Perseus and Medusa
A long time ago on the island of Seriphos, a young boy and his mother lived. The mother’s name was Danae and her son’s name was Perseus. The king of Seriphos was named King Polydectes, and he intensely wanted to marry Danae. Danae did not want to marry a cruel and dishonorable man. Perseus wanted to protect his mom from King Polydectes. To trick Perseus, King Polydectes said that he was going to marry another woman. Everyone was expected to bring a wedding gift, but Perseus had nothing. Desperate to keep King Polydectes away from his mother, Perseus said that he would give anything even the head of Medusa to him. King Polydectes demanded Medusa’s head, in a attempt to kill him, allowing him to marry his mother. This felt like an impossible task for Perseus.
But Perseus was the son of Zeus, and because of this, he received guidance from the Gods to help kill Medusa. First, Athena (goddess of warcraft and wisdom) told Perseus to seek the Grey Sisters, who shared a single tooth and a single eye among all of them. The sisters knew the location of the Gorgons, Medusa being one of them. Perseus stole the Gray Sisters’ eye to make them tell him where Medusa was. The Gray Sisters confessed that Medusa and the other Gorgons were on a rocky island named Sarpedon. To travel all that way, Perseus received winged sandals from Hermes (the Messenger God) a kibisis to carry Medusa’s bag from the Stygian nymphs, and a helmet of invisibility from Hades (God of the Dead). But Medusa had a demonic gaze—if you looked into her eyes, you were turned to stone forever. To counter her gaze, Athena gave Perseus a reflective shield.
Perseus flew to the hidden lair of the Gorgons on Sarpedon. Medusa was mortal, so she could be killed, unlike the other two Gorgons. When Perseus arrived, Medusa was sleeping. Perseus approached Medusa using the reflective shield, so he wouldn’t have to look directly at her. With Hermes’ sword, a scythe-like blade called the Harpe, Perseus cut her head off. A magical winged horse named Pegasus and Chrysoar, the son of Medusa and Poseidon. Perseus immediately put Medusa’s head in the kibisis.
Perseus had to escape quickly to avoid the other Gorgons. He put on Hades’ helmet of invisbility to escape safely. When he returned to Seriphos, Perseus used the head of Medusa to turn King Polydectes into stone, as well as his supporters. Eventually, Perseus gave the head of Medusa to Athena, who put it on her shield. This was called the Aegis, and became a fearsome emblem to all that came across her.