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Perseus (Mythology)

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Perseus (US: /ˈpɜːr.si.əs/, UK: /ˈpɜː.sjuːs/
Greek: Περσεύς, translit. Perseús) is the main protagonist of the myth, Perseus and Medusa. In Greek myths, he was the Greek demigod son of Zeus and Danae, as well as the legendary founder of the Perseid dynasty, and the the half-brother and great-grandfather of Heracles (as they were both children of Zeus, and Heracles' mother was descended from Perseus). He is considered one of the greatest heroes of all time, alongside the feats of Hercules, Bellephron, and Cadmus. Perseus is notable for slaying the Gorgon, Medusa, saving Princess Andromeda from the demonic sea serpent, Cretus and one of the few Greek heroes to have a happy ending.

Mythology[]

Dangerous prophecy[]

Slaying of Medusa[]

Saving Andromeda[]

A Prophecy Come True[]

A Happy Ending[]

Personality[]

Powers and abilities[]

Possessions[]

  • Medusa Head
  • Winged Shoes

Etymology[]

  • Perseus might be from the Greek verb πέρθειν (pérthein, "to waste, ravage, sack, destroy") some form of which is familiar in Homeric epithets. According to Buck, the -eus suffix is typically used to form an agent noun, in this case from the aorist stem, pers-. Pers-eus therefore is a "sacker [of cities]"
    that is, a soldier by occupation, a fitting name for the first Mycenaean warrior.

In Other Media[]

Movies[]

  • In 1963, Perseus appears as Perseo, the protagonist of the Spanish-Italian sword and sandal film Medusa Against the Son of Hercules, which was directed by Alberto de Martino and starring Richard Harrison as one of the two titular characters.l.
  • Perseus appears in the fourth segment of the Japanese animated anthology film, Metamorphoses.
  • In the 1981 live-action/stop motion film Clash of the Titans, the film loosely adapts Perseus' mythology. Perseus is portrayed by Harry Hamlin in the original. Like the myths, Perseus is born from a love affair between Zeus (Laurence Olivier) and Princess Danae in a glittering shower of gold. However, a major threat to him is the demon, Calibos and his mother, Thetis. The Kraken takes the place of Cretus and Perseus must save Andromeda and her kingdom of Joppa (instead of Ethiopia).
    • In the 2010 remake of Clash of the Titans, he is portrayed by Sam Worthington. He is a child born of rape when Zeus disguised himself as King Acrisius and slept with Andromeda, who was Acrisius' wife as opposed to his daughter like the myths. He falls in love with Io as opposed to Andromeda and has a son, Helius in the sequel, which is ironic because Io was actually Zeus' lover in the myths and Perseus' distant ancestor. Also, as opposed to Thetis, Perseus' main opponent is Hades. He later appears in the 2013 sequel Wrath of the Titans.
  • The statue of Perseus appears in the film, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. During the class trip to the Metropolitan Museum, Percy is called on by Chiron who asks him to name another Great Hero other than Achilles and Hercules. He also gives him a hint that Percy and the hero share the same name. He realizes that Chiron is talking about Perseus, his hero's namesake when he sees a depiction of Perseus slaying Cretus and saving Medusa.

TV[]

  • The legend of Perseus and his feat of slaying the Gorgon, Medusa, was adapted as an episode of Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Greek Myths episode "Perseus and the Gorgon" (1991). Before his birth, the Oracle of Delphi tells King Acrisius that his daughter’s son will one day kill him. He is born after Zeus visits Danae in the form of a glittering shower of gold and kept secret within the tiny cell he and his mother are in until Acrisius discovered a ten-year-old Perseus as opposed to him being an infant. In the series, Perseus grew into adulthood after he and his mother were saved by Dictys, who raised Perseus as if he were his own son. After Polydectes grows attracted to Danae, Perseus leaves to slay the Gorgon Medusa, so King Polydectes doesn’t marry his mother. However, he gains winged shoes from his brother Hermes and a sword, Hades’ helm of Darkness, and a shield and sword from his sister, Athena. He slays the Gorgon after being told how to by the Gray Sisters when he threatened to cast away their single eye. The part where Perseus saves Andromeda from Cretus is omitted and the story adds that Perseus turned Atlas to stone after seeing how he was burdened with holding the sky. Returning to Serifos, Perseus learns that Polydectes married his mother while he was away. In retaliation, he turned Polydectes to stone and is mentioned by the Storyteller to have accidentally killed his grandfather during a javelin tournament, thus fulfilling the prophecy.
  • In Mythic Warriors, Perseus appears in the episode "Perseus: The Search For Medusa." He is voiced by Robin Dunne.
  • In the 2014-2021 series, The Great Myths (Les Grands Mythes) (2014–2021), Perseus appears in the episode "Perseus, Death In His Eyes" ( "Persée, la mort dans les yeux" ) (2014)
  • In the TV series Once Upon a Time, Perseus and Medusa's myth was adapted into an episode of season 3, where Snow White takes the place of the hero. In the series, Snow is afraid of her stepmother Regina's threat to steal the heroes' happy endings. She tricks her husband, David into staying at her summer home, the Summer Palace, where Snow hopes to slay Medusa and use her severed head to turn the Evil Queen into stone. Despite being irritated David reluctantly goes along with her plan
    unfortunately when Snow goes to behead Medusa, her blade is shattered when it makes contact with Medusa's neck. Instead the Gorgon easily defeat Snow and turns David to Stone instead. After being taunted by Regina, Snow later tricks Medusa into looking into her own reflection, thus killing Medusa and restoring David to flesh.
  • Perseus is also mentioned in Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV series, where Percy and his mother visited the statue of Perseus and Medusa. In the third episode, Percy positions himself as the statue when he uses Medusa's head to turn his, Annabeth and Grover's pursuer, Alecto to stone.

Literature[]

  • The Story of Perseus and the Gorgon’s Head is a short novel published in 1898 for the series Books for the Bairns. The story was edited by W.T. Stead and taken from Charles Kingsley, who originally wrote the story with the name Perseus, the Gorgon Slayer and published it in his book The Heroes, or Greek fairy tales in 1855.
  • In the Camp Half-Blood series, the main protagonist of the series, Percy Jackson is named after the mythological hero because his mother Sally favored Perseus as he was one of the few heroes who lived with a happy ending. In the story, Percy has several things in common with Perseus. He beheads Medusa like his predecessor, and threatens the Graeae. Technically speaking. Their stories also are similar between each other. They have the overbearing stepfather (Polydectes and Gabe Ugliano) and also use Medusa's head at one point, which turns the evil stepfathers to atone. They also have a love interest whose name starts with the letter A (Annabeth and Andromeda), who they save from certain doom (Cretus and Atlas). They are also both protective of their mothers and have a secondary father figure who is warm and caring to them (Chiron/Paul Blofis and Dictys) and aloof fathers (Zeus and Poseidon). In technicality, Percy and Perseus are cousins due to Percy's father being Poseidon and Perseus' father being Zeus, brothers. The mythological version of Perseus appears in Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes, where Percy tells the story of Medusa and Perseus with in hi own sarcasm and writing style, with modern slur thrown in every few pages.

Video Games[]

  • Perseus is featured in a crossover of the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors video game series. He is the son of Zeus and the mortal Danae.His norse Counterpart is Loki and like Greek Myths, is the son of Danae and Zeus. In both version, he was voiced by Hiro Shimono.
  • In the God of War series, Perseus appears in God of War: Ascension (Multiplayer-skin). He is later a boss in God of War II video game, voiced by Harry Hamlin (Via Archive Footage). He seeks to revive his wife Andromeda and find the Moirai. He is Kratos' half-brother through their father, Zeus.

Comics[]

  • Perseus was featured in the Wonder Woman comics published by DC. He was famous for being the killer of the Gorgon Medusa, taking her son Pegasus as his mount and did battle with the Kraken. Centuries later, he lived as a bored immortal splitting his idle existence between Wall Street and the Hamptons. He was one of the children of Zeus killed by Grail with a Mother Box to drain his energy to feed her then infant father Darkseid.
  • He appears in Marvel Comics. In Earth-616's Modern AgePerseus was among the heroes to oppose Amatsu-Mikaboshi's attacks on Olympus. He was created by Al Avison and Syd Shores.
  • Perseus returns in the 2007 comic, Wrath Of The Titans which is a sequel to the original film. In the comic, Perseus and Andromeda have been happily married and have been blessed with a son, Perses. However, Calibus escapes from the Underworld, seeking vengeance on those who wronged him.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Perseus's great-grandson, Hercules was also his half-brother through Zeus.
    • Additionally Perseus was both a legacy and son of Zeus, as he is Zeus descendants through the Greek god's relationship with Io and his son through Danae.
    • Perseus and Dionysus were both maternal distant cousins and paternal half-siblings. They were both descendants of Io through hers and Zeus's granddaughter, Libya's sons Belus and Agenor.
    • In Wrath of the Titans, Perseus and Agenor meet while in the myths, they never met due to Agenor being Perseus' distant great-uncle though his ancestor who was Agenor's brother, Belus. Not only were Belus and Agenor his ancestors though his maternal relatives, Belus and Agenor was perseus's cousins because their father was Zeus's brother, Poseidon.
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