Perseus
The son of Zeus and Danae who beheaded Medusa, rescued Andromeda, and founded the Perseid dynasty of Mycenae.
The Legend of Perseus
Perseus was conceived when Zeus visited Danae as a shower of gold in the bronze chamber where her father Acrisius had imprisoned her to thwart a prophecy that her son would kill him. Set adrift in a chest with the infant Perseus, Danae washed ashore on Seriphos, where the fisherman Dictys took them in. When the local tyrant Polydectes desired Danae, he sent Perseus on an impossible quest: bring back the head of Medusa, the Gorgon whose gaze turned men to stone. The gods equipped Perseus: Athena gave him a polished shield, Hermes gave winged sandals and the harpe sword, and the nymphs provided Hades's Cap of Invisibility and a magic kibisis (bag). He found the Gorgons sleeping, approached Medusa using the shield as a mirror, and cut off her head. From her neck sprang Pegasus and Chrysaor. Returning home, he rescued Andromeda from a sea-monster, turned Polydectes to stone, and accidentally killed Acrisius with a discus — fulfilling the prophecy.
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Perseus
🗡 heroSlayer of Medusa, founder of Mycenae
Perseus was the demigod son of Zeus and Danaë who slew Medusa, rescued Andromeda, and founded the great city of Mycenae.
Perseus
🗡 heroSlayer of Medusa, founder of Mycenae
The legendary hero who slew the Gorgon Medusa and rescued Andromeda from a sea monster. Perseus founded the great city of Mycenae.
Jason
🗡 heroLeader of the Argonauts
The hero who assembled the Argonauts and sailed to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece, aided by Medea's sorcery.
Danaë
🗡 heroMother of Perseus, imprisoned in bronze
Danaë was a princess locked in a bronze tower by her father to prevent a prophecy — but Zeus came to her as a shower of golden rain, and she bore Perseus.
Oedipus
🗡 heroKing who fulfilled the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother
The tragic king of Thebes who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother, fulfilling a prophecy he had spent his life trying to avoid.
Tenes
🗡 heroPurity, Betrayal, Apollo
Prince of Colonae and first ruler of Tenedos, killed by Achilles despite his divine protection by Apollo.
Cepheus
🗡 heroNone recorded
King of Aethiopia who nearly sacrificed his daughter Andromeda to a sea monster
Cadmus
🗡 heroFounder of Thebes
Cadmus was the Phoenician prince who founded Thebes, sowed dragon's teeth, and brought the alphabet from Phoenicia to Greece.
Bellerophon
🗡 heroThe hero who tamed Pegasus
The Corinthian hero who tamed the winged horse Pegasus and slew the Chimera, but fell from heaven when he tried to reach Olympus.
Aleus
🗡 heroKingship, Arcadia
King of Tegea in Arcadia and founder of the great temple of Athena Alea
Paris
🗡 heroPrince who caused the Trojan War
Paris was the Trojan prince whose judgement of three goddesses and abduction of Helen ignited the Trojan War — the most consequential act of desire in Western mythology.
Cassiopeia
🗡 heroQueen whose vanity endangered her daughter
Cassiopeia was the queen who boasted her beauty exceeded the sea nymphs — provoking Poseidon to demand her daughter Andromeda as sacrifice.