1. Heroic Myth Perseus

2. Introduction to Heroic Myth
Humans are the protagonists, not gods
Narrative about events in the human, not divine, past
“Hero”
Homer: noble-born male who’s alive
Later: noble figure from the distant past.

3. Folktale Motifs and Heroic Myths
Partly divine birth
Miraculous birth and childhood
Great strength is a benefit and menace
A friend
Falls under enemy’s power of spell
Breaks a taboo
Is tempted
Responsible for friend’s death

4. Folktale Motifs and Heroic Myths
The quest
Help from gods
Return home and is domesticated
Rewarded for his efforts
Great funeral

5. Danaë and the Shower of Gold
Legends of Perseus
Danaë and the Shower of Gold

6. Danaë and the Shower of Gold
Lynceus (the one spared) in Argos after Danaüs
Hypermnestra
His son Abas has twins
Acrisius, rules in Argos
Proetus, rules in nearby Tiryns (Poetids-madness)
Acrisius has a daughter, Danaë, but wants sons

7. Danaë and the Shower of Gold
Oracles says Danaë will have a son, but that he will kill him (Acrisius)
Zeus’s “rain shower” impregnates her
Set adrift in a wooden box
Dictys at Seriphos
Polydectes
Tricked Perseus into going on a quest for the head of a Gorgon

9. Poor Danae
Danae was the daughter of Acrisius. An oracle warned Acrisius that Danae's son would someday kill him, so Acrisius shut Danae in a bronze room, away from all male company. However, Zeus conceived a passion for Danae, and came to her through the roof, in the form of a shower of gold that poured down into her lap; as a result she had a son, Perseus. When Acrisius discovered Perseus, he locked both mother and son in a chest, and set it adrift on the sea. The chest came ashore at Seriphus, where Danae and Perseus were welcomed. Later, King Polydectes of Seriphus fell in love with Danae and tried to force himself on her; he was eventually killed by Perseus.

10. Danae and Perseus set adrift

11. Perseus, the Gorgon Slayer

12. Graeae and Perseus
Medusa was one of three terrible sisters called Gorgons. They had leathery wings, brazen claws, and writhing poisonous snakes in place of hair. Anyone who looked at them turned to stone. But Perseus was helped by the gods. Athena lent him her brightly polished shield, and Hermes gave him a magic sword. Perseus came to the land of night where the three Gray Sisters (the Graeae) lived. They had only one eye and one tooth among them. They refused to help Perseus, but he stole their eye and returned it only when they told him where to find the Gorgons.

13. Perseus, the Gorgon Slayer
Stheno
Euryalê
Medusa (the only mortal Gorgon)
Help from the Graeae-shared on eye, Perseus stole it.
“Where can the Gorgons be found?”

14. Medusa

15. Perseus the Gorgon Slayer
Magical implements-nymphs
Cap of Hades
Winged sandals
The kibisis-special leather puch
Extra sharp sword
Highly polished bronze shield
Using invisibility snuck up and killed Medusa by cutting off her head while looking in the shield.

16. Perseus’ gifts from Nymph

17. Slaying Medusa
With winged sandals that enabled him to fly, the helmet of Hades that made him invisible, and a bag in which to conceal the head, he set out again and finally found the three Gorgons asleep. He put on his cap of darkness and flew nearer. Alighting, he looked into his shining shield, thus avoiding a direct look at the Gorgons. With one stroke of his sword he cut off Medusa's head.

18. Slaying Medusa

19. Perseus with Medusa’s Head

20. Perseus the Gorgon Slayer
From the body of Medusa, who was pregnant by Poseidon
Pegasus, later tamed by Bellerophon
Chrysaör
Perseus frees his mother from Polydectes’s aggression with the head of Medusa

21. Pegasus

22. Rescuing Danae
Perseus continued home and rescued his mother by turning Polydectes and his supporters to stone at the sight of Medusa's head.

23. Perseus and Andromeda

24. Perseus and Andromeda

25. Perseus and Andromeda
Cepheus’s daughter, Andromeda, about to be sacrificed to a sea monster, because of the rash boast by her mother, Cassiopeä
Perseus given Andromeda and the kingdom for having freed her
Phineus, to whom Andromeda had been betrothed, killed with his men by the head of Medusa

26. Andromeda Saved

27. Andromeda
beautiful daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiope of Joppa in Palestine (called Ethiopia) and wife of Perseus. Cassiope offended the Nereids by boasting that Andromeda was more beautiful than they, so in revenge Poseidon sent a sea monster to devastate Cepheus' kingdom. Since only Andromeda's sacrifice would appease the gods, she was chained to a rock and left to be devoured by the monster. Perseus flew by on the winged horse Pegasus, fell in love with Andromeda, and asked Cepheus for her hand. Cepheus agreed, and Perseus slew the monster. At their marriage feast, however, Andromeda's uncle, Phineus, to whom she had originally been promised, tried to claim her. Perseus turned him to stone with Medusa's head. Andromeda bore Perseus six sons and a daughter.

28. Perseus kills Phineus

29. The Death of Acrisius

30. The Death of Acrisius Perseus returns to Argos
Acrisius flees (it is fated that Perseus will kill him)
At a sports contest in Thessaly, Perseus accidentally kills him with a stray discus
Trades Argos of Tiryns with Megapenthes, a son of Proetus
Perseus also builds Mycenae

31. The final chapter Can’t escape the Fates!
Mycenae founded by Perseus, later ruled by Atreus and then Agamemnon
Perseus’ grandson Heracles

32. The Death of Acrisius
After a long rule, Perseus and Andromeda become constellations, where their story can be seen
Perseus
Perseus Cartoon

33. Perseus and Folktale

34. Perseus

35. Perseus and Folktale Perseus’ tale is nearly a child’s fairy tale
Closest we have to a folktale
The form of the girl’s tragedy for Danaë

36. Perseus and Folktale Prohibition Seclusion
Can’t marry
Seclusion
Locked in a chamber
Violation of the prohibition
The shower
Threat of punishment or death
Set adrift in a box
Liberation
Save by Dictys

37. Perseus and Folktale Perseus’s story somewhat like Gilgamesh’s
More emphasis on the quest
Extraordinary birth; his own strength a threat to his family; impossible labors with divine help; rewarded in the end with a kingdom and wife
Differences: no taboo, no male friend

38. Perseus and Folktale
Perseus devoid of internal struggle and personality
These are adult themes and not a part of folktale
Perhaps the Perseus story circulated as oral tales (for children?) before it was written down

39. End