THE GORGON’S HEAD

Acrisius, King of Argos received a dreadful oracle from Delphi. According to the priestess of Delphi, he
will not have a son but a grandson from whose hands he will be killed. Frightened, King Acrisius hid his
only daughter Danae from the sight of all men. Danae was locked up inside a house of bronze sunk
underground. Zeus entered into the underground chamber in the form of the shower of gold through
the roof partly opened. He appeared in front of Danae and in an instant Danae conceived a baby. Later,
Danae had given birth to a boy named Perseus. She kept her baby a secret from her own father. But
days have come and King Acrisius learned about her secret. The King ordered his people to have a chest
built for Danae and child Perseus. Danae and her child were put inside the chest and sent adrift the sea.
It bobbed in the waves until it reached the Island of Seraphos where a fisherman named Dictys noticed
the chest and took it. When he opened, he saw Danae and Perseus. The kind Dictys let them in their
house to live together with his wife. Dictys’ brother, King Polydectes was captivated with Danae’s beauty
and married her. Polydectes felt jealous over the love that Danae was giving to Perseus. To get rid of
Perseus, Polydectes sent him to a dangerous adventure that put his life in peril. The mission was to kill
Medusa, one of the three Gorgons. She has snaky hair and metal-scaled skin. Looking straight in
Medusa’s eye can turn mortals into stone. Despite the danger, Perseus agreed to embark on the
adventure in order to get his own name a glory. Hermes gave him a sword. He was also given a shield by
Athena. Hermes added that Perseus needed also the winged sandals, the helmet of invisibility, and the
magic wallet. Those three essential things were all in the possession of the Nymphs of the North.
Getting there was not easy. In order to get to the Nymphs of the North, Perseus has to go first to the
Gray Women who only could tell the direction. Perseus went to the Gray women, he snatched the eye of
the women and threatened not to return it unless they give him the direction pointing to the Nymphs of
the North. As soon as the direction was given, Perseus headed to the Island of Gorgons. He was
instructed by Athena, telling him that Medusa was the one lying closest to the seashore. With one swift
of his sword and with the help of his shield as mirror, Medusa was beheaded and her head was put
inside the magic wallet. While Perseus was making his way back home, he noticed a beautiful lady
chained on the cliff. He asked her name and why she was hanged. No reply was given by the lady.
Perseus insisted the lady to respond. She said her name was Andromeda, daughter of Ethiopian King
Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. Andromeda told Perseus that her mother boasted that she was the
most beautiful than 50 lovely daughters of Nereus. As a revenge to her mother Cassiopeia, Andromeda
suffered the punishment. At any moment, then, the serpent was on its way to devour Andromeda.
Perseus told Andromeda’s parents that he would save their daughter on a condition that they will allow
him to marry her. The king and queen agreed at once and Andromeda was saved from death. He took
Andromeda to his homeland. At that time, a discus-throw competition was going on at Larissa. Perseus
joined in and when it was his turn to throw the discus, he threw it mightily and accidentally hit an old
man in the audience. It was learned that his grandfather, King Acrisius, was the one hit by the discus.

What is the Gorgon's head all about?

- The Gorgon's head is a story where the main character, Perseus, son of Zeus and Danae, went on a
journey to kill Medusa, one of the Gorgon sisters. He was guided by the Gods that helped him get the
flying shoes, magical wallet and a shield from the gray women.

What is the summary of the Gorgons head?

- Perseus sets out on his journey to find the Gorgons His brother Hermes, who is a God, gives him a
special sickle-sword sent from Zeus, a shield as shiny as a mirror from the Goddess Athena, his sister,
and a pair of winged sandals so he can fly – all to help him on his quest to win a Gorgon's head.

The list of characters of the Gorgon's Head

Perseus - son of Danae and Zeus.
The Gorgons - The monstrous creatures. Hands made of brass, sharp fangs and a beard covered with
impenetrable scales and with hair of living snakes.
The Gray Women - Three Monstrous sisters of Gorgons namely Enyo the Shocking, Pemphredo the
horrifying and Deino the dreadful
Medusa - a monster with living venomous snakes in place of hair
King Acrisius - was the king of Argos. Grandfather of Perseus.
Polydectes - was the ruler of Seraphos and fell in love with Danae.
Dictys - brother of King Polydectes.
Andromeda - Daughter of Queen Cassiopeia and King Cepheus and later on becomes Perseus wife.
Hermes - the messenger of the gods and protector of the travelers. Son of Zeus
Athena - also known as Athene, the goddess of many things.
The value of each defense used by Perseus
Curved Sword - It is to cut off Medusa's head.
Bright Shield - for protection and to prevent looking directly to Medusa.
Helmet of Invisibility - It makes him invisible.
Winged shoes - This enables him to sprint faster and fly.
Magic Wallet - It's useful for storing things.

The Gods and Goddess who helped Perseus

The gods and goddess of the Gorgons helped Perseus on his first quest were to kill the monster Gorgon
Medusa, Perseus asked for help from them and because they loved Perseus so much they helped him
through giving any kind of weapons.

Hermes- curved sword with a pair of flying sandals.

Athena- bronze mirror.
Hades- invisibility cap.
These are the gods and goddess who made Perseus first quest that accomplishes killed Medusa the
monster.

Perseus Characteristics
Perseus loves his family
Perseus is witty and clever.
Persistent
Persuasive
Courageous
Strong fighter

Origin at ArgosPerseus was the son of Zeus and Danaë, the daughter of Acrisius, King of Argos.
Disappointed by his lack of luck in having a son, Acrisius consulted the oracle at Delphi, who warned him
that he would one day be killed by his daughter's son. In order to keep Danaë childless, Acrisius
imprisoned her in a bronze chamber, open to the sky, in the courtyard of his palace:[4] This mytheme is
also connected to Ares, Oenopion, Eurystheus, and others. Zeus came to her in the form of a shower of
gold, and impregnated her.[5] Soon after, their child was born; Perseus—"Perseus Eurymedon,[6] for his
mother gave him this name as well" (Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica IV).

Fearful for his future, but unwilling to provoke the wrath of the gods by killing the offspring of Zeus and
his daughter, Acrisius cast the two into the sea in a wooden chest.[7] Danaë's fearful prayer, made while
afloat in the darkness, has been expressed by the poet Simonides of Ceos. Mother and child washed
ashore on the island of Serifos, where they were taken in by the fisherman Dictys ("fishing net"), who
raised the boy to manhood. The brother of Dictys was Polydectes ("he who receives/welcomes many"),
the king of the island.

Overcoming the Gorgon

When Perseus was grown, Polydectes came to fall in love with the beautiful Danaë. Perseus believed
Polydectes was less than honourable, and protected his mother from him; then Polydectes plotted to
send Perseus away in disgrace. He held a large banquet where each guest was expected to bring a
gift.[note 1] Polydectes requested that the guests bring horses, under the pretense that he was
collecting contributions for the hand of Hippodamia, daughter of Oinomaos. Perseus had no horse to
give, so he asked Polydectes to name the gift; he would not refuse it. Polydectes held Perseus to his rash
promise and demanded the head of the only mortal Gorgon,[8] Medusa, whose gaze turned people to
stone. Ovid's account of Medusa's mortality tells that she had once been a woman, vain of her beautiful
hair.[9] Poseidon, the god of the seas, raped her inside of a temple dedicated to Athena, and as
punishment for the desecration of her temple, Athena had changed Medusa's hair into hideous snakes
"that she may alarm her surprised foes with terror".[10]
Athena instructed Perseus to find the Hesperides, who were entrusted with weapons needed to defeat
the Gorgon. Following Athena's guidance,[11] Perseus sought the Greae, sisters of the Gorgons, to
demand the whereabouts of the Hesperides, the nymphs tending Hera's orchard. The Graeae were
three perpetually old women, who had to share a single eye. As the women passed the eye from one to
another, Perseus snatched it from them, holding it for ransom in return for the location of the
nymphs.[12] When the sisters led him to the Hesperides, he returned what he had taken.

From the Hesperides he received a knapsack (kibisis) to safely contain Medusa's head. Zeus gave him an
adamantine sword (a Harpe) and Hades' helm of darkness to hide. Hermes lent Perseus winged sandals
to fly, and Athena gave him a polished shield. Perseus then proceeded to the Gorgons' cave.

In the cave he came upon the sleeping Medusa. By viewing Medusa's reflection in his polished shield, he
safely approached and cut off her head. From her neck sprang Pegasus ("he who sprang") and Chrysaor
("sword of gold"), the result of Poseidon and Medusa's mating. The other two Gorgons pursued
Perseus,[13] but, wearing his helm of darkness, he escaped. From here he proceeded to visit King Atlas
who had refused him hospitality; in revenge Perseus turned him to stone.[14]

Marriage to Andromeda
On the way back to Seriphos, Perseus stopped in the kingdom of Aethiopia. This mythical Ethiopia was
ruled by King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia, having boasted that her daughter Andromeda
was equal in beauty to the Nereids, drew the vengeance of Poseidon, who sent an inundation on the
land and a sea serpent, Cetus, which destroyed man and beast. The oracle of Ammon announced that
no relief would be found until the king exposed his daughter Andromeda to the monster, and so she was
fastened naked to a rock on the shore. Perseus slew the monster and, setting her free, claimed her in
marriage.

Perseus married Andromeda in spite of Phineus, to whom she had before been promised. At the
wedding a quarrel took place between the rivals, and Phineus was turned to stone by the sight of
Medusa's head that Perseus had kept.[15] Andromeda ("queen of men") followed her husband to Tiryns
in Argos, and became the ancestress of the family of the Perseidae who ruled at Tiryns through her son
with Perseus, Perses.[16] After her death she was placed by Athena among the constellations in the
northern sky, near Perseus and Cassiopeia.[note 2] Sophocles and Euripides (and in more modern times
Pierre Corneille) made the episode of Perseus and Andromeda the subject of tragedies, and its incidents
were represented in many ancient works of art

As Perseus was flying in his return above the sands of Libya, according to Apollonius of Rhodes,[17] the
falling drops of Medusa's blood created a race of toxic serpents, one of whom was to kill the Argonaut
Mopsus. On returning to Seriphos and discovering that his mother had to take refuge from the violent
advances of Polydectes, Perseus killed him with Medusa's head, and made his brother Dictys, consort of
Danaë, king.

Oracle fulfilled
The Doom Fulfilled, 1888, Southampton City Art Gallery, part of a series paintings revolving around
Perseus, created by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones

Perseus then returned his magical loans and gave Medusa's head as a votive gift to Athena, who set it on
Zeus' shield (which she carried), as the Gorgoneion (see also: Aegis). The fulfillment of the oracle was
told several ways, each incorporating the mythic theme of exile. In Pausanias[18] he did not return to
Argos, but went instead to Larissa, where athletic games were being held. He had just invented the quoit
and was making a public display of them when Acrisius, who happened to be visiting, stepped into the
trajectory of the quoit and was killed: thus the oracle was fulfilled. This is an unusual variant on the story
of such a prophecy, as Acrisius' actions did not, in this variant, cause his death.
This part of the series plays with the theme of the reflected gaze, as Perseus has Andromeda look at the
Gorgon's head, but only as reflected in the well.

In the Bibliotheca,[19] the inevitable occurred by another route: Perseus did return to Argos, but when
Acrisius learned of his grandson's approach, mindful of the oracle he went into voluntary exile in
Pelasgiotis (Thessaly). There Teutamides, king of Larissa, was holding funeral games for his father.
Competing in the discus throw Perseus' throw veered and struck Acrisius, killing him instantly. In a third
tradition,[20] Acrisius had been driven into exile by his brother Proetus. Perseus turned the brother into
stone with the Gorgon's head and restored Acrisius to the throne. Then, accused by Acrisius of lying
about having slain Medusa, Perseus proves himself by showing Acrisius the Gorgon's head, thus fulfilling
the prophecy.

Having killed Acrisius, Perseus, who was next in line for the throne, gave the kingdom to Megapenthes
("great mourning"), son of Proetus, and took over Megapenthes' kingdom of Tiryns. The story is related
in Pausanias,[21] who gives as motivation for the swap that Perseus was ashamed to have become king
of Argos by inflicting death. In any case, early Greek literature reiterates that manslaughter, even
involuntary, requires the exile of the slaughterer, expiation and ritual purification. The exchange might
well have proved a creative solution to a difficult problem; however, Megapenthes was required to
avenge his father, which, in legend, he did, killing Perseus, but only at the end of his long and successful
reign.

Perseus and Andromeda had seven sons: Perses, Alcaeus, Heleus, Mestor, Sthenelus,
Electryon, and Cynurus, and two daughters, Gorgophone and Autochthe. Perses was left in
Aethiopia and was believed to have been an ancestor of the Persians. The other descendants
ruled Mycenae from Electryon to Eurystheus, after whom Atreus got the kingdom. However,
the Perseids included the great hero, Heracles, stepson of Amphitryon, son of Alcaeus. The
Heraclides, or descendants of Heracles, successfully contested the rule of the Atreids.

AUTHOR
(1896–1980)

Anne Terry White was a teacher, editor, translator and author. She was born in Ukraine (then part of
Russia). White is known for her engaging works for children. She explores a wide variety of nonfiction
topics in her writing—literature, history, and science.

Gorgon’s Head was written by the Russian-born author named

Anne Terry White in 1896. The story was based on the Greek mythology about the
three sister-monsters called Gorgons.

- Gorgon’s Head is about the killing of Medusa, a Gorgon that

can turn people into stone in just one stare, by the Greek hero Perseus, and
the utilization of Medusa’s head to kill the monster that took Andromeda, who
was Perseus’ love interest.