This was a trick because Polydectes desired Perseus’ mother and wanted to get rid of her son, who was not in favor of the relationship. In the myth of Perseus, the hero is sent by Polydectes, Dictys’ brother and the king of Seriphus, on a quest to bring him the head of Medusa. However, there were others close by who weren’t so kind to the boy. Acrisius feared the child, but wanted to avoid Zeus’ wrath, so instead of killing Perseus, he sent the baby and Danae out to sea in a wooden chest.ĭictys of the island of Seriphus rescued the two and he raised Perseus like a son. The god had impregnated the princess in the form of a shower of gold after her father had locked her away upon learning from an oracle that he would be killed by his grandson. Perseus was the son of Danae, daughter of Acrisius the King of Argos, and Zeus.

The full myth of Perseus and Medusa begins years before they battled. Some other variations of the myth suggest that Medusa and the other Gorgons were always hideous monsters and covered with snakes.Ĭheck Out The Full Story Here Tap To Watch “In the middle is the Gorgon Medusa, an enormous monster about whom snaky locks twist their hissing mouths her eyes stare malevolently, and under the base of her chin the tail-ends of serpents have tied knots. To a monstrous being which Virgil writes of in a far less attractive manner: In golden ringlets wav’d, and graceful shone. Yet above all, her length of hair, they own, They, who have seen her, own, they ne’er did trace Thus, the description of Medusa changed from one of an alluring lady, as Ovid describes in Metamorphoses: When Athena discovered the sea god had ravaged Medusa in her shrine she sought vengeance by transforming Medusa’s hair into snakes, so that anyone who gazed at her directly would be turned into stone. Her beauty caught the eye of Poseidon, who desired her and proceeded to ravage her in Athena’s shrine. In this work, Ovid describes Medusa as originally being a beautiful maiden.

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