Perseus

The Oracles prophecy

Nov 8, 1000

King Acrisius consults the Oracle of Delphi about wether he will have a son. She not only tell him that he will have daughter but also that her son will kill him.
This is one example of the many things that the Oracle was consolted about. People would go to her for just about anything and everything.

Bronze Box

Nov 8, 1001

In an effort to stop the prophecy he locks his daughter up in a bronze house so she cannot associate with anyone and get pregnant.
He did this because he could not kill his own family for the gods would kill him for that.

Impregnation

Nov 8, 1002

Zeus found Danae locked in this room and decides she is beautiful enough for him. He impregnates her without her concent. She knew not why but she knew it was Zeus.
This is another example of the sexist view at this time. Zeus didnt even ask her but instead did what he wanted because she was just a woman.

Chest at sea

Nov 8, 1003

King Acrisius is furious when he learns of the child but cannot kill him himself so he puts his daughter and her son in a large chest and drops them at sea.

Help from the Posiedon

Nov 8, 1004

Posiedon guided the chest to land where it was found by Dicttys who took them in kindly.
Zeus must have been pulling some strings in order to get Posiedon to help his child.

King Polydectes "love"

Nov 8, 1005

Polydectes falls in love with Danae but does not want to deal with Perseus. Polydectes comes up with a great plan so he organizes a party.

The party gift

Nov 8, 1006

Perseus shows up to the party and realizes he doesnt have a gift while everyone else does. In order to make his 'soon to be father' happy he announces he will cut off Medusa's head and return it there.
Polydectes' plan was working perfectly as he had secretly planted this idea in his head by mentioning how great it would be to have them.

Start of the Journey

Nov 8, 1007

Perseus leaves before his mother knows. He wanted to visit the Oracle for guidance. She lead him to the talking Oak trees (Zeus' Oak trees) who could only tell him that the gods were watching over him.

Hermes

Nov 8, 1008

Hermes shows himself to Perseus and gives him the plan of the gray woman to lead him to the nymphs.
The gods are normally not allowed to interfere with human conflicts but strangley now that it is Zeus' son they step in to help.

Athena

Nov 8, 1009

Athena givees him her polished bronze sheild and then sends him on the journey but accompanies him along with Hermes.

Grey Women

Nov 11, 1010

Perseus executes the plan and gets the directions to the nymphs with ease.

Gifts

Nov 11, 1011

The happy people welcomed him and gave him many gifts to help in his adventure.

Medusa

Nov 11, 1012

Perseus hidden by the cap and hovering with his shoes cut off Medusa's head and quickly escaped before the other Gorgans could react.

The Serpant

Nov 11, 1013

Perseus stops by Ethiopia only to find a woman about to be devoured by a horrible sea serpant. He saves her life and soon after takes her hand in marriage.

Polydectes

Nov 11, 1014

When Perseus returned to the island he found his mother had taken refuge elsewhere to avoid Polydectes' rage when she refused to marry him.

Medusa's head

Nov 11, 1015

After hearing the news, Perseus shows up at Polydectes' banquet only to unleash Medusa's powers on him- turning him and all the other men to stone.
Polydectes' greed as the king led to his demise.

Argos

Nov 11, 1016

Wanting to see if his father had changed his mind, Perseus and his mother returned to Argos to find that Acrisius had been driven out.

The Competition

Nov 11, 1017

Upon hearing about an athletic competition Perseus decided to partake. He would try to throw discus but accidentally throws it to the audience. Ironically after all that Acrisius did to get rid of Danae and Perseus to avoid his death, the discus struck him in his seat and killed him.
This reinforced the Greeks belief in the prophecy of the Oracle. They believed that the oracle was always right as she was speaking the words of the gods.