Perseus, Andromeda and the Sea Dragon of Poseidon

The fate of Perseus begins with his grandfather Acrisius king of Argos. The king is informed by an oracle that his little son will kill him. The king had locked his daughter Danae in a tower to be sure she will not have children. Despite the precautions of the king, Zeus still managed to seduce Danae  with a shower of gold. The birth of the child is kept secret until one day, the king discovered  his grand son while he was crying. Fear and anger seized him. He ordered to put the boy and his mother in a chest and throw it  into the water. The current brought them to the safe shores of the island of Serifos . The mother and the son are discovered by a fisherman who will take care of Perseus as his own son. Polydectes,the king of the island  sees the beautiful Danae and begins to desire her. He organizes a banquet which everyone must contribute. The king asks horses to Perseus. With humor, the young man said to the king that he will instead deliver the head of the Gorgon. The next day when Perseus brought horses to the king, he refused them and demanded again to  Perseus the Gorgon's head as promised. He threatened him to take his mother if his word was not respected.


Perseus put himself in a very bad situation. He hides not knowing what to do. He is very sad. Hermes appears and offers to help him to solve this problem. Accompanied by Athena, they go to visit the Graeae. The god Hermes advise Perseus to get the eye and the tooth of the Graeae to force them to help him. The three sisters have only one eye and one tooth. To be able to see, they have to pass it to one to another. The sisters do not have the choice to help Perseus in order to recover their vision and the tooth. They reveal the secret place where the nymphs live and about their three magical objects: the kune or helmet of Hades makes invisible the wearer . A pair of winged sandals that can fly from one place to another and a bag that will collect the head of Medusa. Perseus give back the single eye and the tooth to the Graeae. After obtaining the nymphs three magic objects, he goes where  the Gorgons reside.


With the three magical objects, Perseus terraces  the Gorgon Medusa. He carries the dangerous head in his bag. The medusa's hairs are composed of serpents and her eyes have the power to transform any being who dares to look in to stones. Perseus is proud to have achieved this feat. He can keep his word to the king Polydectes.


When passing over Ethiopia, Perseus sees a maiden chained to a cliff facing the ocean. She wears a beautiful white dress and her golden hairs are shining in the sun. She is undoubtedly of royal blood. Perseus asked her what she did to deserve such a punishment. Andromeda replied that her mother Cassiopeia is the wife of King Cepheus of Ethiopia. In a burst of pride, my mother declared that I was prettier than the sea nymphs, the Nereids. Faced with such an affront, Poseidon, the king of the sea, became very angry. He sent a sea dragon living in the depths of the ocean floor to destroy the kingdom of my father. Hoping to save the kingdom, I was offered in sacrifice on the cliff.


While they were still talking, they saw the dragon swimming directly towards them. As Perseus flew over him, the dragon does not see him. Using the same sword that cut off the head of Medusa, he stabbed the dragon right in the heart repeatedly. The dragon sank lifeless in the waters of the ocean. Perseus freed the young princess. Subsequently, they got married.

 

The mysterious origin of the dragon (Page 5)