MYTHOLOGY: TIMELESS TALES OF GODS & HEROES

MYTHOLOGY: TIMELESS TALES OF GODS & HEROES Chapters 9-12

PERSEUS First of the mythic Greek heroes

Origins of Perseus • Son of Zeus and Denae • Zeus came to Denae in a shower of gold • The Oracle told Denae’s father, King Acrisius of Argos, that his daughter’s son would one day kill him • The king threw Denae and Perseus into the water in a wooden chest • Mother and child washed onto shore • Perseus raised by Dictys (brother to Polydectes) who rescued them

The Quest for Medusa • Polydectes, the king of the island Seriphos is in love with Denae • Perseus will not allow the king to marry his mother • The king sends Perseus on a seemingly impossible quest • He is to bring back the head of Medusa as a gift • The king figured Perseus would be turned to stone once he looked at her

Medusa the Gorgon • One of the Gorgon sisters • Depicted as beautiful and terrifying • Born beautiful like her sisters; she was vain about her hair • Athena punishes Medusa for her relationship with Poseidon • Athena turns her hair into serpents • Athena makes her face so terrifying that one look at her would turn a man to stone

The Graeae – The Gray Women • Perseus consults Athena about how to cut off Medusa’s head • He’s directed to the Graeae to ask them the whereabouts of the Hesperides, who have weapons to defeat Medusa • The Graeae are three perpetually old women who share one eye and one tooth between them • Perseus steals the eye and demands to know where he can find the Hesperides (nymphs)

Hesperides (Nymphs) • Nymphs tending Hera’s orchard • Hesperides give Perseus a knapsack to hold the head of Medusa • From Zeus he receives an “adamantine sword” and the “cloak of invisibility” • Hermes loans Perseus some winged sandals • Athena gives him a polished shield

The Slaying of Medusa • Perseus visits the gorgons’ cave • He views Medusa only through the reflection on his polished shield • He hovered above her with his winged • Slays Medusa with his adamantine sword • Escapes from the sisters Gorgon by using the cloak of invisibility

The Rescue of Andromeda • On his return journey Perseus stops at Ethiopia • He finds that a lovely maiden has been given up to be devoured by a horrible sea serpent • Andromeda was daughter of Casiopeaia, who was being punished for her vanity • Poseidon sends sea serpents to gobble up the Ethiopians • Perseus falls in love with Andromeda and rescues her

Polydectes Turned to Stone • Perseus returns to his mother with Andromeda and Medusa’s head • His mother is in hiding, afraid of King Polydectes • When he shows the head to the kin and his servants they all turned to stone • The island was free from the tyrant Polydectes

The Prophecy Fulfilled • Perseus and Denae return to Argos to be reconciled with Acrisius • They found the king had been driven away and no one knew where to find him • Perseus enters a discus-throwing competition in Larissa • He hurls the discus into the crowd and it hits and kills Acrisius

THESEUS

Theseus, King of Athens • Son of Athenian King, Aegeus • Raised by his mother in southern Greece • When he first went to Athens to meet his father, he refused to go by sea, because it was too safe • He wanted to prove himself as a hero on the way to Athens • He meets and defeats a number of nasty monsters and villains along the way, including:

Villian: Procrustes • Kept a house by the side of the road where he offered hospitality to passing strangers • Invited his guests in for a night’s rest in his very special bed. • Procrustes described it as having the unique property that its length exactly matched whomsoever lay down upon it. • This "one-size-fits-all" was achieved by stretching the guest on the rack if he was too short for the bed and chopping off his legs if he was too long. • Theseus turned the tables on Procrustes, fatally adjusting him to fit his own bed.

Villain: Sinis the Pinebender • Bandit and son of Poseidon • Known as “Pinebender” • Killed people by fastening them to two pine trees bent to the ground • Catapulted them to their deaths • Theseus captured Sinis and catapulted him to his death in the same manner

Villian: Sciron • Made those he captured kneel to wash his feet and then kicked them over a cliff into the sea into the mouth of a giant turtle • Theseus killed Sciron by hurling him over a precipiece

Quest for the Minotaur • Greatest deed was killing the minotaur • Every seven years King Minos of Crete forces Athenians to send a seven boys and seven girls to Crete where they are fed to the Minotaur - a half-man, half-bull who lives a maze called the Labyrinth. • Theseus volunteers to be one of the boys and gets sent to Crete

Ariadne • When Theseus arrives at Crete, King Minos’s daughter falls in love with him • Ariadne assists Theseus to slay the Minotaur by giving him a ball of string • Theseus agrees to take Ariadne with him in exchange for her help • He slays the minotaur • Finds his way out by following the ball of string

The Return to Athens • On the return trip to Athens Theseus leaves Ariadne on the island of Naxxos • Dionysus claims her as his wife-to-be • Theseus forgets to remove the black sail on his ship and to replace it with a white one • Aegeus then thinks Theseus is dead and throws himself into the sea

The Geography of Greece

MYTHOLOGY: TIMELESS TALES OF GODS & HEROES