The fall night sky tells one of the greatest mythological stories ever to be passed down from the ancient Greeks. It is filled with gods, goddesses, mortals, demigods, hubris, lust, hatred and revenge. All the things a good story should have. Also, many of the characters in this story have been immortalized as constellations that you can see for yourself.
The story is long and complicated. It comes from different stories, but it goes something like this. It all began with King Acrisius of Greece, who was afraid of a prophesy that foretold that he would be killed by his own grandson.
To stave off this cruel fate, he locked his beautiful daughter, Danae, in a bronze cage to keep any man desiring her away. This idea worked for mere mortal men but not for Zeus, the king of the gods. He poured himself into her cage as a golden shower, and forced himself upon her.
That union produced Perseus, one of the greatest heroes of ancient times.
Danae must have been very beautiful as many suitors sought her hand in marriage. A couple of them got together and plotted to send Perseus on an “errand” from which he would be unlikely to return. They wanted him to procure the head of Medusa.
Now Medusa was one of the most colorful figures in Greek mythology, and you have probably heard of her. She was one of three Gorgon sisters living in a cave by the sea. She had snakes growing out of her head, a hairdresser’s nightmare, and a stare so icy she could turn you to stone just by looking at you.
She was a formidable opponent even for Perseus.
Perseus’ pursuit
Interestingly enough, Medusa was once a beautiful young woman with gorgeous hair. She served as a priestess in the Temple of Athena, Goddess of wisdom. One night Poseidon, god of the sea, visited her and imposed his will on her. Athena was outraged. She felt that her temple was defiled. You would think Athena would have directed her ire at Poseidon, her brother. It was all his idea anyway. But she saved it all for Medusa.
Perseus, being the son of the almighty Zeus, had connections, and he played his cards wisely. The god Hermes — you probably know him by his Roman name, Mercury — gave him a very cool pair of winged sandals so he could fly. Athena gave him a polished shield so he could deflect the deadly gaze of his opponent. Other gods chipped in and gave him an invisibility hat and a sword sharp enough to cut through her tough scales, and a magic pouch to carry the severed head.
Perseus caught her napping in her cave. He used the reflection in the shield to guide him and with one blow of his sword decapitated Medusa and he popped the severed head in the magic pouch for safekeeping. One word for the wise. Beware of taking a nap when a Greek demigod is hunting you down.
You can see Perseus for yourself one of these clear nights. Just look towards the northeast in the early evening.
Meanwhile, in another part of Greece the gods were being insulted again. Queen Cassiopeia boasted that she and her lovely daughter Andromeda were more beautiful than Poseidon’s Nereids. These 50 gorgeous mermaid-like creatures were the consorts of the sea god and accompanied him on his ocean voyages.
One thing the gods had a low tolerance for was boastful humans, and Cassiopeia was all human. Poseidon was outraged. More about that next month.
