Other Characters

Danae

 Danae is Perseus' caring mother. She is famous for being impregnated by Zeus, the god of thunder, who disguised himself as a shower of gold. Zeus was known to use odd disguises to seduce women which kept his wife in the dark. Nine months later, Danae gave birth to young Perseus.

The most well known depiction of Danae is when her natural beauty attracted unwanted attention  in the form of King Polydectes. After the King sends off Perseus to kill Medusa, Danae hides from Polydectes to avoid the marriage between them. So she comes off as a virtuous but also damsel-in-distress kind of character. When her son return, he rescues Danae by using the Medusa's head to turn the King into a statue.

Polydectes

The King of Seriphus, Polydectes, is one of the antagonists who wants to marry with Perseus' mother, Danae. He was the one who demanded Perseus to being him the head of Medusa, hoping the Perseus would die during the young man's quest. By the end of the story, Perseus did come back with the head of the Gorgon. However, he used it against Polydectes to tun him into stone.

Athena

Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, has appeared in almost every Greek myth. Athena was Odysseus' friend who also provided important advice and assistance to Heracles, Jason and, of course, Perseus.

She, along with Hermes, guides the Perseus to the Graeae where he gets information that leads him to the Nymphai. Athena provided our young hero with essential magical equipment like Hades' Helmet of Invisibility, Hermes' Winged Shoes, and the Kibisis. She also warns Perseus to only look at Medusa through the reflection on his shiny shield. This crucial advice helped Perseus during his battle against Medusa and in turn saving his life. Perseus showed his appreciation for Athena's help by giving her Medusa's head after he has done using it.

The Graeae

The Graeae are three old sisters who shared an eye and tooth. The supernatural ladies knew the location of Nymphai, who has magical tools needed for Perseus to kill the Medusa. The Graeae are reluctant to aid Perseus, so he steals their precious eye and tooth and refused to return them unless they told Perseus what he wanted.

The Nymphai

The Nymphai are supernatural women who possessed key equipment which Perseus need to defeat the Gorgon Medusa. Perseus learns the secret location of the Nymphai from the Graeae, and they were kind enough to let the young hero borrow the magical gear.

Weapons and Equipment

Winged Sandals

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The winged sandals were a gift from Hermes to Perseus. They were to aid him on his quest to kill Medusa. They were also used to fly.

Hades' Helmet

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The Helm of Darkness was used by Perseus to render himself invisible. It is also known as the Helm of Hades or the Cap of Invisibility. Perseus would use this to sneak into the cave where Medusa lived. He would later return it, after rescuing his mother.

Medusa's Head

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Perseus, who was commanded by King Polydectes to Kill Medusa and return with her head, and later on he used it to save Andeomeda by tuning Ketos into stone.

Reflective Shield

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The goddess Athena gave the hero Perseus a reflective mirror-like shield, which was also known as Aegis, to help him fight and kill Medusa; by looking at the Gorgon's reflection on the shield, and not directly to her eyes, Perseus wouldn't turn into stone.

Medusa

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Medusa is the monstrous lady whose head Perseus chops off. She is a Gorgon and, like her sisters, Stheno and Euryale, she has snakes for hair, bronze hands, wings, and tusks. Medusa and her fellow Gorgons are so hideous that they turn anyone they look at into stone. Though she is known to be this scary monstrous lady, she was not awake when Perseus came to kill her.

However, in a different depiction of the story, she used to be a very pretty girl who was unfortunate enough to chatch the eye of god Poseidon. He forced her to sleep with him in the sacred temple of Athena, which made Athena mad. However, she did not punish her uncle, Poseidon, instead she went after Medusa and turned her into a hideous Gorgon. Medusa was so ugly that her mere glance would turn a man to stone.

Perseus

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Perseus is one of the most famous Greek heroes and he's still popular today. He is brave, daring, and selfless, defeating  all the villains in his way with ease.

Perseus is the mortal on of the God Zeus, and a beautiful maiden named Danae. Though Perseus is Zeus's son, he's still mortal and doesn't have any supernatural powers. However, he's brave, skilled, intelligent, and have a good history with the Greek gods. While he may be determined and clever, he is still inexperienced and young when Polydectes orders the young man to bring him Medusa's head. He was fortunate enough to get assistance from the gods.

Like many other Greek heroes (e.g. Odysseus, Heracles, and Jason), Perseus gets advice and guidance from the goddess Athena, his half-sister. Though he's destined for greatness, it's more likely Perseus wouldn't get very far without divine help.

Perseus has some gods on his side to offer advice. Also, he has all sorts of useful items for his journey. However, he's only borrowing them. These items are also a form of assistance from the gods. He's got Hades' Helmet of Invisibility (a.k.a. Helm of Darkness), Hermes' winged sandals, and a fancy Gorgon-poison-proof bag.

Perseus and Medusa

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Perseus is perhaps the oldest of the Greek heroes with depictions of his beheading of the Gorgon Medusa being among the earliest scenes from mythology appearing in art. Even in mythology he is believed to have lived three generations before that other great hero Hercules, who was himself one generation before the Trojan War. Perseus’ mortal father was Danaos and his mother was Danae, the daughter of Akrisios (or Acrisius), the king of Argos. However, Perseus, as with other Greek heroes, was believed to have had divine parentage, something which helped to explain how they could achieve such fantastic feats, providing a link between men and gods and fulfilling their function as role models.

In Perseus’ case, Zeus was thought to be his real father after the king of the gods himself had slept with Danae when she had been imprisoned by her father. Akrisios had locked up his daughter in an underground prison made of bronze after an oracle had declared that his future grandson would kill him. Of course, this was no barrier to Zeus who entered the cell as a shower of golden rain. Naturally, when the child was born, Akrisios was unwilling to believe Danae’s far-fetched story of the golden rain. Suspicious and still mindful of the oracle, he sealed up the mother and child in a wooden chest and had them thrown into the sea. Zeus did not abandon his filial duties, though, and a quiet word with Poseidon ensured sufficiently calm seas, so that the chest washed up safely on the shores of the Aegean island of Seriphos and was found by Diktys, a fisherman who took them in and cared for the castaways.

It was here on Seriphos that Perseus peacefully spent his formative years, impressing everyone with his physical prowess and courage. However, as he grew older Perseus became an obstacle to the designs King Polydektes (or Polydectes) had on Danae, and the king began to look for ways to rid himself of the youth. An opportunity arose when Perseus rashly boasted he could slay the dreaded Gorgon Medusa, whose stare could instantly turn men to stone. Polydektes immediately challenged Perseus to make good on his promise and if he failed, then the king would take possession of his mother Danae.

The task seemed an impossible one, but here Perseus received guidance from the gods. Hermes and Athena counselled him to seek the advice of the three Graiai, who were known to be very wise and were actually sisters of the Gorgons. The three old witches shared one tooth and one eye between them and Perseus stole the eye, promising to return it only if the Graiai told him certain facts which would help him on his perilous mission. In some accounts the hero wanted to know the whereabouts of Medusa, in other versions he asks the Graiai where he could find the nymphs who had the cap of Hades, which made its wearer invisible, and winged sandals or boots so that he might fly. He also wanted a special bag (kibisis) in order to safely keep the severed head of Medusa, whose lethal stare still had power even after death. Naturally, the Graiai wanted their eye back, so Perseus got what he wanted and in addition, Hermes gave him a special sickle (harpe) of adamantine to do the deadly deed.

Using his flying sandals then, Perseus traveled to the ends of the earth (literally) and creeping up on the Gorgon, our light-footed hero, invisible thanks to his cap, beheaded Medusa without much fuss using his divine sickle, the only unexpected event being the emergence of Chyrsaor and Pegasus, the winged horse, from the severed neck of the dead Gorgon. The two surviving Gorgons gave chase, but Perseus received aid from Athena and he easily escaped with his prize.

Finally arriving back at Seriphos, Perseus learned that Polydektes had been abusing his mother in his absence. The hero, therefore, presented to Polydektes the head of Medusa as promised but made sure the deadly stare caught the king’s eye and turned him to stone. Perseus then presented the head as a gift to Athena who placed it at the center of her fearsome aegis.