Perseus and medusa story

In greek mythology, perseus is the legendary founder of mycenae and of the perseid dynasty. The myth of perseus and medusa, according to pindar and apollodorus, started with a quest. Perseus and medusa perseus has to find the gorgon medusa, kill her and bring her head back to the king. He was, alongside cadmus and bellerophon, the greatest greek hero and slayer of monsters before the days of heracles. The story begins on the island of seriphus, the home of perseus and his mother, danae. Once medusas eyes are safely covered again, poseidon appears before the group and reveals that the event was arranged to test perseus and medusa, and he congratulates them on passing it.

Perseus was born to the god, zeus, and mortal woman, danae, making him a demigod with great strength and intelligent ingenuity. Aeschylus, phorcides lost play greek tragedy c5th b. The myth of perseus and the medusa the story of perseus and the medusa is featured in the book entitled greek gods, heroes and men by caroline h. Once upon a time, on the island of seriphus there was an evil king named polydectes. With a promising plot that gets more complicated as the story. Perseus said i have to get the face of medusa on a plate what a silly boy said the magician. He famously slew the dreaded gorgon medusa whose gaze could turn men to stone, an exploit he swiftly followed up with the daring rescue of the princess andromeda from a monstrous seacreature sent by poseidon to terrorize the kingdom of ethiopia perseus is perhaps the oldest of the greek heroes with. When you have finished reading the poem, please scroll down a little further to read some comments on the myth. The story of perseus from ancient mythology read about gods, goddesses and mythical creatures in the myth story of perseus. Anyone who looked in medusas orange eyes would instantly turn to stone. Sit comfortably and listen to wilf merttens tell the story of the greek myth perseus. The story begins when king polydectus sends perseus on a dangerous quest even though his mum didnt want him to go. Greek mythology heros journey of perseus storyboard. Clash of the titans the most recent hollywood production loosely based on the story of perseus.

Perseus and medusa photo by nightowl on pixabay, perseus and medusa. The story of perseus and medusa is a story of perseverance, bravery, and dignity. Perseus knew he needed help so he went to a wise magician. Polydectes, the king of seriphus, wishes to marry danae, and plots to get rid of perseus because he may object. Play perseus and medusa story home story text your work origins glossary. Olympus in the form of a stream of gold, which poured through the roof of the chamber, and soon danae had a baby named perseus. Perseus and medusa my version by khialat on deviantart. Adapted from the myths and legends of ancient greece and rome by e. As medusas head flies from her body, pegasus, the winged horse, and chysaor, a giant with a golden sword, jump out of her neck. She is killed by the hero perseus, who cuts off her head. Medusa would retain the power of her gaze even in death, and it was vital to hide the head unless occasion called for whipping it out and using it on some enemy. Perseus, one of the most famous of the legendary heroes of ancient times, was the. Text only version of perseus and medusa e2bn myths and legends.

This is an unusual variant on the story of such a prophecy, as acrisius. It was foretold to danaes father, acrisius the king of argos, that danaes son would kill him. There are various versions of the story, but depending on which one you pick up, either medusa seduced poseidon or he was smitten with her and took her in other words, the mythology of medusa holds within it a classic he saidshe said story of rape and. Strangely enough, medusas story doesnt end with her death. The god hermes also helped out at this point, providing perseus with a special cutting implement, a sword or sickle of adamant. The story forms the basis of the movie clash of the titans and both the movie and the poem contain some violence which make them unsuitable for young children. To the three gods, he builds the same number of altars out of turf, to you mercury on the left, to you minerva, warlike virgin, on the right, and an altar of jupiter in the centre. In most versions of the story, she was beheaded by the hero perseus, who was sent to fetch her head by king polydectes of seriphus because polydectes wanted to marry perseuss mother.

His family line was descended from zeus and he wanted a son to carry on the family line. Perseus, beheaded medusa and athena, athenian redfigure hydria c5th b. Medusa was a subject for ancient vase painters, mosaicists, and sculptors. This is a great source for all things ancient greek. King midas is granted his wish for everything he touches to be turned to gold. Perseus was the son of zeus and danae, the daughter of acrisius of argos. Fearing that, he hid his daughter danae in a chamber underground. In true renaissance style, cellini takes us on a trip back to ancient greece and the story of how the hero perseus, shown by cellini complete with winged. He turned the king to stone with medusas head and then gave the head to athena.

Medusa was strong and he turned anyone who looked at her eyes into stone. The story of perseus long ago, king acrisius of argos learned from an oracle that he would one day be killed by his grandson. The story of perseus and andromeda derives from greek mythology and contains very deep wisdom on the interactions of male and female energy. First of all, although he does kill medusa, really the goddess athena tells him how to do it. Athena gives perseus his winged sandals in a different variation of the story at first perseus didnt know where to find medusa, so he went and asked the three fates. Perseus is one of the greatest heroes of greek mythology. As an educator and counselor, i often use tales from classic greek mythology as a way of relating common themes that speak to the human condition. As medusa s head flies from her body, pegasus, the winged horse, and chysaor, a giant with a golden sword, jump out of her neck.

Among the renaissance depictions are the sculpture perseus with the head of medusa by benvenuto. He is best known as the slayer of the gorgon medusa, a fearsome monster, and as the rescuer of the. Medusa was asleep and perseus, using the reflection in athenas bronze shield as a guide so as to not look directly at the gorgons and be turned into stone, managed to cut off her head with his sickle. So acrisius locked his daughter away in a bronze chamber, but zeus transformed into a. Clash of the titans the 1980s take on the myth of perseus. In the portion of the perseus myth in which he encounters medusa, medusa a chthonic, snake haired, haglike entity actually represents. He would become one of the great heroes in greek mythology because of his ability to behead the monster, medusa. The story of medusa in greek mythology continued briefly after her decapitation. He received a mirrored shield from athena, gold, winged sandals from hermes, a sword from hephaestus and hadess helm of invisibility. Medusa apologizes for the loss of cetus, but poseidon simply replies that zeus will place the beasts image in the stars, allowing poseidon to briefly summon. Perseus and medusa ancient greek mythology stories youtube. It seems that medusas fate was sealed once she was cursed. In ancient greek mythology, medusa is a gorgon, one of three hideous sisters whose appearance turns men to stone.

It does miss out a few parts of the story that often come up in other versions, such as the involvement of the nymphs who gave perseus a. Acrisius went to the oracle for guidance and wisdom but left with a prophecy of his doom and demise instead, a prophecy. Perseus plops medusas head in the kibisis and starts make his getaway. Perseus personifies the length one would go to in order to save. On a boast, perseus sought medusa out to vanquish her once and for all.

The phorcides was the second of aeschylus trilogy of plays describing the story of perseus. Medusa simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Theres a good explanation, but thats another story. The myth of perseus and medusa explained theoi greek mythology. The gods were well aware of this, and perseus received help. Unhappily, she eventually came to the notice of the king. He sacrifices a cow to minerva, a calf to the wingfooted god, and a bull to you, greatest of the gods. Perseus, in greek mythology, the slayer of the gorgon medusa and the rescuer of andromeda from a sea monster. Perseus return journey to seriphos was a long one, and stopping off in aethiopia perseus discovered that andromeda was to be sacrificed to a sea.

The story of perseus and medusa began in ancient greece. During that time, perseus grew into a strong, handsome youth who was very protective of his lovely mother. Perseus and the golden medusa transcript to printdownload pdf play next. While little is written of her life, probably because no one survived an encounter with her, we do have the story of her death. Perseus and medusa greek mythology stories youtube. Origins of perseus and medusa e2bn myths and legends. Athena placed medusas head on her shield, called the aegis. The story of perseus and medusa, the snakehaired gorgon. Perseus the short mythical story of perseus is one of the famous legends that feature in the mythology of ancient civilizations. The myth of perseus and medusa is one of the most known myths of the greek mythology. The fates were very old and they only had one eye and one tooth between them and they took turns every day, passing the eye and the tooth between them. Harding, published in 1906 by scott, foresman and company. The myth of perseus and medusa is one of the best thrillerlike tales in greek mythology.

The myth of perseus and medusa greek myths and greek. He was brave in battle, a great speaker, and very quick thinking. Learn more about the traditional story of perseus in this article. The pythia smiled knowingly through the swirling vapours that rose. The gorgons lived at the ocean, and medusa caught poseidons attention. The story of perseus is the classic story of the journey of the hero, which, esoterically, is about transforming chaotic energies within the onesself into power, wisdom, and light and true creative force. Perseus takes the reflective bronze shield from athena and holds it up to use as a mirror to locate medusa. Medusa, in greek mythology, the most famous of the monster figures known as gorgons.

Although perseus is the hero of the story, he doesnt act very heroic. We get a little about perseus from homer in the iliad, his famous story of the trojan war, written in the 7th or 8th centuries bc. Like hercules, his father was the mighty zeus, king of all the gods. To the greeks, medusa is the leader of an ancient, older matriarchal religion that had to be obliterated. The myth of perseus and medusa greek myths and greek mythology. Perseus did all he could to guard his mother against the kings unwanted attentions. The story of how medusa was killed by perseus is one of the most thrilling stories in greek mythology.

She was usually represented as a winged female creature having a head of hair consisting of snakes. Perseus plops medusa s head in the kibisis and starts make his getaway. Perseus is actually a demigod and, this is a greek myth not roman. The plot revolved around perseus quest for the head of medousa. Perseus giving medusas head to athena, as imagined by an ancient greek artist. Medusa was one of three sisters, the gorgons and perseus beheaded. The story of perseus, like many greek myths, begins with a prophecy, a prophecy that acrisius, the king of argos, received from the oracle of delphi. She appears on the breastplate of alexander the great in the alexander mosaic at the house of the faun in pompeii, italy about 200 bc a roman copy of phidias medusa left is held in the glyptothek in munich, germany. Medusa cursed by athena and killed by perseus ancient. Perseus s grandfather akrisios goes to the oracle to ask how long he has to live.

Perseus, one of the most famous of the legendary heroes of ancient times, was the son of zeus and danae, daughter of acrisius, king of argos. One of my favorites is the medusa story, sometimes referred to as perseus and the gorgon medusa. His mother was a mortal, a lovely princess of the greek citystate of argos. Perseus with the head of medusa, now regarded as one of the masterpieces of 16thcentury florentine art, has all the hallmarks not just of a great work of art, but that of a fantastic and uniquely florentine story, too perseus and medusa. Perseus was one of the greatest and oldest panhellenic heroes of greek mythology.

The death of medusa edward burnejones 18331898 pdart100. Text only version acrisius eyes widened in horror as the ancient pythia priestess hissed, king of argos, listen well. He beheaded the gorgon medusa for polydectes and saved andromeda from. The myth of perseus and medusa is one of the best thrillerlike tales in greek mythology with a promising plot that gets more complicated as the story progresses, this myth has a typical hollywoodlike scenario with the main character not being born yet at the moment when his destiny was determined. The tale of perseus and medusa free stories online. Perseus was the son of danae and zeus, who came to danae in the form of a golden spring. Long before medusa faced off with perseus, there was poseidon.

There are many versions of the medusa myth, and this poem tells one of the most popular ones. Perseus and the head of medusa a very florentine story. Zeus was the father of perseus, and according to myth raped leda, europa, and antipode, as well as being complicit in the abduction and rape of his daughter persephone, but not medusa. Polydectes had taken perseuss mother and told perseus the only w.