The myths of Ancient Greece about Perseus, Orpheus, Theseus, the gods of Olympus and Hercules are known to most even better than the legends of their own people. They are perfectly preserved in the presentation of ancient philosophers. Numerous statues - Greek and Roman - as well as images on amphoras and bas-reliefs of temples serve as illustrations for the legends. The myth of Perseus is one of the central in the host of ancient Greek legends. It was expounded on the pages of their works by Hesiod, Ovid and other philosophers. He inspired many artists of Antiquity and the Renaissance to create masterpieces. Today we have the opportunity to compare different versions of the myth, as well as its numerous interpretations that have accumulated over several centuries.
Birth of a Hero
Legends and myths of Ancient Greece about Perseus tell of a young man in whose veins flows divine blood, but he is not endowed with any supernatural powers. He carries out his exploits with the help of his own mind and with the support of immortal relatives.
The story begins in Argos,where King Acrisius ruled. He imprisoned his beautiful daughter Danae in a dungeon in the hope that she would never have children. According to the prediction, Acrisia was to kill his own grandson. However, Zeus fell in love with the beauty and entered her, turning into a golden rain. Soon Danae gave birth to a son. The appearance of the boy did not hide from Acrisius. Hoping to avoid an evil fate, he ordered the mother and child to be imprisoned in a wooden box and thrown into the sea.
Serif Island
The ancient Greek myths about Perseus, in the best traditions of such stories, tell about the miraculous salvation of the heroes. The wooden box, where Danae and Perseus were, got tangled in the nets near the island of Serif. He was pulled ashore by Dictys, a fisherman and brother of the king of these lands.
Polydectes, lord of Serif, left Danae with his son at court. The boy grew up and turned into a stately young man, beauty, strength, ingenuity and dexterity surpassing all peers. Danaë became the object of the king's passion. Polydect tried to achieve what he wanted by force, but he met a serious opponent in the person of the young Perseus. It was then that the ruler of the island decided to send a young man after the head of the Gorgon Medusa in order to get rid of him forever.
Beautiful and terrible
The myth of Perseus and Medusa was one of the most popular in Antiquity. The most complete list of various versions of it is set out in the works of Apollodorus. According to one of them, Medusa was a beautiful girl with luxurious hair. In the temple of Athena, Poseidon forcibly took possession of her. The angry goddess punished the girl,who desecrated the shrine by turning her hair into hissing snakes.
In many retellings of the myth, Medusa appears as a being of a dual nature. She could turn all living things into stone with her gaze and was famous for her unsurpassed beauty. The blood from one part of her body was able to resurrect, and from the snake it killed like poison. Her two sisters, Stheno and Euryale, were immortal, but Medusa was no different from ordinary people in this sense. One version of the myth tells that the body of monsters was covered with steel scales, and copper claws were located on their hands. Gorgons could fly through the air with their golden wings. The hero had to face such an opponent.
Travel
Before fighting Medusa, Perseus had to overcome a considerable distance: the Gorgons lived far to the west. The Olympian gods came to the aid of the hero. Athena gave him her shield, in which everything was reflected, as in a mirror. Hermes gave Perseus a weapon capable of defeating Medusa. The way to the goal was also suggested to the hero by the winged messenger of the gods.
The myths of Ancient Greece about Perseus tell about the meeting of the son of Zeus with the Grays, the elder sisters of the Gorgons. According to legend, they were born old and had one eye and one tooth for three. The Grays took turns using them. At the moment when one handed over to the other eye, everyone was blind. The Grays knew the way to the Gorgons and guarded it. The cunning Hermes told the son of Zeus what to do with the old women. Perseus, on his advice, stole his only eye and tooth. The blind grays were ready to do anything to get theirs back. Perseus demanded to show the way to the Gorgons. Old womenthere was nothing to do but agree.
On the way to his goal, Perseus also met nymphs (the way to them, according to one version, was indicated by the same grays). They gave the hero magic items. The nymphs presented him with the helmet of Hades, the lord of the kingdom of the dead. The one who put it on became invisible. Perseus also received winged sandals, which allowed him to fly high and fast, like a bird. The third gift was a bag in which you could fit anything: it either expanded or contracted. Thanking the nymphs, Perseus moved on.
Feat
Perseus found the Gorgons while they were sleeping. Hermes pointed him to Medusa. The hero looked at the monstrous sisters through the shield of Athena. Perseus cut off the Gorgon's head, and the winged horse Pegasus and the giant Chrysaor appeared from the blood of Medusa. According to one version of the legend, their father was the god of the seas, Poseidon.
The body of Medusa fell into the sea, while Perseus put his head in a magic bag. From the splashing of the waves, the Gorgon sisters woke up and began to look for the killer, but he had already disappeared, wearing the helmet of Hades. According to Pindar, Athena, impressed by the groans of the Gorgons, created a flute that day.
Drops of Medusa's blood fell into the sands of Libya when Perseus flew over that country. According to legend, they turned into poisonous snakes and made the area deserted.
Atlant
Perseus, with the help of winged sandals, reached the country where the giant Atlas (Atlas), the brother of Prometheus, ruled. He guarded his flocksfine-fleeced sheep and the entrance to a magnificent garden where an apple tree grew with golden leaves and fruits. Atlas did not want to let Perseus in: he was predicted that one day the son of Zeus would steal his apples. The offended hero took out the head of Medusa from the bag and the giant turned to stone, turned into a mountain and since that time has been supporting the vault of heaven. And Perseus, having rested and taking a few golden apples, went on.
The myth of Perseus and Andromeda
Saving the beautiful Andromeda is the subject of many well-known masterpieces. According to legend, the girl was the daughter of the Ethiopian king Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Andromeda's mother was pretty and overly proud of it. Once she boasted that even sea nymphs could not compete with her in beauty. The offended Nereids complained to Poseidon and asked him to take revenge on the proud woman. The sea lord sent a monster to Ethiopia, similar in appearance to a giant fish. Kit (in earlier legends, Quito is the name of the sea goddess) began to ravage the coast of the country, killing its inhabitants. Cepheus went to the oracle for advice. He said that the only way to calm the monster is to give him Andromeda, the only daughter of the king. Cepheus and Cassiopeia had to send the girl to certain death.
Andromeda was chained to a rock and left until the arrival of the monster. Just at that time, Perseus flew past Ethiopia. He saw a beautiful maiden and immediately fell in love with her. The hero sank down on a rock and asked the princess about what had happened. Having received an answer, he turned to the unfortunate parents who approached him with a question,whether they would give Andromeda to him as a wife if she was saved. Cepheus and Cassiopeia promised Perseus a daughter and their entire kingdom if he defeats the monster.
Two versions
Further the myth of Perseus is usually told in one of two ways. In the first, the hero defeated Keith with the help of a sword given to him by Hermes. Several times rising into the sky and rapidly descending on the enemy, Perseus inflicted a mortal wound on the monster and saved the beautiful girl and the whole country. According to the second version, the hero defeated a huge fish by taking the head of Medusa out of his bag. The whale turned into a rock. Ovid also writes that after the battle, Perseus laid his weapon face down. At the same time, Medusa's gaze fell on the algae, and they turned into corals.
Fineus
The ancient Greek myths about Perseus, however, do not end there. The hero made sacrifices to Athena, Zeus and Hermes, and then decided to celebrate the wedding. The general merriment was interrupted by the appearance of an army led by Phineus, Andromeda's former fiancé. He accused Perseus of stealing the bride and set out to kill him. The forces of the opponents were unequal. Phineas has long been known in these parts, and he brought many warriors with him. Seeing that he could lose, Perseus again used the head of Medusa, and all his opponents turned to stone.
Some time the hero stayed in Ethiopia. Then he went with Andromeda to the island of Serif, where his mother was waiting.
Death of Polydectes
Perseus found Danae in the temple of Zeus, where she had to hide from the harassment of King Polydectes. hero immediately.went to the palace to find his mother's offender. He found Polydectes at a feast. The king obviously did not expect Perseus: the hero had long been considered dead. The son of Zeus announced that he had completed the task - he brought the head of Medusa. However, no one believed him. The already enraged Perseus raised the Gorgon's head high as proof, and everyone present turned to stone.
Power over the kingdom Perseus handed over to Dictys, brother of Polydectes, who had once saved the hero and his mother. He himself went to Argos.
Fulfilled prediction
The myth of Perseus ends with a story about his stay at home. Acrisius, having learned about the arrival of his daughter and grandson, fled in fear. Perseus began to rule in Argos. He returned the magical gifts to their owners, and gave the head of Medusa to Athena. The goddess placed it on her shell on her chest (according to another version - on the shield).
Acrisius still couldn't avoid what was predicted. He was killed by a disc thrown by Perseus during regular games. The saddened hero buried his grandfather and refused to rule in Argos. He went to Tiryns and ruled there for a long time.
Interpretation
Today, there are several interpretations of all known ancient mythological stories. Sometimes it is assumed that fantastic adventures hide information about real historical events that were transformed by ancient poets into such vivid images. The meaning of the myth of Perseus has also been interpreted in a similar way. There are cases in history when such an approach is taken to the point of absurdity. And then Zeusbecomes a major official, the golden rain that penetrated Danae - by bribing the guards, and Atlas or Atlas - an astronomer.
According to philological theory, myths are the result of language distortions. The names of the gods are derived from the ancient names of such common phenomena as sunlight, wind, fire, rain and clouds. Supporters of the theory provide evidence of the existence in ancient times of a single language, which gave rise to Sanskrit and Latin. The main ideas embodied in the myths were formed at a time when the ancestors of future peoples lived together. Then, with the change of languages, familiar plots began to form, in which, however, one can find a hidden original meaning.
Movement of the sun
The myths of Ancient Greece about Perseus in this theory are considered solar. Philologists reduce the names of heroes and gods to the names of natural phenomena in Sanskrit. Danaë is a parched land or a dawn generated by darkness (Acrisius) in the midst of brightness (this is how the name of the city of Akros can be translated). She was the beloved of the sky (Zeus) and gave rise to the bright day (Perseus). According to the prophecy, he will have to kill his grandfather, that is, darkness.
Medusa, according to the theory, personifies the starry night - beautiful, but dying with the advent of day. The name Andromeda also comes down to the Sanskrit for dawn, while Cassiopeia and Cepheus represent darkness and night.
Thus, the ancient myths about Perseus tell of the victory of light over darkness, the change of night into a new day. Almost all the legends of antiquity are interpreted in a similar way. Any myth - about Perseus, Orpheus and Eurydice, Theseus andAriadne, the exploits of Hercules - appears in this theory as a description of physical phenomena.
Whatever the meaning behind the poetic narrative, ancient tales continue to please with their imagery and colorfulness. The myth of Perseus inspired the creation of great paintings by Delacroix, Rubens, Veronese, Titian. The famous sculpture by Cellini, depicting the hero with the severed head of Medusa in his hand, is still considered the most beautiful decoration of Florence. The works of great authors, one might say, are the best reviews of the Perseus myth.
