Mythological Couples: Perseus and Andromeda

Greetings!

This week we are talking mythology again (yay!) and we'd better jump right into it because we are talking about Perseus and Andromeda, and their story is quite long, so here goes:

Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danae. Danae was the daughter of Acrisius, King of Argos. Once Danae was born, Acrisius was hoping he’d have a son to inherit the throne and carry on the family name, but that wasn’t happening, so he consulted the oracle of Delphi.

The news he got, well, they were not what he was hoping for. The oracle predicted that one day he would be killed by Danae’s son with Zeus.

Perseus and Andromeda (Charles-André van Loo, 1735-40)

So Acrisius figured that in order to keep her childless, he would lock her in a basement (or a bronze chamber, opinions differ on that one) so that no one would ever see her.

But Zeus was Zeus and nothing would stop him. Completely enamoured with Danae (Eros and his arrows again), he came to her in the form of golden rain though the window, and, of course, got her pregnant.

Soon afterwards Perseus was born; Acrisius feared for his future but he didn’t dare to kill Zeus’s offspring either. So he cast them into the sea into a wooden chest, leaving them to their fate.

Andromeda (Eugène Delacroix, 1853)

They washed ashore on the island of Serifos, where Dictys, a fisherman, found them and took them in, making them part of his family. He was the one that raised Perseus into manhood, teaching him all about his craft.

At some point, Polydectes, the King of Serifos (and Dictys’s brother too), fell in love with Danae and wanted to marry her, but Perseus didn’t agree with that; and she probably wasn’t too keen on the idea either.

Perseus Liberating Andromeda (Peter Paul Rubens,1639-1640)

Naturally, Polydectes wanted to get rid of him, so he developed a plan. He held a grand feast, where each of the guests was supposed to bring a gift; Polydectes requested that his guests brought him horses, claiming he was collecting contributions for the hand of Hippodamia (the name means “she was tames horses”). Perseus, being a fisherman, didn’t have a horse to give him, so he told Polydectes he could ask for anything else, and he’d provide it.

So Polydectes asked for the head of the only mortal gorgon, Medusa; she was a beautiful woman once but Athena turned her into a monster, with snakes instead of hair and eyes that turned people into stone (more about that story back here)

Andromeda (Peter Paul Rubens,1638)

Perseus asked for Athena’s help, and she instructed him on how to proceed and safely kill Medusa; actually she did more than that. She also provided him with the means to do it.

Equipped with an adamantine sword, courtesy of Zeus, Hades’s helm of Darkness, Hermes’s winged sandals, Athena’s shield, and a special knacksack, courtesy of the Hesperides, to safely contain Medusa’s head, Perseus set off for Medusa’s cave.

He found her asleep; at Athena’s instructions, he approached her by viewing Medusa's reflection in Athena’s shiny shield and cut off her head. From her neck sprang Pegasus and Chrysaor, the result of Medusa's escapade with Poseidon. Her sisters went after Perseus, but he managed to escape by pulling on the helm of darkness.

Perseus frees Andromeda (Theodoor van Thulden - 17th century)

On his way back to Serifos, Perseus had to pass through Aethiopia; Aethiopia was ruled by King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia, kept boasting that their daughter, Andromeda, was more beautiful than the Nereids, Poseidon’s daughters. Her arrogance angered Poseidon, who sent a sea monster, to destroy Aethiopia. Cepheus was desperate; he consulted the oracle of Apollo, who said that the only way to prevent that from happening was to sacrifice Andromeda to the monster.

She was chained to a rock on the coast (...stripped naked for some strange reason...), when Perseus happened upon her.

Perseus Freeing Andromeda (Peter Paul Rubens,1622)

Using his quick thinking, he pulled Medusa’s head from the knapsack and turned the monster into stone, right before slewing it.

He freed Andromeda took her back to her parents and asked for her hand in marriage (Eros stroke again!) they agreed, despite the fact she was already promised to her uncle, Phineus. Once they were married, they set off to Serifos while Phineus pursued them, but once again, Perseus used Medusa’s head to his benefit.

Upon returning to Serifos, and finding out that Danae had to take refuge from the advances of Polydectes, Perseus killed him with Medusa's head, and made Dictys king.

Andromeda chained on rocks (Rembrandt, 1630)

Then, he decided he wanted to return to Argos and make peace with his grandfather. On his way there, he stopped at Larissa,where athletic games were being held. Perseus decided to compete in the discus throw; his throw took a wrong turn and hit Acrisius who was in the crowd, killing him instantly and fulfilling the prophecy.

Although he was heir to Acrisius’s throne, Perseus did not want to become king of Argos by (involuntary) manslaughter, so he gave his kingdom to Megapenthes and took his instead, thus becoming king of Tirynth.

Perseus and Andromeda lived happily ever after; they had 7 sons and 2 daughters together and they became the ancestors of a family who ruled the area for many years to come. 

Perseus And Andromeda (Museo Nazionale di Napoli, Pompeii)

...aaaand that's about it! And we are doing a story based on that too!