Perseus - PatriciaNowacky

Perseus
By: Kristen, Royce, Brandon
Danae and Acrisius
• Acrisius is Danae’s father
• Danae is destined to have a son who will kill her
father
• Danae is beautiful above all other women
• Father locked her in a bronze house in the
ground to keep her from having a son
• Acrisius wanted Danae dead but was too afraid of
the wrath of the gods to kill her himself
Conception and birth of Perseus
• Zeus came in the form of gold rain which in turn was
the reason Danae had a son
• The son was discovered by his grandfather Acrisius
• Danae tried to hide her son knowing her father was
going to try to kill him
• Acrisius made a great chest and placed both Perseus
and Danae in it and sent them out on the ocean to
kill them both.
The plans of Polydectes
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Polydectes was the ruler of the island.
Polydectes wanted to marry Danae.
He didn’t want her son and he wanted to get rid of him.
Polydectes talked to Perseus about going to fight the
Gorgons.
He wanted the head of one of the Gorgons.
Polydectes made an announcement that he wanted to get
married and invited his friends.
Each guest was to bring a gift for the bride to be but Perseus
couldn’t because he was too poor
Perseus announced that he was going to bring Polydectes
Medusa’s head.
Supernatural intervention and gifts
from the gods
• Throughout the journey to find Medusa Perseus was being watched over
by 2 great gods
• These gods were Hermes and Athena
• Hermes guided him to find the gray women who would help him find the
nymphs of the north
• Hermes gave Perseus a sword
• Athena gave Perseus her shield of polished bronze and told him to look
into it to attack Medusa because if he were to look into her eyes he would
be turned to stone
The Gray Women
• Three women in the shape of swans. Their heads are human
but beneath their wings were human arms and hands
• They shared one eye between the three of them
• Perseus waited for one to pass the eye and when they did he
snatched it from them
• He used the eye as a hostage and forced them to tell him how
to get to the nymphs of the north
Nymphs of the north and their gifts
• They welcomed him with a feast
• They gave him 3 gifts:
• winged sandals
• a magic wallet which can hold anything of any size
• a cap which made the wearer invisible
Medusa
• Medusa was the only one who could be killed out of the
3 gorgons
• Perseus used the shield Athena gave him as a mirror
• He hovered above Medusa while she was asleep
• He aimed at Medusa’s throat and took a swing with
Athena guiding his hand
• He then swooped down and grabbed the head and put it
in the wallet
Andromeda and Cassiopeia
• On the way back home Perseus went to Ethiopia
• Perseus found that a lovely girl had been given up to be eaten by a
sea serpent, her name was Andromeda
• Andromeda was the daughter of the queen of Ethiopia, Queen
Cassiopeia
• Cassiopeia had boasted that her daughter was more beautiful than
the daughters of the sea god, Nereus
• The gods then demanded the sacrifice of her daughter
• When Perseus came to Ethiopia he found Andromeda on a rocky
edge by the sea chained there to await the monster
• When Perseus saw her he instantly fell in love
• He waited there with her and when the monster came he chopped
his head off
• After that Perseus took Andromeda back to her parents and asked
for her hand in marriage, to which they gladly agreed
The return home
• Perseus sailed back to the island with Andromeda
• When he returned to the house he once lived in he
found that Dictys’ wife had been dead for a long time
and his mother and the fisherman had had to fly and
hide from Polydectes
• Polydectes was furious at Danae refusal to marry him
• Danae and Dictys had been hiding in a temple
• Perseus had also heard that the king (Polydectes) was
holding a banquet
• Perseus attended this banquet and he drew the attention
of everyone there and before anyone could look away he
held up the head of Medusa and everyone was turned
into stone, including the king
The fate of Acrisius
• Perseus, Danae, and Andromeda went back to Greece to
see if Acrisius would welcome his daughter and
grandson
• When they got there they found that Acrisius had been
driven away and no one knew where he was
• Soon after Perseus arrived he heard of an athletic
contest being held by the King of Larissa and journeyed
to take part in it
• It was Perseus’ turn in the discus throwing and he threw
and it swerved and hit one of the spectators in the crowd
• The spectator happened to be Acrisius, he died instantly
Themes
• What goes around comes around: The fate of Acrisius
was inevitable and him sending Danae and Perseus
away did absolutely nothing to stop it.
• Guilt and redemption: Since Acrisius sent Danae and
Perseus away and didn’t do anything about it Perseus
redeems himself by returning with the head of Medusa.
Archetypes
• Hero: Perseus- He saves the town and saves the girl and
accidentally kills the grandfather that sent him away
• Villain: Acrisius- locks Perseus and Danae in a box and tosses them
into the sea Polydectes- Tricks Perseus into going to fight Medusa
ends up getting turned to stone
• Damsel in distress: Andromeda- Was found chained and Perseus
came and saved her
• Settings: Island- Where Polydectes was king
The sea- dangerous because it has sea monsters
• Symbols: Serpent- the sea serpent that was supposed to eat
Andromeda and Medusa had snakes on her head symbolizes
destruction and evil
Supernatural intervention- The gods
help Perseus to find and fight Medusa
• Situational: The quest- Perseus had to go and get Medusas head