THE GORGON’S HEAD

Anne Terry

PERSEUS

Perseus beheaded the Gorgon Medusa and saved Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus.

Perseus was the son of the mortal Danaë and the god Zeus.

THE GORGONSThe Gorgons are monstrous creatures covered with impenetrable scales, with hair of living snakes, hands made of brass, sharp fangs and a beard.

THE GRAY WOMENThe Graeae were probably three monstrous sisters with the names Enyo ("the shocking"), Pemphredo ("the horryfying") and Deino ("the dreadful"). 

They were the sisters of the Gorgons.

The Graeae had grey hair and the form of old women since their birth. The possessed a total of one eye and one tooth, which they shared among each other.

The Graeae were living close to Hades, the god of the underworld, and probably therefore they had never seen the light of the sun and the moon.

MEDUSAA monster, aGorgon, generally described as having the face of a hideous human female with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Gazing directly into her eyes would turn onlookers to stone. 

KING ACRISIUS &DANAE

Acrisius was the king of Argos. He was warned by an oracle that he

would be killed in time by a son born to his daughter Danae. So he promptly

locked her up in a tower and threw away the key. But the god Zeus got in,

disguised as a shower of gold, and became the father of Perseus.

DANAE was a daughter of King Acrisius. She was the mother of the hero Perseus by Zeus

DICTYS AND POLYDECTES

Polydectes was the ruler of Seraphos and fell in love with Danae. He was killed by Perseus by showing him the head of Medusa.

Dictys was a fisherman and brother of King Polydectes  He discovered Danaë and Perseus inside a chest that had been washed up on shore He treated them well and raised Perseus as his own son. After Perseus killed Medusa, rescued Andromeda, and later showed Medusa's head to Polydectes turning him and the nobles with him to stone, he made Dictys king.

ANDROMEDAOn the way back to Seraphos Island, Perseus stopped in the kingdom of 

Aethiopia. This mythical Ethiopia was ruled by King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia.

Cassiopeia, having boasted her daughter Andromeda equal in beauty to the Nereids,

drew down the vengeance of Poseidon, The oracle of Ammon announced that no

relief would be found until the king exposed his daughter Andromeda to the monster, and so she was fastened naked to a rock on the shore. Perseus slew the

monster and, setting her free, claimed her in marriage.

ZEUSZeus is the god of sky and thunder and the ruler of the Olympians of Mount Olympus and the father of Perseus

HERMES AND ATHENAHermes was the son of Zeus, the messenger of the gods and protector of the travelers.He gave Perseus a magnificent curved sword.Athena was the Greek virgin goddess of reason, intelligent activity, arts and literature. She was the daughter of Zeus; her birth is unique in that she did not have a mother. Instead, she sprang full grown and clad in armour from Zeus' forehead.She gave Perseus a bright shield to look unto it so that he will not turn into stone