Perseus
Sign in to saveIn Greek mythology, Perseus (, ; ) is the legendary founder of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, the greatest Greek hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles. He beheaded the Gorgon Medusa for Polydectes and saved Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus. He was a demigod, being the son of Zeus and the mortal Danaë, as well as the half-brother and great-grandfather of Heracles (as they were both children of Zeus, and Heracles's mother was Perseus's granddaughter).
AI overview
Perseus was a legendary hero in Greek mythology who founded the Perseid dynasty and became famous for slaying monsters, most notably beheading the Gorgon Medusa and rescuing the princess Andromeda from a sea monster. As the son of the god Zeus and a mortal woman, Perseus was considered one of the greatest Greek heroes before Heracles, and his mythological importance is reflected in his family connections to other legendary figures, including being a relative of Heracles himself.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Deity.type
- Greek
- Deity.name
- Perseus
- Deity.image
- Perseo con la testa di medusa, originale di età flavia o traianea, dalle terme presso porta laurentina, 01.JPG
- Deity.caption
- Perseus with the head of Medusa, first century AD, Museo Ostiense
- Deity.god_of
- King of ArgosFounder and king of MycenaeSlayer of Medusa and Cetus
- Deity.abode
- Seriphus, then Argos
- Deity.symbol
- Medusa's head
- Deity.consort
- Andromeda
- Deity.parents
- Zeus and Danaë
- Deity.siblings
- Several paternal half-siblings
- Deity.children
- Perses, Heleus, Alcaeus, Sthenelus, Electryon, Mestor, Cynurus, Gorgophone, Autochthe
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
20 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Mythology
- Birth
- Feud with Polydectes
- Overcoming Medusa
- Marriage to Andromeda
- Prophecy fulfilled
- King of Mycenae
- ''Suda''
- Descendants
- Gallery
- On Pegasus
- Argive genealogy in Greek mythology
- Constellation
- In culture
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
In Greek mythology, Perseus (, ; ) is the legendary founder of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, the greatest Greek hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles. He beheaded the Gorgon Medusa for Polydectes and saved Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus. He was a demigod, being the son of Zeus and the mortal Danaë, as well as the half-brother and great-grandfather of Heracles (as they were both children of Zeus, and Heracles's mother was Perseus's granddaughter).
==Etymology== Because of the obscurity of the name "Perseus" and the legendary character of its bearer, most etymologists think it might be pre-Greek; however, the name of Perseus's native city was Greek and so were the names of his wife and relatives. Greek may have inherited it from Proto-Indo-European. In that regard Graves proposed the only Greek derivation available: Perseus might be from Greek pérthein (πέρθειν) "to waste, ravage, sack, destroy", some form of which is familiar in Homeric epithets. Carl Darling Buck says the -eus suffix typically forms an agent noun, in this case from the aorist stem, pers-. Pers-eus is thus a "sacker [of cities]"; that is, a soldier by occupation, a fitting name for the first Mycenaean warrior.