Perseus

Perseus, in Greek Mythology, the son of Zeus and Danaë (q.v.) and grandson of Acrisius. He was brought up at Seriphos, one of the Cyclades, where Polydectes reigned, who, wishing for private reasons to get rid of him, sent him when yet a youth to bring the head of the Gorgon Medusa, on the pretence that he wanted to present it as a bridal gift to Hippodamia. Persus set forth under the protection of Athena and Hermes, the former of whom gave him a mirror by which he could see the monster without looking at her (for that would have changed him into stone), the latter a sickle, while the nymphs provided him with winged sandals and a helmet of Hades or invisible cap. After numerous wonderful adventures he reached the abode of Medusa, who dwelt near Tartessus, on the coast of the ocean, and succeeded in cutting off her head, which he put into a bag and carried off. On his return he visited Ethiopia, where he liberated and married Andromeda (q.v.), by whom he subsequently had a numerous family, and arrived at Seriphos in time to rescue his mother from the annoyance of the too ardent addresses of Polydectes, whom, along with some of his companions, he changed into stone. After this he went to Argos, from which Acrisius fled to Thessaly, and Perseus assumed the vacant throne. But this, like many other details of the myth, is differently narrated. Perseus was worshipped as a hero in various parts of Greece, and, according to Herodotus, in Egypt too. In ancient works of art the figure of Perseus much resembles that of Hermes.