There have been many heroes in ancient Greece. They are the basis of Greek culture. Most myths in ancient Greece have revolved around these heroes. And most of these heroes had very alike characteristics. They all had special births, noble or common; they all had noble and good hearts, always trying to do the right thing; and they had special abilities and / or supernatural help. I will be zooming in on the adventures of Perseus.
Based on the writings of Peter Stillman, I will show the basic generalizations that all heroes share in terms of Perseus’ own adventures. Perseus, like most heroes, is grandson to a king (acrissus), has supernatural help (Hermes and Athena), and has a noble heart, help Danae and defeat evil king for her. To first help understand how the story of Perseus goes, you have to know that Acrissus wanted a boy for a child, instead he got a girl. He went to Apollo’s oracle, and she told him that he would have a grandson that will kill him.
The only way to stop this would be to kill Danae now. Now the king knew the price for killing blood, so he imprisoned here in bronze walls, but Zeus impregnated her, and she had Perseus. Them Acrissus took her and the newborn in a chest and out to sea. This is where the next general characteristic comes in. Danae and Perseus were found and raised by a kind seaman named dict ys. He had an evil brother who was king of the island named Polydictys.
The Essay on Bellerophon The Hero King Proetus
As unlikely as it sounds today in 2003 AD, back in mythological times Bellerophon of Corinth became a courageous hero because of a murder he committed. In those times one could be purified of a crime by countering it with a good deed of equal magnitude. And so it was the orders of King Proetus that determined Bellerophon's fate. To relieve himself of his crimes against humanity, he was commanded ...
He loved Danae but she would not marry him. His revenge was to kill Perseus. He thought long and hard. He would send him to hid death by killing Medusa who was impossible to kill; on account that if you looked at her you’d be turned to stone. Anyways, he invites Perseus to a wedding knowing he has no gift, Perseus being a noble person offers Medusa’s head, which is exactly what the evil king wanted.
This shows his noble heart; because even though he knew that killing that gorgon was next to impossible he did it anyways. This also ties in with having supernatural help. Having the gods on his side, Athena and Hermes came down to help Perseus find medusa and have a way to kill her. Hermes helped Perseus trick the gray sisters into giving the location of the gorgons, and Athena gave Perseus her Aegis to help see how to cut off her head. Also, Perseus received an invisibility cap so it would be easy to kill her.
All in all, Perseus like most heroes has many simple basic generalizations that makes him a hero. We expect heroes to have certain characteristics, certain mentality, and even certain situations. Stillman made good a good thesis on the ideas and thoughts that surround a hero myth, We all expect those things mentioned. So if I were to rate the story of Perseus, in tune with the thesis it would be a perfect story.
