Introduction
Perseus is a son of Zeus and the mortal Danaë, one of the great heroes of Greek myth prior to the generation of the Trojan War, best known for slaying the Gorgon Medusa and for founding the city of Mycenae.
This figure marks the point where the genealogy of the gods gives way to the genealogy of heroes. A fuller account of their adventures belongs to a separate treatment of the Greek Heroic Cycle; this article covers their divine parentage and place in that transition.
Family
- Father: Zeus
- Mother: Danaë
- Siblings: Persephone, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Dionysus, Ares, Hephaestus, Hebe, Eileithyia, Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, Urania, Heracles, Arcas, Epaphus, Aeacus, Dardanus, Minos, Rhadamanthus, Sarpedon, Pollux (Polydeuces), Helen, Amphion, Zethus
Birth and exile
Set adrift with his mother as an infant to escape a prophecy that he would kill his grandfather Acrisius, Perseus was raised on Seriphos, where he grew to manhood and was eventually sent, under duress, to bring back the head of Medusa, the one Gorgon among three sisters who was mortal.
Slaying Medusa
Aided by gifts from the gods, including winged sandals from Hermes, a cap of invisibility, a mirrored shield from Athena (to view Medusa's reflection rather than look at her directly), and a special sword, Perseus beheaded the sleeping Medusa; from her blood sprang the winged horse Pegasus and the giant Chrysaor.
Andromeda and later life
On his return, Perseus rescued the princess Andromeda from a sea monster, married her, and later, at an athletic contest, accidentally fulfilled the old prophecy by striking and killing Acrisius with a discus. He and his descendants became the founding royal line of Mycenae, connecting his story directly to the later Heroic Age.