Who was the first SuperHero? Part 2b (The Greeks)
In the last post, we chronicled the life of Cadmus, the first Superhero. Now, to the next among the Firsts.
Perseus
Perseus was more recognisable as a hero than Cadmus was. He was strong, quick and held his own against a number of supernatural creatures. While Cadmus became a heroic figure by slaying a dragon and setting up a city, Perseus did all that and more. To start our story, let’s go to Argos in ancient Greece. The ruler, King Acrisius, had received advice from the Oracle at Delphi (yes, the same one Cadmus went to) that he would be killed by his daughter, Danaë’s son. To prevent this, he locked Danaë up in the palace’s bronze chamber. While Danaë lay imprisoned, her cries reached Zeus, who upon hearing them, decided to send down golden rain that crept into Danaë’s chamber and impregnated her. Yes, I know how that sounds and I’d rather not dwell on that bit. King Acrisius was now in a bind — on the one hand, he feared for his life from his daughter’s baby (Perseus), on the other, he dare not kill Zeus’ offspring. He tried to escape on a simple technicality, and cast mother and child in a wooden chest out to sea, thereby putting their fate in the splashes of open waters.
As luck would have it, Danaë and Perseus were rescued on the shores of Seriphos by a fisherman named Dictys. Dictys was a stand-up guy, and he helped Danaë raise Perseus to become strapping young fisherman/hero. But, as we well know, with every moment of luck, there is a turn of the coin. Danaë caught the eye of Dictys’ brother, the evil king Polydectes. Now, Perseus was growing up with no illusions of his superhero powers and Polydectes knew he would readily protect his mother. But the king was sly and he was willing to go to great lengths to get what he wanted. In his quest to get Danaë, he hatched a devious plan to separate mother and son, by invite Perseus to a party. Now, it was customary for every guest to offer horses as gifts for the king. Perseus, who grew up a fisherman under the tutelage of Dictys, never needed a horse, nor did he have the money to buy one. He stepped forth presenting a genie-esque wish — “Ask for whatever you want that doesn’t really cost money. I will not refuse.” The words rang like church bells to Polydectes’ ears (or whatever else he found musical). “Bring me the head of the last Goron — Medusa, whose eyes turn men into stone.” Stuck having made his promise, Perseus nodded and went on his way.
Now, Perseus had no idea where Medusa was, but being Zeus’ son, he had most of the Gods on his speed dial. He had a quick chat with Athena, who told him to visit the Graeae sisters to find the location of the Hesperidas — the nymphs entrusted with all weapons to kill Medusa. The Graeae sisters (relatives of the Gorgons) were ominous in name and sight. They were three blind women with a single seeing eye between them — very much like characters from Guillermo del Toro’s movie. Perseus asked them for the information he needed but the Graeae were, unsurprisingly, not helpful. Perseus was almost ready to give up, but then he saw an opening. He noticed how the Graeae sisters were handing each other the one eye between them whenever they wanted to see. So in one of the handoffs, Perseus swooped in and stole the eye from their hands. It was when the Graeae sisters, now blind as bats, were screaming and flailing about for the eye that Perseus shrewdly proposed the trade — location of Hesperidas for the one eye he held in his hand. I can’t imagine him being repulsed by it, but I guess it was a small price. The Graeae sisters gave in, and pointed him to Hera’s gardens. Now, sources are divided as to whether Perseus gave the eye back, or threw it into the lake, leaving the blind women crying for all eternity. Let’s go with he gave it back, and made his way to the famed garden to meet Hesperidas.
The Hesperidas were nymphs of the evening and tended to Hera’s garden. I guess it makes sense, to hide something important with gardeners; they’d know the best spots to hide things in. Perseus described the journey he undertook to get to them, along with his blessings from Athena. Hesperidas agreed to give him the three crucial weapons required to defeat Medusa — a kibisis (bag) to safely hold Medusa’s head (as even in death it could turn anyone to stone), Zeus’ adamantine sword and Hades’ helmet (Helm of darkness) that would make him invisible. Athena, who was also present at the gardens, gave him a Vibranium-like well-polished shield, and Hermes, the messenger of the gods, gave Perseus his winged sandals to travel to the dreaded grounds. Armed with almost anything he could need for the quest, Perseus got his Game-Face on and followed Hermes to Medusa’s lair.
Medusa’s lair was grim. Statues of stoned soldiers (you know what I mean) and streams of lava, dark and unpleasant. Perseus found Medusa’s two sisters guarding its entrance and realised that fighting them might alert Medusa. To avoid that, he wore Hades’ helmet and snuck by the sisters into the lair, no one the wiser. Once inside, he hid behind statues because he wasn’t sure where Medusa would attack from. He raised his shield up and realised that he could use the shine of the shield to see an attack from Medusa, without having to look at her. Using this, Perseus noticed a shadow pull an arrow straight at him. He dodged and closed his eyes. Medusa had been right behind him and was now waiting to attack again. Perseus, knowing that the attack was coming, got Zeus’ sword at the ready, and revealed his position from behind a pillar. As soon as Medusa attacked, he dodged her, and cut off her head with a single swoosh of his magic sword. Medusa’s head tumbled to the ground –her misery was finally over, and from her blood arose the winged horse Pegasus and the Golden giant Chrysaor (Pegasus will later make an appearance when we talk about Bellerophon). Perseus put Medusa’s head in the magic bag and snuck out the same way he had snuck in — using Hades’ helmet. A click of his heels and he was on his way back home with a story or three to tell.
On his way back, Persues stopped by a number of places. While at the garden of Hesparidas, he used Medusa’s severed head to petrify Atlas (the Titan holding up the sky) into a mountain range. He also rescued the beautiful Andromida in Ethiopia from a sea serpent and saved the kingdom from Posiedon’s attack. Grateful, the kingdom gifted Andromida to Perseus as a bride before he sailed back home. What a gift for the mother! Unfortunately, his return home wasn’t the welcoming party he was expecting. The evil king Polydectes had driven his mother, Danaë, into hiding. Perseus, understandably angry, challenged the king and defeated his whole army by showing them Medusa’s severed head. He then crowned Dictys as King and fixed Medusas head on to Athena’s shield, before returning it to her.
I bet some of you thought I forgot about King Acrisius and his curse. Well, fear not. After all his adventures Perseus naturally wanted to relax for a bit, and decided to take part in some light competitive sports instead. He went to Larissa for the games and invented a sport named Quoit, a precursor to discus throw. Obviously, Perseus’ throw was long. In fact the throw reached the audience, right where King Acrisius sat — killing him right there. This accidental death thus fulfilled the Oracle’s prophecy, but after all that King Acrisius had put poor Danaë through, I guess this was an anti-climactic way to go.
All in all, Perseus had ended up having quite a life — he beheaded Medusa, created a mountain range, and later in life even went on to found the city of Mycenae and start the bloodline for a number of Heroes, including the famed Heracles.
