Greek heroes and characters
Perseus
Perseus is one of the most famous heroes of Greek mythology. His mother's name was Danae and Perseus' father was the supreme god Zeus. Perseus is also known as the founder of Mycenae and is one of the ancestors of the hero Heracles.
The story begins when Danaé's father hears a prophecy that his own grandson will kill him. Fearing for his life, the king has his daughter Danaé locked in a cellar so that no man can get to her. Zeus, however, took pity on her, so he went to the dungeon in the form of golden rain and impregnated her. In time, Danae gave birth to a son, Perseus. The king, however, would not allow the prophecy to be fulfilled, so he had his daughter and little Perseus locked in a barrel and released on the open sea. He expected they had no chance of survival.
However, Danae and her son managed to reach the island of Seriphos in the barrel, where they were rescued by fishermen and eventually taken in by the local king, Polydectes. When Perseus grew up, he became very strong, until Polydectes began to fear for his throne. He therefore devised a difficult task for Perseus and sent him to kill the terrible Medusa (a Gorgon with snakes for hair). Medusa is the only mortal one, but the sight of her makes everyone petrified.
During his journey, Perseus received a number of useful gifts. Athena gave him a sword made of adamantine and a shield so shiny that Medusa can be seen through it, he received a magical scrotum from the Nymphs, winged boots from Hermes, and a helmet of invisibility from Hades. Thanks to these gifts, Perseus was able to kill Medusa, retrieve her head and escape her sisters.
But on his return home, Perseus wandered off and met the Titan Atlanteus, who held the vault of heaven. Atlantus wanted to get rid of his task, but at the same time he did not believe that Perseus had really killed Medusa. The hero therefore showed him her head and Atlas fell to the ground. In this place today lies a mountain called Atlas. Next, Perseus arrived in Aithiopia. This land was threatened by the god Posedion that it would be destroyed by the giant sea serpent Kraken unless the king sacrificed his daughter Andromeda to Kraken. Andromeda was thus chained to the shore to save her country. But there, in the nick of time, she was found by Perseus, who freed her and subsequently killed the Kraken with the help of Medusa's head.
Afterwards, Perseus and Andromeda went home together. King Polydectes, however, did not trust Perseus very much that he really possessed the head of Medusa. So he went to see for himself, but when he saw Medusa's head, he was petrified, and Perseus and Andromeda became rulers of the whole island.