Metamorphoses: Medusa and Perseus

After Danae had been rescued on Seriphus, Polydectes, the king of the island fell in love with her but was thwarted in his advances by the presence of her son Perseus, who had grown to manhood. To occupy Perseus, Polydectes assigned him the seemingly impossible task of retrieving the horrific head of the Gorgon Medusa. Aided by Athena and Hermes, who gave him a sickle-shaped sword, and extracting directions from the aged Graiae, Perseus made his way to the nymphs. They gave him winged sandals, a satchel to conceal the head of Medusa, and the Cap of Hades, which made him invisible. Properly armed, Perseus approached the deathless Gorgons, Stheno and Euryale, and their mortal sister, Medusa, while they were sleeping. Medusa was once a beautiful maiden, but Poseidon ravished her in a shrine of Athena, who changed her pleasing countenance to that of a nightmarish demon with snakes about her head and the power to turn men to stone. Averting his gaze from Medusa's face, Perseus severed the head from her slumbering body and made his escape. On his return to Seriphus, Perseus flew over the land of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, the king and queen of Ethiopia. Cassiopeia had incurred the wrath of Poseidon by boasting that her daughter, Andromeda, was more lovely than the Nereids. Poseidon inflicted the land with floods and a sea monster that would only be appeased by devouring the virgin Andromeda. Seeing the beautiful maiden chained to a rock before the sea creature, Perseus extracted a promise of marriage to Andromeda from Cepheus in exchange for his daughter's rescue, and slew the monster with his sword. In order to wash his hands in the sea, Perseus gently set the head of Medusa on a bed of leaves and seaweed on the beach. There the blood-stained forms were petrified by Medusa's power and changed into red coral. A great wedding feast for Perseus and Andromeda was held, upon which Phineus, the bride's uncle, her former betrothed, descended with his troops. In a jealous rage he attacked Perseus, who used the head of Medusa to transform Phineus and his men into stone statues. When the happy couple finally reached Seriphus, Polydectes met the same fate.