Suidas medusa there is a story told in hellas that before xerxes set forth on his march against hellas, he sent a herald to argos, who said on his coming so the story goes, men of argos, this is the message to you from king xerxes. Polydectes held perseus to his rash promise and demanded the head of the only mortal gorgon, medusa, whose gaze turned people to stone. A power struggle among the gods both hinders and helps him along the way, and perseus even manages to find true love when he rescues the breathtakingly beautiful princess andromeda from the horrors of a bloodthirsty sea monster. Perseus and the legends of argos oxford university press. Read what ancient writers have written on perseus on this theoi project webpage, and a profile on perseus at wikipedia. When perseus son of danae and zeus had come to cepheus son of belus and married his daughter andromeda, a son was born to him whom he called perses, and he left him there. Apr 14, 2015 the slaying of medusa is portrayed as a prerequisite to freedom for the captive mother of perseus, danae. The history of herodotus rawlinsonbook 7 wikisource, the free. Creeping closer, perseus saw the reflection of the monster and thack medusa.
Digression on the spartan version of how they came to have two kings, and how one line came to have first place. He was, alongside cadmus and bellerophon, the greatest greek hero and slayer of monsters before the days of heracles. Not even death, however, could quell medusas power, and perseus had to keep her decapitated head in a special sack strong enough to contain it, called a kybisis. Quite a few comments have been posted about the history of herodotus. Medusa was one of three sisters born to phorcys and ceto known as the gorgons. Perseus was the greek hero who killed the gorgon medusa, and claimed andromeda, having rescued her from a sea monster sent by poseidon. Later authors such as herodotus and pausanias place the gorgons abode in libya. Perseus and the monstrous medusa heroes in training book 12 kindle edition by holub, joan, williams, suzanne, phillips, craig.
In the histories, he describes the expansion of the achaemenid empire under its kings cyrus the great, cambyses, and darius i the great, culminating in xerxes expedition to greece 480 bce, which met with disaster in the naval engagement at salamis and the battles at plataea and mycale. Perseus and medusa bronze statue by hubert gerhard c. I would highly recommend this book for parents looking to interest their children in the greek myths. Creeping closer, perseus saw the reflection of the monster and thack medusa s head flew off her body. In ancient times, the greek gods would have children with mankind. The history of herodotus by herodotus the internet classics archive. It was not till perseus, the son of jove and danae, visited cepheus the son of belus, and, marrying his daughter andromeda, had by her a son called perses. I pass over all the other officers, because there is no need for me to mention them, except for.
Greek text with facing vocabulary and commentary under a creative commons license. Perseus is not intimidated by the grey women and their eyeball, or by hermess complicated directions, or by medusa, or by a winged horse sprouting out of medusa. The story of perseus long ago, king acrisius of argos learned from an oracle that he would one day be killed by his grandson. Homer, iliad, book 1, line 1 perseus digital library. Mar 02, 2012 herodotus, histories book 7 page 61 perseus, the son of danae wanting to establish for himself his own kingdom, despised that of the medes. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Gates of fire, by stephen pressfield, has the battle of thermopylae book vii as its centrepiece. His goal no longer is the punishment of athens, but the subjugation of europe.
Written from the 450s to the 420s bc in the ionic dialect of classical greek, they serve as a record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of various cultures that were known. He was able to defeat the gorgon by lopping off her head, which he was able to do by fighting her reflection in his highly polished shield. Medusa the quest of perseus differentiated reading. The myth of perseus and medusa greek myths and greek. Then, after defeating the monster, he marries andromeda and, at the wedding feast, he tells the story of how he defeated the gorgon medusa and took. Perseus is the second of the four books in the heroes series, which debuted in the fall of 2004 with the release of. As a young man perseus undertook a mission to kill the medusa. Herodotus, the histories english xml header word count hdt. The gorgons head rests in a round sack kibisis slung across his shoulder. The three gorgons, of whom only medusa was mortal, were of terrifying aspect, and those who looked upon their faces were turned to stone. Herodotus, histories book 7 page 61 perseus, the son of danae. Apollodorus, the library book 2 theoi classical texts library. Perseus compared to moses and the danites of jaffa by john.
Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading perseus and the monstrous medusa heroes in training book 12. The main adventure is killing medusa and taking her head, though he also rescues ethiopian princess andromeda from a sea monster and then weds her. Before he can claim his heritage, the hero is ordered to slay a hideous monster named medusa, whose gaze turns men into solid stone. The hero perseus was sent on a quest to kill medusa. Perseus, wanderings and exodus comparisons parallel lives. But alcithoe, daughter of minyas, will not celebrate the bacchic rites, in acceptance of the god.
Perseus, wanderings and exodus comparisons joshua and. Im a minimalist, so i dont have many possessions i do however have a great collection of greek mythologyrelated items, but this edition of the book is one that i would never voluntarily part with. According to the persian story, perseus was an assyrian who became a greek. Looking into the shield, perseus saw medusa walk slowly near him. Perseus and the monstrous medusa heroes in training book. The histories of herodotus is considered the founding work of history in western literature. King acrisius of argos had only one child, a daughter, danae. The narrative of apollodorus is quoted, for the most part verbally, but as usual without acknowledgment, by zenobius, cent.
The story of perseus and medusa, an interpretation of its. He and melia, daughter of ocean, had sons, phoroneus, and aegialeus. Sep 02, 20 when perseus son of danae and zeus had come to cepheus son of belus and married his daughter andromeda, a son was born to him whom he called perses, and he left him there. Medusa lies behind him, beheaded with blood flowing from the raw stump of her neck. According to hesiods theogony, the gorgons were the sisters of the graiai and lived in the utmost place towards the night by the hesperides beyond oceanus. The gorgon sisters were sthenno, euryale, and medusa. Ovids account of medusa s mortality tells that she had once been a woman, vain of her beautiful hair. Perseus and chemmis herodotus ii 91 cambridge core. Here are presented the results of the enquiry carried out by herodotus of halicarnassus. Paintings and sculptures of the moment of beheading or medusa s portrait itself are famous all over the world. All search options view abbreviations home collectionstexts perseus catalog research grants open source about help. Perseus and medusa when you left perseus, he had just struck a bargain with andromedas parents king cepheus and queen cassiopeia, but now he has to battle the sea monster. Perseus collection herodotus search for documents in search only in herodotus.
She has been featured in movies, books, cartoons and even video games. Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position. She was beautiful above all the other women of the land, but this was small comfort to the king for not having a son. Rape of io by phoenician traders as persian version of origin of eastwest conflict 1. In almost every version of the medusa myth, king polydectes of seriphus sent perseus to return with her head so that. The story is entertaining and well told though it was a bit too scary for lucy, who is only 4 years old. Suidas medusa there is a story told in hellas that before xerxes set forth on his march against hellas, he sent a herald to argos, who said on his coming so the story goes, men of argos, this. Histories, the, sixth and seventh books of herodotus, with a life of herodotus, and epitome of his history, a summary of the dialect, and explanatory notes. Perseus and the legends of argos 549 gorgon and came bearing the head with hair of writhing snakes, for the islanders a stony death.
After being persuaded to send an expedition against hellas, xerxes first marched against the rebels in the year after darius death. Perseus, athena and head of medusa, apulian redfigure krater c4th b. Greek and roman arabic germanic 19thcentury american renaissance richmond times italian poetry. Herodotus, the histories, book 6, chapter 100, section 1. Perseus compared to moses and the danites of jaffa by. Danae was the earthly wife of zeus, and she was being held captive by an earthly king, there can be no mistake in identifying her with zion, the nation that gave birth to moses. Perseus on pegasus slaying medusa perseus presents medusa s head to athena sargent 192225 stairway of the museum of fine arts, boston. For while thou revilest the greeks, thou dost encourage the king to lead his own troops against them. He later used her head as a weapon to turn enemies to stone. Book ii the histories also known as the history of herodotus is considered the founding work of history in western literature. Herodotus, the histories, book 1, chapter 1, section 0. Herodotus has 366 books on goodreads with 124197 ratings. Opening alludes to homer, suggests epic scale and purpose memorialization. Perseus used the winged shoes and flew to the gorgons lair to find many stone men.
Greek researcher, often called the worlds first historian. Hdt prefers the greek version, which makes the dorians egyptians and traces their family back only as far as perseus 53. My fiveyearold son and i enjoyed this version of the perseus and medusa story. Perseus had no horse to give, so he asked polydectes to name the gift. Use the accompanying powerpoint with this resource as a visual aid to retelling the greek myth of perseus and medusa. Perseus with the head of medusa, by antonio canova, 18041806, marble museo pioclementino vatican museums dsc00967. Herodotus, histories book 7 page 61 perseus, the son of danae wanting to establish for himself his own kingdom, despised that of the medes. Olympus in the form of a stream of gold, which poured through the roof of the chamber, and soon danae had a baby named perseus. Medusa in ancient greek art essay the metropolitan museum.
Read the histories book 7, by herodotus online on bookmate herodotus was an ancient greek historian who lived in the fifth century bc c. These halfbloods were known as demigods, and they were the greatest heroes of thei. Danae and perseus lived happily in the court of king polydectes for many years and perseus grew into a young man. Few sections in the whole of book ii of herodotus history present such difficulties as chapter 91. In the end, perseus does bring him the head of the gorgon but the hero uses it against polydectes and turns him into stone.
The pictures are engaging and the book is a sturdy paperback. The history of herodotus by herodotus written 440 b. The myth of perseus and medusa is one of the best thrillerlike tales in greek mythology with a promising plot that gets more complicated as the story progresses, this myth has a typical hollywoodlike scenario with the main character not being born yet at the moment when his destiny was determined. And thou, mardonius, son of gobryas, forbear to speak foolishly concerning the greeks, who are men that ought not to be lightly esteemed by us. Fearing that, he hid his daughter danae in a chamber underground. The myth of perseus and medusa was one the most powerful inspiration for many artists in the ancient times, but it hasnt lost its artistic significance to the present day either. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. The internet classics archive the history of herodotus.
All search options view abbreviations home collectionstexts perseus catalog. It was not till perseus, the son of jove and danae, visited cepheus the son. Joan holub has authored andor illustrated over 140 childrens books, including the goddess girls series, the heroes in training series, the new york times bestselling picture book mighty dads illustrated by james dean, and little red writing illustrated by melissa sweet. The hero wears a chiton, winged cap and high boots, and holds a sickleshaped blade harpe in his hand.
Power of vast thracian nation limited by disunity 3. They do not admit that the forefathers of acrisius were in any way related to perseus, but say they were egyptians, as the greeks likewise testify. He beheaded the gorgon medusa for polydectes and saved andromeda from the sea monster cetus. Phineus had been engaged to cepheus daughter andromeda before she wed perseus, and phineus plotted against him, leading perseus to turn him and his coconspirators into stone by showing them. With the help of hermes and athena he slew the gorgon medusa, conquered a mighty sea monster and won the hand of the beautiful princess. A prophecy states that the king of argos will be defeated by his infant grandson perseus, so the king throws perseus, and his mother, into the sea. One of the most known art work is the medusa shield.
Xerxes hears the myth of phrixus and cytissorus, whose descendants remain. Zeus jupiter came to perseus mother, danae, in the form of a shower of gold, and impregnated her resulting in the birth of perseus, also called perseus eurymedon. At the beginning of the histories, herodotus sets out his reasons for writing it. Full ebook perseus and medusa for free video dailymotion. Herodotus book 7 commentary beta edition 14 mb pdf aug 2012 rightclick on pc, ctrlclick on mac for option to download directly this link contains a free pdf copy of an unrevised draft of herodotus histories book 7. This differentiated comprehension activity will support learners in reading and responding to questions on a text. Having subdued these and having reduced all egypt to slavery much greater than it had suffered in the reign of dareios, he entrusted the government of it to achaimenes. The internet classics archive the history of herodotus by. Suddenly, perseus heard the faint sound of hissing snakes. Suzanne williams is a former elementary school librarian.
The medusa head is part of fashion designer gianni versaces symbol. Part of a complete english translation of herodotus. On his travels, he used the head to turn his enemies to stone and rescue the princess andromeda from a sea monster 20. Books iv and v of ovids metamorphoses include the version of perseus tale. He was the son of the argive princess danae who was locked away in a bronze chamber by her father akrisios acrisius who lived in fear of a prophecy that he would one day be killed by her son. But when perseus the son of danae and zeus had come to cepheus the son of belus. The history of herodotus by herodotus, part of the internet classics archive. They are rescued by a fisherman, and young perseus grows up, unaware of his royal birth. He claimed that the readers of oracles had incorrectly interpreted the whole of the oracle and reasoned that if the verse really pertained to the athenians, it would have been formulated in less mild language, calling salamis cruel rather than.
The histories book 7 by herodotus read online on bookmate. Herodotus claims to have traveled extensively around the ancient world, conducting interviews and collecting stories for his book, almost all of which covers territories of the persian empire. Hide browse bar your current position in the text is marked in blue. Perseus turning phineus and his followers to stone. The quarrel over succession by two of darius sons, artabazanes and xerxes 2.