Summary:
Perseverance is one of the most well exemplified ideas in the story of Perseus. Throughout the story, Perseus is bent on retrieving the head of Medusa and bringing it back to the king and to have his revenge for persecuting his mother, Danae.
The story of Perseus is one of the most well known myths of all time. It is a story of fear, passion, and more importantly a journey. King Acrisius set Danae and her son adrift on the sea because of a prophecy that Perseus would kill him. The two were taken in by Polydectes, the king of Seriphus who later conceived a passion for Danae. Knowing he could not have her until Perseus was out of the picture he sent Perseus on a quest and this is the beginning of the legend. Through Perseus' physical journey, the ideas of perseverance, fate, and physical events are well executed
Perseverance is one of the most well exemplified ideas in the story of Perseus. Throughout the story, Perseus is bent on retrieving the head of Medusa and bringing it back to the king and to have his revenge for persecuting his mother, Danae. Without the perseverance, the drive to succeed, Perseus' would have without a doubt been killed and would have never been the legend that he has become today. It is the desire to succeed that interests Hermes and Athena to help Perseus on his long and physical journey. Perseus would have gotten nowhere however if it wasn't for the help of Medusa's sisters.
In order to start his journey, Perseus visited the Gorgons' sisters, the Graeae, The three "old women" or "gray ones" from Greek mythology, who had only one eye and one tooth which they shared among themselves. Driven by his perseverance, Perseus took the eye and the tooth, and agreed to give them back only if the Graeae helped him in his quest. They helped him acquire a pair of winged sandals, a wallet, and the cap of Hades. The items that he received allowed his journey to continue on, one step closer to achieving his goal, his revenge. The sandals that he received enabled him to fly, the satchel was to carry the Gorgon's head, and the cap rendered him invisible. The three sisters of Medusa represent fate, more specifically Perseus' fate because without them Perseus would have failed, his fate to die rather than succeed.
Perseus overcomes many obstacles throughout his journey, the greatest, Medusa. Wearing the cap, Perseus was able to approach the gorgon and able to cut off her head because he saw the reflection of her in his shield so he was not turned to stone. The journey home shows Perseus as a hero more than anything. On his way home he encountered Atlas and in the course of a struggle, he used the Gorgon's head to turn Atlas to stone however this shows Perseus as a hero because he relives Atlas of the pain of bearing the heavens. Later Perseus saves Andromeda from the sea monster and falls in love with her. At the wedding feast however, Phineus demanded the bride so Perseus used Medusa's head to turn Phineus and his followers into stone.
Perseus achieves his goal of revenge on the king when he reaches home, as he turns him to stone. The purpose of the story is just that; purpose. It is simple purpose
that drives Perseus to achieve his goal, with simple purpose he is able to conquer Medusa and fulfill the journey. A reader can learn much from this story, more importantly they can learn about themselves from this story. The reader will learn that purpose drives a person to accomplish a goal that they truly seek and also this myth teaches the reader that no journey is an easy one and that one needs perseverance, a blessed fate, and the ability to overcome any obstacle to succeed, and also to never look into the eyes of Medusa, because looks will kill you, literally
This is the complete article, containing 622 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
