God Perseus in Greek mythology, son of Zeus and Danai

Ancient Greece has existed for a very long time, and it seems that only a few people are interested in it, who like to study the Ancient World and everything connected with it, including Greek mythology. However, if we consider in more detail, we can see how the influence of ancient Greece on the development of civilization, manifested in various forms of art.

The Origin of the Myths of Ancient Greece

Myth is a set of stories that were important for the culture, life and development of a person. It is difficult to prove whether the story was in fact, but it can not be refuted either. From the ancient Greek language, "myth" means "tradition," "legend," and therefore, this narrative, which carries a certain meaning - to convey to someone an idea or something to teach him.

Tales of Ancient Greece began to evolve before the advent of writing, and therefore passed from mouth to mouth. The story was about the life of the Greeks and fictional heroes who performed feats, which the people admired. They possessed the highest power, whether Zeus was the one who was the chief among all, or Hercules, who performed well-known feats, or the god Perseus, who was half god, half human, but also distinguished by force and cunning.

The scheme of the mythology of Ancient Greece

It is worth mentioning briefly that all the mythology was divided into three stages: the pre-Olympian (the world came out of Chaos and ended with the killing of Crohn, the chief of the gods), the Olympian (Zeus seizes power along with his suite of 12 gods) and heroic (a time when from the gods and Mortals are born heroes, including the god Perseus).

All the gods can be divided into supreme and secondary. Separately, there were muse who inspired the gods, and also identified the lower beings (satyrs, nymphs and ores, and monsters with whom the heroes were to fight).

Gods and goddesses of ancient Greek mythology

With the help of mythology and the created, invented gods, the ancient Greeks tried to explain all the events taking place, be it a hurricane, torrential rain or illness.

At first people represented gods in the form of terrible animals that prevented them from living well. Hence, such characters as the Medusa of the Gorgon, the Sphinx or the Lernaean Hydra. Further images of steel with human faces and appeared such Greek gods: Perseus, Aphrodite, Zeus, Hephaestus, Demeter and many others. In addition to the fact that the gods had human faces, people also attributed to them and qualities (pity, mercy, envy, jealousy). The gods became immortal and communicated with people, and often entered into a love relationship.

Perseus: the son of Zeus and Danai

Perseus was born despite all the obstacles. Once Father Danai predicted that he would perish at the hands of his own grandson. He had to lock his daughter in the tower so that she could not fall in love with anyone, and guarded her ferocious dogs. But in spite of everything, Danae could still have a son and called him Perseus. Whose son of the gods in mythology was he, and how could he be born?

All obstacles could overcome Zeus, coming to Danae in a very original way, in the form of a golden rain, and it was from him that she gave birth to Perseus' son. Father Danai could not survive it and decided to ruin his daughter and grandson, put them in a wooden box and threw them into the sea. Danae and Perseus were lucky, the fisherman saved them and took them to their brother Polydect, where they stayed to live.

The myth of Perseus

Perseus and his mother lived for a long time at Polidekt, who once wanted to force Danai to be his wife. However, the mature Perseus was against this and directly expressed his word. Then Polydect for a divorce said that he would marry another, and Perseus was clearly delighted and was ready to make any gift, "if necessary, the head of Medusa Gorgon," he said aloud.

Hearing these words, Polidekt sent Perseus behind his head, hoping to get rid of him forever. The goddess Athena decided to help Perseus in this battle, since the Medusa were her sworn enemies (Gorgona and her two sisters). Athena gave Perseus a polished shield to which he had to look, killing Medusa, otherwise, if he looked straight into her eyes, it would be petrified by her gaze.

Hermes came to the rescue, who donated the adamant crescent, they had to cut off the head of Gorgon. Also, the god Perseus asked for winged sandals that brought him to the place, a bag for storing the head of Medusa and an invisibility cap. Thanks to her, he escaped from the Gorgon's sisters after her beheading.

Perseus and Andromeda

Perseus traveled the world for a long time with the head of Medusa Gorgona, and once stopped in Ethiopia, where he saw a naked girl in the distance, which was attached to the rock by chains. Perseus immediately fell in love with her - Andromeda, who was the daughter of Kefei and Cassiopeia. But the sea god Poseidon brought trouble to the kingdom of Kefei, and it was possible to save himself from these troubles only by sacrificing Andromeda, which the sea monster would soon have to swallow.

Perseus demanded from Cefei that if he freed her daughter, he would allow him to marry her. Perseus put on an invisible cap, took the sickle of Hermes, killed the monster and freed his future wife. Later a big feast was arranged and a wedding took place. However, this wedding was not desired by the parents, since they had long promised their daughter to the brother of Kefei. And then Finey's brother broke into the wedding, and the battle began. Only thanks to the fact that Perseus had the head of Medusa, he was able to destroy enemies in one fell swoop, turning them into stone.

The Board of Perseus

Perseus and Andromeda returned to the island of Serif, where Polidekt with his faithful jurors feasted, while Perseus's mother took refuge in the temple from violence. Perseus said that he had fulfilled his promise and showed the head of Medusa, at the same moment Polidekt and all his subjects were petrified.

Together with his mother and his wife, Perseus returned to his homeland. When Father Danai learned that his grandson was alive, he disappeared from sight. But his prophecy overtook him where he did not expect it. During the athletic games, Perseus threw a disc that hit his grandfather Akrisia, and from this wound he died. God Perseus was very worried about this and decided to change with his uncle Megapentom kingdoms, he went to reign in Tirynthos, where he built the city of Mycenae and continued to rule there for many years.

The image of Perseus in art

Ancient Greece, undoubtedly, had a great influence on the development of culture throughout the world. It manifests itself in different spheres, be it painting, sculpture or literature. Each god is given much attention, including the image of Perseus can be found in various forms of art.

It can not be said that Perseus is the god of something (air, fire, water or other natural phenomenon). He is represented as a hero who defeated monsters, and he was a demigod, born of the god Zeus and the mortal Danai.

Since ancient times, mention of it is found in art. So you can see the picture of Rembrandt, dedicated to his mother Danae. Many works praise the act of Perseus when he cut off the head of Medusa Gorgon, as described by the picture of Rubens and the picture of Caravaggio.

The sculpture "Titan Atlant" tells that somehow Atlanta was visited by Perseus, who, like Hercules, was the son of Zeus. The goddess Themis predicted to Atlanta that he would perish at the hands of Zeus's son, and he thought that it would be Perseus, and did not receive him as a guest, but abruptly drove away, for which Perseus showed him the head of Medusa and turned it into a stone statue.

About the meeting and the rescue of Andromeda also tells several pictures: the artist Rubens and J. Vasari created canvases dedicated to this event.