In Greek mythology, the hero Perseus killed the gorgon Medusa, whose visage was so terrible that all who looked on her were turned to stone.
Perseus is the son of Danae and Zeus. Before he was born an oracle in Delphi had warned king Acrysus that his daughter (Danae) would give birth to a boy that would one day kill him. Persues grew up on the island of of Seriphos where king Polydectes ruled. Perseus grew very strong and handsome and drew the attention of King Polydectes who had also become enamored of Danae. Polydectes wanted to force Danae to marry him, but he knew he could never have his way as long as her son protected her, so he devised a plan for getting Perseus out of the way.
Polydectes ordered Perseus to bring him the head of the gorgon Medusa. Anyone who looked directly on the face of Medusa was immediately turned to stone.
Perseus spent the night in the temple praying to the goddess Athena, who was, after all, the daughter of Zeus and therefore his half-sister. She appeared to him and offered him her polished shield, so that he could see the gorgon’s reflection in the shield when he cut off her head, and not be turned to stone by looking directly on her face. To enable Perseus to get to the end of the world where the gorgons lived, the god Hermes lent him his winged sandals. Athena told Perseus to visit the fountain nymphs and they would provide him with three gifts that he would need to accomplish his task. Perseus did so, and the nymphs gave him a cap of darkness, to render him invisible, a sword with a diamond edge, for the gorgon’s hide was too tough for an ordinary sword to penetrate, and a bag to carry the head in once he had cut it off.
At last Perseus found the three gorgons asleep in their lair among the rocks at the end of the world. Looking at Medusa’s reflection in the polished shield, and with Athena guiding his hand, he used the diamond-edged sword to cut off her head. He caught the head by its snaky locks, and stuffed it quickly into the bag. From the pool of Medusa’s blood there suddenly appeared a magnificent winged horse named Pegasus.
On the way back to Seriphos, Perseus came upon a beautiful maiden chained to a rocky cliff overlooking the sea. She explained that she was Andromeda, and that her mother, Queen Cassiopeia, had been so proud of her beauty that she had bragged that her daughter was more lovely than the Nereids, Neptune’s daughters. Angered at the human’s pride, Poseidon had flooded the cities and sent a sea monster to devour the people. The only way to appease the angry god was to offer Andromeda as a sacrifice to the sea monster, and so her father, King Cepheus, had ordered her chained to the cliff for the sea monster to take. Although Andromeda was engaged to her uncle Phineus, he was too cowardly to try to save her, so Perseus went to King Cepheus and said that he would kill the sea monster, but that having saved Andromeda, he would claim her as his bride.
Now that his daughter and his people were safe, King Cepheus was having second thoughts about marrying his beautiful daughter to this stranger, but Perseus refused to release him from his promise.
When he returned to the island of Seriphos Perseus presented himself at court and announced to the king that he had completed his quest and had brought him the head of the gorgon Medusa. King Polydectes was certain this had to be a hoax, and said so to the bold young man. In a single moment, Perseus turned his own face away, yanked the gorgon’s head out of the bag, and held it before Polydectes’ face. The king and all his court were immediately turned to stone, and Persues mother was free from her tormentor. Many years later, Perseus assumed the throne of Argos, and he and Andromeda ruled there for many years..