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The family of Dan’a us and his famous descendant Perseus sprang from that lo, the daughter of the river-god In’achus, whom Zeus had loved. (See p. 24.) Still in the form of a heifer, she came to Egypt, where she was restored to her human form and gave birth to a son. Some of her descendants remained in Egypt and ruled there as kings.

One of these Egyptian kings had two sons, Ægyp’tus and Danaüs, of whom the former was the father of fifty sons and the latter of as many daughters. Danaüs had cause to fear his nephews, and when they wished to marry his daughters, he fled to Argolis; but Ægyptus and his sons followed them and pressed the marriage. While pretending to yield, Danaüs ordered his daughters to carry concealed daggers and each to murder her husband on the wedding night. Forty-nine of the fifty obeyed, but the fiftieth, Hy perm nes’tra, spared her husband, Lynceus. About the fate of the forty-nine there is some difference of opinion. Some say that Danaüs found suitors so scarce after this that he was compelled to give them to the contestants in a race. Others say that Lynceus killed them all to avenge his brothers, and that they were punished in Hades by being compelled eternally to carry water in leaky vessels. Perhaps these Da na’i des represent the springs of Argolis, whose waters quickly run away and are absorbed by the dry and porous soil of that country.

Fig. 60. Carpenter making the chest for Danaë and Perseus.

Hypermnestra and Lynceus had a grandson named A cris’i us, to whom was born one daughter, Danaë, and no son. When he sent to the oracle at Delphi to know whether he might hope for a male child, he received the answer that he was fated to have no son and that he should meet death at the hands of a son of Danaë. Hoping to avoid this danger, he had a great bronze chamber constructed in the earth, and here he imprisoned his daughter with her nurse. After some years, when he was one day passing near the opening of this strong prison, he was astonished to hear the voice of a little child at play. Summoning his daughter before him he inquired who was the father of her child. She answered him that through the opening in the roof of her prison Zeus had come to her in the form of a golden shower, and that it was he who was the father of her child, Perseus. Acrisius, by no means believing this story and determined to be rid of his dangerous grandson, had the mother and child shut up in a great chest and set adrift on the sea. The Greek poet Simonides tells of the love and despair of the young mother:

When, in the carven chest,

The winds that blew and waves in wild unrest

Smote her with fear, she, not with cheeks unwet.

Her arms of love round Perseus set,

And said: O child, what grief is mine!

But thou dost slumber, and thy baby breast

Is sunk in rest,

Here in the cheerless brass-bound bark,

Tossed amid starless night and pitchy dark.

Nor dost thou heed the scudding brine

Of waves that wash above thy curls so deep.

Nor the shrill winds that sweep,—

Lapped in thy purple robe's embrace.

Fair little face!

But if this dread were dreadful too to thee,

Then wouldst thou lend thy listening ear to me;

Therefore I cry,— Sleep, babe, and sea be still,

And slumber our unmeasured ill.

Oh! may some change of fate, sire Zeus, from thee

Descend, our woes to end!

But if this prayer, too overbold, offend

Thy justice, yet be merciful to me!

Zeus did not fail to hear her cry, but guided the chest to the island of Se ri’phus, where a fisherman, Dictys by name, drew it ashore in his net. Unlike the other inhabitants of the island, he was a kindly man and he cared for the unfortunate castaways in his own home.

It happened that a brother of the fisherman, Pol y dec’tes, who was king of the island, fell in love with Danaë and, as he was an unjust and cruel man, wished to make her accept his love even against her will. But by this time Perseus had grown into a particularly strong and brave young man, and Polydectes was afraid of him. He therefore formed a plan to get him out of his way. Inviting a number of young men to a feast, he asked them each to bring him some valuable gift. Perseus impulsively declared that he was ready to attempt anything, even to getting the head of the gorgon Me du’sa, the most impossible feat imaginable. Now Medusa had once been a beautiful maiden, who was over-proud of her beauty, and especially of her glorious hair. When she dared to compare herself to Athena, the goddess avenged the insult by turning her hair into snakes and her face into so terrible a sight, with its great glaring eyes, and its huge mouth with protruding tongue, that any one who looked upon it was turned to stone. Polydectes caught at Perseus' offer, and while he demanded only a horse as a gift from each of the other young men, he insisted that nothing but this horrible head would be acceptable from him. One cannot wonder that Perseus was thrown into the depths of despair at the thought of this hopeless adventure.

Fig. 61. Head of Medusa.

As he wandered along the shore, however, Hermes met him, urged him not to lose hope, and instructed him how he should accomplish the task. For his success three things were necessary, the helmet of Hades, which made its wearer invisible, the winged sandals, and the magic wallet. These were in the care of the nymphs, and no one could tell him where these nymphs were except the Græ'æ, three extraordinary old women who had among them just one tooth and one great bright eye. Hermes, therefore, sent Perseus off under the guidance of Athena, to find these old women.

But when Perseus came to them, the Grææ refused to tell him where the nymphs lived, and it was only when he adroitly seized the eye, as the old women passed it from one to another, that he compelled them to tell him what he wanted upon pain of being forever deprived of sight. Having thus found the nymphs and having received from them the helmet of Hades, the winged sandals, and the magic wallet, still under the guidance of Hermes and Athena the young hero flew far away to the west, where the stream of Ocean encircles the world. Here, by the shore, were sleeping the gorgons, Medusa and her two terrible and immortal sisters.

Fig. 62. Perseus killing Medusa.

Now the wise Athena had warned Perseus that he must not look directly at the gorgons, but must fly down from above, guiding himself by the reflection in his brightly polished shield. Perseus did exactly as he was told, and with one blow of his sharp sword severed Medusa's head from her body, and thrust it into the magic wallet. But the two sisters were awakened by the hissing of the snakes, and as the hero flew away on the winged sandals, they pursued him and would certainly have caught him had not the helmet of Hades made him invisible.

On his return journey, Perseus came to the entrance of the Mediterranean Sea, where the giant Atlas ruled, rich in flocks and herds and proud of his Garden of the Hes per’i des, where grew trees of golden apples. Now Atlas had learned from an oracle that one day a son of Zeus would come who would rob him of the cherished golden fruit. When, therefore, Perseus came, announcing himself as the son of Zeus and demanding rest and a hospitable welcome. Atlas not only refused him but tried violently to drive him from his land. Perseus was no match for the giant in strength, but he drew from the wallet the terrible gorgon's head. Atlas was changed into a mountain; his beard and hair became trees, and his bones, rocks; his head towered high among the clouds, and the sky with all its stars rested upon his shoulders. This is the Mt. Atlas in Africa that still guards the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, rising opposite Gibraltar.

Fig. 63. Atlas supporting the Heavens.

Next the hero came to the land of Ethiopia, where Cepheus and his wife Cas si o pe’a ruled. Because the queen had boasted that she was more beautiful than the ocean nymphs, Poseidon in anger had sent a terrible sea-monster to devastate the coast, and the oracle had pronounced that only by the sacrifice of the! princess An drom’e da could the land be freed from this terror. So, when Perseus came flying by on his winged sandals, he saw a lovely maiden chained to a rock and raising tearful eyes to heaven. He stopped, learned of the cruel sacrifice, and secured from Cepheus the promise that if he should kill the monster and free the maiden, he should have her as his wife. The sword that had severed Medusa's head from her body now put an end to Poseidon's monster, and the grateful parents received the conqueror as a worthy son-in-law. But while they were celebrating the wedding-feast, Phineus, to whom Andromeda's hand had been promised, but who had held back while the terrible sea-serpent threatened, rushed in with a strong band of followers and attempted to claim his bride and slay his courageous rival. Again Medusa's head was drawn out, and Phineus and his company were turned to stone.

During Perseus' absence Polydectes had become more violent and tyrannical than ever, and Dictys and Danaë had been compelled to take refuge at a shrine. Here they were when the hero returned in triumph to Seriphus. Polydectes was seated in the midst of his wicked court, assembled to witness the discomfiture of the foolish young man who had gone out on such an impossible adventure. Even when Perseus came before them and showed the wallet, the king refused to believe that it contained the dreadful head. As the company looked scornfully on him, the hero drew forth the head, and instantly Polydectes and his whole court became stone images. Dictys was made king of Seriphus, the gorgon's head was presented to Athena, on whose breastplate, or ægis, it ever after appeared, and Perseus, accompanied by his mother and his bride, returned to his native land of Argos.

The hero's grandfather, Acrisius, had heard that his grandson was coming and had fled to another town to avoid his fate, but Perseus, innocent of any evil intention, followed him, wishing to persuade him to return. In an athletic contest Perseus threw a discus, which, bounding aside, hit Acrisius on the foot, thus causing his death and bringing the fulfilment of the old prophecy. After this Perseus felt unwilling to succeed to the throne of his grandfather; he therefore effected an exchange with his cousin and became king of Mycenæ and Tiryns.