Whenever I think about Greek Mythology, images of jealous, angry and interfering gods flash through my mind. I visualize gods running around, falling in love with human women and generally causing trouble. However, this vision of Greek Mythology is one-sided, for it is not just about gods abusing their powers doing whatever they want to do; from their crazy antics comes forth the aspect that most people love about mythology: the quests. Like Newton’s Third Law of Motion, for each and every moment of godly recreation, a demigod is born who will go on a journey, a quest, to save the world.
Demigods are half-god and half-human heroes who, from birth, are destined to perform great deeds that no pure human can accomplish. I’d like to talk about one particular demigod: Perseus.
Perseus was the son of Zeus, the god of lightning, and Danae, a beautiful princess fathered by King Acrisius. Before Persues was even born, there came a prophecy that King Acrisius would be killed by the son of his daughter, and so,when the news came that Danae had bore a son, Acrisius did what every paranoid father would do; he stuffed his daughter and her infant son into a coffin, and chucked them into the sea. However, be it through luck or divine intervention, they managed to survive long enough to reach Seriphos, the kingdom of King Polydectes, where they were taken in by a fisherman, Dictys, who was also the king’s brother. With a strong and simple model, Perseus grew into manhood.
One day, Polydectes heard about the beautiful Danae (for a king, he’s pretty slow with the news) and immediately fell in love with her. Too bad for him though, Perseus stood in the way and was against it; Polydectes had to get rid of him. Thus, pretending to be in love with a different woman, Hippodameia (poor girl), he asked every person in his kingdom for a wedding gift, knowing full well that Perseus had nothing to offer. With a little pressure from the king, Perseus found himself stupidly promising to get Medusa’s head as a wedding present.
This quest would have been impossible for normal humans, but, luckily, Perseus was no ordinary mortal. With gods for his uncles and aunts, Perseus pretty much had everything planned for him. Sometime on his journey, Hermes and Athena flew down from the heavens and told him exactly what he had to do. Go to Atlas, who will point you towards the Graeae, who, with a little persuasion, will tell you how to find the nymphs who will give you what you need to kill Medusa. As a parting gift, Athena gave Perseus a mirrored shield while Hermes even gave Perseus a sickle of adamant and a pair of winged sandals to boot.
Perseus set of on his predetermined journey, and accomplished everything. He found the nymphs who gave him an invisibility cap and a magic pouch. So, with everything he could possibly need, he donned his cap and ventured into Medusa”s lair. When, luck of lucks, he found her asleep! Better safe than sorry, he, still invisible, used the mirrored shield to watch her reflection, and slowly crept up to her. Slash. End quest.
As he flew back towards king Polydectes, he stopped by Larisa and participated in a small sports contest. For some reason, he misfired and flung the discus into the throngs of people, hitting someone on the head, instantly killing him. What a coincidence! This person was no other that King Acrisius, Perseus’ long forgotten grandfather. In the end, the prophecy still managed to fulfill itself.
After this little detour, he flew on towards King Polydectes. When he landed, he found out that his mom had been abused in his absence. In his anger, he charged into the palace, shouted, “Let all who are my friends shield their eyes!”, and held up Medusa’s head. Amazingly, every single one of his foes immediately got turned into stone. With all his enemies dead, Perseus lived happily ever after.
Perseus was one babied demigod. From birth until death, he managed to miraculously live through challenge after challenge. He survived being lost at sea inside a wooden box, and was saved by a fisherman. On his quest, he was constantly being guided by gods and other immortal beings. After finishing his quest, as an added bonus, he even accidentally fulfilled the old prophecy that was the source of all his troubles. Coincidence? I think not; it was divine intervention. His story is an example of how the universe goes out of its way for one person, for the fulfillment of a prophecy – a classic case of Deus Ex Machina.
Perseus’ character and situation is reflected in our present times in a piece of fiction that has recently grown quite famous, the Percy Jackson series. Percy was named after Perseus, and is also a demigod. He was named as such because Perseus was the only hero to have had a happy ending.


Aside from Percy Jackson, Perseus is once again seen in the recent movie, Clash of the Titans, a movie loosely based on the story of Perseus. While the stories may differ greatly, there beginnings and ends still have one common theme. Through all odds, both Perseus manage to come out on top and live happily ever after. In the movie, Perseus’ love was revived towards the end as he managed to stop the destruction of Argos.
Through the ages, Perseus’ characteristic of uncharacteristic luck is still remembered and sought after.
http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Heroes/Perseus/perseus.html
http://www.mythweb.com/heroes/perseus/index.html