He famously slew the dreaded gorgon medusa whose gaze could turn men to stone, an exploit he swiftly followed up with the daring rescue of the princess andromeda from a monstrous seacreature sent by poseidon to terrorize the kingdom of ethiopia. The story of perseus and medusa, an interpretation of its. Medusa chapter 1 perseus, a mythology fiction fictionpress. This cycladic island, in the aegean sea, is just where he grew up, and after he had slain medusa he only returned to get rid of king polydektes which he achieved easily enough by showing the guy medusas face and to take his mother danai back to their original homeland of argolis. While flying home to seriphus, though, he also wins princess andromedas hand in. With the help of athene athena he was able to cut off medusas head. Perseus and medusa summary conclusion he saves andromeda from the dreaded sea monsters and takes her to his homeland of serifos.
Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Perseus plops medusa s head in the kibisis and starts make his getaway. Perseus had no horse to give, so he asked polydectes to name the gift. Murray 1 and the son of atreus, menelaus, dear to ares, failed not to mark that patroclus had been slain in battle by the trojans, but fared amid the foremost fighters, harnessed in flaming bronze, and bestrode the dead, as over a calf standeth lowing plaintively its mother, that hath brought forth her firstborn, ere then knowing naught of. But the drunk sang after him, louder and louder, laughing. While zeus had no particular involvement in perseus life, it didnt mean that the gods werent aware of the young man. When perseus a son of zeus killed medusa by cutting off her head theogony, line 280, from the drops of her blood sprang the winged horse, pegasus, and khrysaor chrysaor. Homer, iliad, book 6, line 116 perseus digital library. In greek mythology, achilles or achilleus was a hero of the trojan war, the greatest of all the.
Perseus chopped off medusas head with hermes magical sword and put it in the magical bag. Perseus carries the severed head of medusa in a knapsack and can use his cunning action to wield the monsters petrifying gaze. Medusa s two gorgon sisters, seeking revenge for her death pursued perseus, who was able to elude them by wearing the cap of hades that made him invisible. This sculpture, created by antonio canova in marble, was done in the early 19th century. Then hermes whispered to perseus an idea, a little seed of an idea that soon took root. In late myths, medusa was the only one of the three gorgons who was not immortal. Perseus and medusa plot questions languages flashcards. He found him in front of the highsterned ships, agonising over the war, communing anxiously with his proud heart.
Book 16 of the iliad tells us that achilles had a third horse, pedasos maybe jumper, maybe captive, which was yoked as a trace horse, along. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of the iliad and what it means. Agamemnons shield in the iliad has the demon face of a gorgo. Medusa is an instantly recognizable figure from ancient greek art. Perseus with the head of medusa is a bronze sculpture made by benvenuto cellini in the period 15451554. He also tells us that poseidon, the darkhaired one, whom zeus had made the ruler over the mediterranean sea, made love to medusa in a soft, grassy meadow among the flowers, and that when perseus cut off her head, chrysaor the great and pegasos the horse leaped out verses 27486.
Perseus travels over land and sea trying to find her. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading perseus. The myth of perseus and medusa greek myths and greek. Medusa in ancient greek art essay the metropolitan. Acrisius, the king of the argos, had only one daughter. Perseus, athena and head of medusa, apulian redfigure krater c4th b. They are rescued by a fisherman, and young perseus grows up, unaware of his royal birth. At this point medusa s sisters, stheno and euryale, wake up, and they are not happy. The hero puts on hades helmet of invisibility and escapes the crazy snake ladies. Homer, iliad, book 18, line 22 perseus digital library. Perseus and medusa summary by ryan maclennan on prezi. Oct 21, 2012 perseus was one of the greatest and oldest panhellenic heroes of greek mythology. Perseus was the demigod offspring of the unusual union between zeus and danae.
Hesiod, a greek poet who was writing about 700 bc, makes a passing reference to perseus cutting off medusas head in theogony. A prophecy states that the king of argos will be defeated by his infant grandson perseus, so the king throws perseus, and his mother, into the sea. Since he was the son of zeus, though, he wouldnt be alone. Perseus set out to get medusas head, determined to keep up his end of the bargain and to keep his mother safe. Polydectes held perseus to his rash promise and demanded the head of the only mortal gorgon, medusa, whose gaze turned people to stone. The hunt for medusas head a greek myth graphic myths and legends. On his return to the island of seriphos, he discovered his mother taking refuge from the king in a temple sanctuary. Homer, iliad book 19 theoi classical texts library. Patroclus begins killing trojans, and the achaeans drive the trojans back from the warships. With patroclus leading them, the myrmidons swarm into battle, and are described as being like wasps that a boy has angered.
See more ideas about greek mythology, mythology and greek. Ancient as time, wrinkled and stooped like three ragged crows, they sat, muttering and cackling. So the fighting raged, while swiftfooted antilochus brought the news to achilles. Perseus then flies away with medusa s head packed in the kibisis. However, the legend of perseus is far older than that. He turned the sea monster to stone by showing it medusas head and afterward married andromeda. Her face, whether fierce and grotesque or feminine and composed, appears in virtually all media in varying contexts. The hunt for medusas head a greek myth graphic myths and.
One of the reasons this story could not have happened is the following. King polydectes sent perseus to kill medusa in hopes of getting him out of the way, while he pursued perseus s mother, danae. He takes the head of medusa to the king s court and while the king is surprised that he survived his quest perseus pulled out the head of medusa. Perseus has got medusas head, which is certainly a kind of reward. It is said that pegasus, the magical flying horse, was born when blood dripped from medusas head into the ocean. The most common interpretation of medusa suggests she is an apotropaic symbol used to protect from and ward off the negative, much like the modern evil eye.
Mythology final homers iliad, apollodorus, clash of the. May 12, 2011 actually very little of the story of perseus adventures takes places on seriphos. Perseus gets by with a little help from his friends. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.
Perhaps three generations before herakles heracles, the hero perseus was sent by the king of the island of seriphos, polydektes polydectes, to kill medusa and cut off her head. In the percy jackson series, what are the parallels. An xml version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer perseus any modifications you make. He is given five magical items from the gods to help him on his quest. Readers will follow perseus on his quest to kill the hideous, snakehaired medusa in an effort to save his mother from marriage to a less than noble king. Before he can claim his heritage, the hero is ordered to slay a hideous monster named medusa, whose gaze turns men into solid stone. Perseus standing left, holding a harpa and medusas head with his left hand, using his right hand to help andromeda down off some rocks. He sacrifices a cow to minerva, a calf to the wingfooted god, and a bull to you, greatest of the gods. Medusa was a monster of legend, with hair turned to serpents and eyes that killed with just a glance. To the three gods, he builds the same number of altars out of turf, to you mercury on the left, to you minerva, warlike virgin, on the right, and an altar of jupiter in the centre. Homer, iliad book 17 theoi classical texts library. Perseus and the monstrous medusa 12 heroes in training. With eyes averted, perseus showed polydektes the head of medusa.
The hunt for medusas head 2008 to the trojan horse. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. Mellon foundation, the institute of museum and library services, the national endowment. See more ideas about mythology, medusa and perseus and medusa. Homer, iliad, book 1, line 1 perseus digital library. Later perseus gave the gorgons head to athena, who placed it on her shield, and gave his other accoutrements to hermes. Perseus, passing by, saw the princess and fell in love with her.
One of my favorites is the medusa story, sometimes referred to as perseus and the gorgon medusa. Some of these myths relate that perseus was armed with a scythe from hermes and a mirror or a shield from athena. Historically, the tale of perseus and how he kille. Perseus is the second of the four books in the heroes series, which debuted in the fall of 2004 with the release of. Even with his immense strength and courage, perseus cannot imagine how he will kill medusa without turning to stone. We get a little about perseus from homer in the iliad, his famous story of the trojan war, written in the 7th or 8th centuries bc.
To the contrary, in the iliad homer mentions achilles being wounded. Perseus is a nonprofit enterprise, located in the department of the classics, tufts university. Iliad this document search for all inflected forms search for. The sculpture stands on a square base which has bronze relief panels depicting the story of perseus and andromeda, similar to a predella on an altarpiece. Start studying mythology final homer s iliad, apollodorus, clash of the titans, vergils aeneid.
Ovid s account of medusa s mortality tells that she had once been a woman, vain of her beautiful hair. Perseus found his mother and the king s brother diktys hiding at the altars. The first scene of the iliad finds chryses, the priest of apollo god of the sun and a whole lot of other stuff, approaching the achaian camp to ask for his daughter back. On winged sandals perseus flew to the oneeyed witches lair. Perseus is the second of the four books in the heroes series, which debuted in the fall of 2004 with the. An analysis of perseus with the head of medusa kibin. Balius and xanthus were, according to greek mythology, two immortal horses, the offspring of. Perseus confronted polydektes and his comrades in the palace. Hey, heres a fun fact i actually quite liked the percy jackson books. Fascinating and terrifying, the medusa story has long been a powerful signifier in culture with poets, feminists, anthropologists, psychoanalysts, political theorists, artists, writers, and others.
The perseus project has been supported by various funders throughout its history. Bringing together the essential passages and commentary about medusa, the medusa reader traces her through the ages, from classical times through the renaissance to. This is an opportunity for the teacher to give information, whilst in role, as medusa, a hissing. The hunt for medusas head a greek myth graphic myths and legends kindle edition by storrie, paul d. He was the son of the argive princess danae who was locked away in a bronze chamber by her father akrisios acrisius who lived in fear of a prophecy that he would one day be killed by her son. Medusa is a beautiful woman but, she has serpents on her head. People turned into stone as soon as they saw medusa s face. Perseus finds medusa sleeping and chops off her head. The myth of perseus and medusa is one of the best thrillerlike tales in greek mythology with a promising plot that gets more complicated as the story progresses, this myth has a typical hollywoodlike scenario with the main character not being born yet at the moment when his destiny was determined. The trojans, seeing the fresh reinforcements and thinking that achilles has returned, immediately begin to fear for their lives. Perseus and the monstrous medusa chapter one in search of hairy snakes apollo strummed his lyre and sang as he and eleven other olympianssix boys and six girls, all of them about ten years oldmarched along the coastline of greece. The remaining two gorgons tried to pursue perseus, but his helmet made him invisible.
Paintings and sculptures of the moment of beheading or medusas portrait itself are famous all over the world. Perseus was so angry, that he took medusa s head out of the sack and showed it to atlas, transforming him into a mountain. The myth of perseus and medusa was one the most powerful inspiration for many artists in the ancient times, but it hasnt lost its artistic significance to the present day either. Common core editions and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. It s a good thing, then, that perseus gets some help from the gods. In the poem perseus finally musters up the courage to kill medusa and then is filled with the.
As an educator and counselor, i often use tales from classic greek mythology as a way of relating common themes that speak to the human condition. There once was a girl called medusa, the drunk started, grinning, the king of the seas did seduce her get away from me, you wretch, perseus muttered, turning away from him in disgust, caring not for his doggerel verse. One night, athena, the goddess of wisdom, appears before him. I thought they were a little corny at times, but ill be damned if riordan doesnt write a. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Perseus is herakles greatgrandfather, and we know that herakles encountered atlas and they tricked each other into carrying the heaven. Dec 15, 2007 this book was about perseus and his hunt for medusas head. Drama strategy teacher guidance 1 dramatic game warm up an adaptation of whats the time mr wolf. But acrisius had a streak of jealousy that ran through his soul and tainted everything that he touched.
This piece, made to replicate the greek classical style, stands tall above entrance to the metropolitan museum of art. She was a creature hated by the world, with a story spread far and wide, transmitting across time as well as space for generations. Agamemnons shield in the iliad has the demon face of a. A concise, stylised and dynamic version of the perseus and medusa myth. He takes the head of medusa to the kings court and while the king is surprised that he survived his quest perseus pulled out the head of medusa. Another perseus statue as you can tell by now, this is a pretty popular pose for perseus. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in. The other two gorgons chase him, but perseus escapes with the help of hades helmet of invisibility a. See more ideas about mythology, greek and roman mythology and greek mythology. Not even death, however, could quell medusas power, and perseus had to keep her decapitated head in a special sack strong enough to contain it, called a kybisis.
Percy jackson mirrors the deeds of various heroes from greek mythology, including hercules, odysseus, bellerophon, jason, etc, but of course he has more obvious connections to perseus. Long, long time ago on the island of serifos, lived the great hero, perseus. Divinity both percy and perseus were demigods with a divine. In order to fully understand the tale of perseus and medusa, it is first necessary to tell the story of perseus birth. The adventures of perseus part 2 greek mythology ep.
The fall of troy 2007, lerners graphic universe offers a series of graphic novel retellings of wellknown adventures that will captivate comic book fans gr 69. Perseus found his mother and the kings brother diktys hiding at the altars. All those present were turned to stone in whatever pose they were in when perseus revealed medusas severed head. Perseus medusa gorgon oedipus sphinx orpheus orphism theseus.
The ferocious and the erotic beautiful medusa and the. Perseus meets up with athena, and she has decided to help him on his quest. A power struggle among the gods both hinders and helps him along the way, and perseus even manages to find true love when he rescues the breathtakingly beautiful princess andromeda from the horrors of a bloodthirsty sea monster. Perseus and the head of medusa perseus holds up medusas gory head. Books iv and v of ovids metamorphoses include the version of perseus tale. In the shield of herakles, by hesiod, we are given a glimpse of perseus reckless escape from the angry sisters after he had beheaded medusa. Perseus is the son of zeus and danae, zeus is a god and danae is just a human, which makes perseus a demigod. Afterward, locked in a wooden chest, both were thrown into the sea by danae s father acrisius, who had known.
Perseus may be determined and pretty clever, but he s still young and inexperienced when polydectes orders the young man to bring him medusa s head. The story then backtracks, to how this all started. Medusa in ancient greek art essay the metropolitan museum. Asked in mythology, greek and roman mythologies, the iliad. Perseus has been most recently funded by the alpheios project, the andrew w. Perseus and the legends of argos oxford university press. Im a minimalist, so i dont have many possessions i do however have a great collection of greek mythologyrelated items, but this edition of the book is one that i would never voluntarily part with. Perseus and andromeda a variant has perseus returning to seriphos after a years adventures in either ethiopia or palestine distracted while flying home by the sight of a damsel in distress andromeda tied to rock about to be eaten by a seamonster he saves the girl and.
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