double Cluster, the California Nebula, and the Little Dumbbell Nebula (Messier 76). There are eight named stars in the constellation Algol, Atik, Berehinya, Menkib, Miram, Mirfak, Misam, and Muspelheim. It was cataloged in the 2nd century by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy and is known for the famous Perseid Meteor Shower. There is in fact a whole family of constellations based on the myth of Perseus, which includes Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, and Cetus. There is also a molecular cloud in the constellation that is 600 light years from the Solar System. There is also a cluster of galaxies called the Perseus cluster. There is one galaxy in the cluster named Caldwell 24 which is a powerful source for radio and X-ray waves. It has a visual magnitude of 12.6 and is 237 million light years away from the Milky Way galaxy.

In culture

Ishmael, the narrator of Herman Melville's Moby Dick, equates the , or Leviathans, of Antiquity with the modern understanding of the sperm whale, and therefore names Perseus as the progenitor and "prince" of all whalers. The myth of Andromeda is recalled as a supposed early period of honor-bound, "knightly" whaling, when such creatures were fought and killed for the protection of mankind rather than the pursuit of profit.

See also

  • Eurybarus and Alcyoneus
  • Menestratus and Cleostratus
  • Lugh
  • Lully
  • Ibert (1921)
  • Chimera
  • Aethiopia
  • The Story of Perseus and the Gorgon's Head, a short novel published in 1898

Notes

References

Bibliography

  • Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
  • Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica translated by Robert Cooper Seaton (1853–1915), R. C. Loeb Classical Library Volume 001. London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1912. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
  • Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica. George W. Mooney. London. Longmans, Green. 1912. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Herodotus, The Histories with an English translation by A.D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920. . Online version at the Topos Text Project. Greek text available at Perseus Digital Library.
  • Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
  • Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
  • Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859–1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
  • Suida, Suda Encyclopedia translated by Ross Scaife, David Whitehead, William Hutton, Catharine Roth, Jennifer Benedict, Gregory Hays, Malcolm Heath Sean M. Redmond, Nicholas Fincher, Patrick Rourke, Elizabeth Vandiver, Raphael Finkel, Frederick Williams, Carl Widstrand, Robert Dyer, Joseph L. Rife, Oliver Phillips and many others. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
  • Cartwright, Mark. "Perseus". World History Encyclopedia, World History Encyclopedia, 8 Mar. 2022.
  • NSF, NOIRLab. "Perseus Mythology". Globe at Night, 2019, .
  • Ogden, Daniel. "Perseus". Routledge & CRC Press, 2008.
  • Parada, Carlos, and Maicar Förlag. "Perseus". Perseus 1 – Greek Mythology Link, 1997.
  • "Perseus Mythology". Globe at Night,
  • The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of Perseus)