Perseus
- Son of Jupiter and Danăē, abandoned by his grandfather Acrisius, but rescued and brought up by Polydectes, king of Seriphus. When grown up, he undertook, at the instigation of Polydectes, an expedition against the islands of the Gorgons, and received from Vulcan a sickle-shaped sword, from Mercury winged shoes, and from Minerva a shield and the flying horse Pegasus. Thus armed, he killed and cut off the head of Medusa, whose look turned every thing into stone. On his way back, he, by means of it, turned into stone a sea-monster to which Andromeda, the daughter of Cepheus, was exposed, and married her. Their son Perses became the progenitor of the Persians. After his death, Perseus was placed among the constellations, Ov. M. 4, 609 sq.; Hyg. Fab. 64; 244; id. Astron. 12; Cic. N. D. 2, 44, 112; Prop. 2, 30 (3, 28), 4; 2, 28 (3, 24), 22; Serv. Verg. A. 4, 246.—
- B Hence,
- 1 Per-sēus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to Perseus, Persean, Prop. 3 (4), 22, 8: Perseos alter in Argos scinditur, i. e. where Perseus's grandfather, Acrisius, reigned, Stat. Th. 1, 255: Persei culmina montis, the mountain where Perseus first mounted Pegasus, id. ib. 3, 633: Persea Tarsos, founded by Perseus, Luc. 3, 225: Babylon, id. 6, 449.—
- 2 Per-sēïus, a, um, Persean: Perseia castra sequi, to fight in his army, Ov. M. 5, 128.—
- II The last king of Macedonia, v. Perses, IV.
- v. the preced. art., I. B. 1.
cum ~us de monstro in armis triumphasset et caput Gorgonis super ligna posuisset
Perseus, Andromeda ‥ / et pariles stelle
aures magnatum siquis demulcet in aula, / sub lare privato Persius alter erit
- 1. zoon v. Zeus en Danaë, doodde Medusa en redde op de terugreis Andromeda, die door een zeemonster werd belaagd; Perseus kreeg haar vervolgens als echtgenote; — adj. Persē(i)us, a, um;
- 2. laatste koning v. Macedonië; door de Rom. legeraanvoerder Aemilius Paullus bij Pydna (168 v. Chr.) overwonnen en in de triomftocht meegevoerd; — adj. Persicus, a, um [bellum oorlog met Perseus].
(Περσεύς). Son of Zeus and Danaë, the daughter of Acrisius. A sketch of his fabulous history has already been given under a previous article (see Danaë); and it remains here but to relate the particulars of his enterprise against the Gorgons. When Perseus had made his rash promise to Polydectes, by which he bound himself to bring the latter the Gorgon 's head, he retired full of grief to the extremity of the island of Scyros, where Hermes came to him, promising that he and Athené would be his guides. Hermes brought him first to the Graiae (see Phorcydes), whose eye and tooth he stole and would not restore until they had furnished him with directions to the abode of the nymphs who were possessed of the winged shoes, the magic wallet, and the helmet of Pluto which made the wearer invisible. Having obtained from the Graiae the requisite information, he came to the nymphs, who gave him their precious possessions: he then flung the wallet over his shoulder, placed the helmet on his head, and fitted the shoes to his feet. Thus equipped, and grasping the short curved sword (ἅρπη) which Hermes gave him, he mounted into the air, accompanied by the gods, and flew to the ocean, where he found the three Gorgons asleep. (See Gorgones.) Fearing to gaze on their faces, which changed the beholder to stone, he looked on the head of Medusa as it was reflected on his shield, and, Athené guiding his hand, he severed it from her body. The blood gushed forth, and with it the winged steed Pegasus and Chrysaor, the father of Geryon, for Medusa was at that time pregnant by Poseidon. Perseus took up the head, put it into his wallet, and set out on his return. The two sisters awoke, and pursued the fugitive; but, protected by the helmet of Pluto, he eluded their vision, and they were obliged to give over the bootless chase ( Scut. 220-230; Pausan. v. 18, 1). Perseus pursued his aërial route, and after having, in the course of his journey, punished the inhospitality of Atlas (q.v.) by changing him into a rocky mountain (Ovid, Met. iv. 626 foll.), he came to the country of the Ethiopians. Here he liberated Andromeda (see Andromeda), whom he married. He is also said to have come to the Hyperboreans, by whom he was hospitably received. On his return to Seriphos, he found his mother with Dictys in a temple, whither they had fled from the violence of Polydectes. Perseus then went to the palace of Polydectes, and metamorphosed him and all his guests, and, some say, the whole island, into stone ( Pyth. xii. 10). He then presented the kingdom to Dictys. He gave the winged sandals and the helmet to Hermes, who restored them to the nymphs and to Pluto, and the head of Gorgon to Athené, who placed it in the middle of her shield or breast-plate. Perseus then went to Argos, accompanied by
Danaë and Andromeda. Acrisius, remembering the oracle, escaped to Larissa, in the country of the Pelasgians; but Perseus followed him, in order to persuade him to return. Some writers state that Perseus, on his return to Argos, found Proetus, who had expelled his brother Acrisius, in possession of the kingdom; and that Perseus slew Proetus, and was afterwards killed by Megapenthes, the son of Proetus. The more common tradition, however, relates that when Teutamidas, king of Larissa, celebrated games in honour of his guest Acrisius, Perseus, who took part in them, accidentally hit the foot of Acrisius with the discus, and thus killed him. Acrisius was buried outside the city of Larissa, and Perseus, leaving the kingdom of Argos to Megapenthes, the son of Proetus, received from him in exchange the government of Tiryns. According to others, Perseus remained in Argos, and successfully opposed the introduction of the Bacchic orgies. Perseus is said to have founded the towns of Midea and Mycenae. By Andromeda he became the father of Perses, Aïcaeus, Sthenelus, Heleus, Mestor, Electryon, Gorgophoné, and Autochthé. Perseus was worshipped as a hero in several places in Greece and even in Egypt (Herod.ii. 91).
or Perses (Περσεύς). The last king of Macedonia, the eldest son of Philip V. He reigned eleven years, from B.C. 178 to 168. Before his accession he persuaded his father to put to death his younger brother Demetrius, whom he suspected that the Roman Senate intended to set up as a competitor for the throne on the death of Philip. Immediately after his accession he began to make preparations for war with the Romans, which he knew to be inevitable, though seven years elapsed before actual hostilities commenced. The war broke out in B.C. 171. The first year of the war was marked by no striking action. The consul P. Licinius Crassus first suffered a defeat in Thessaly in an engagement between the cavalry of the two armies, but subsequently gained a slight advantage over the king's troops. The second year of the war (B.C. 170), in which the consul A. Hostilius Mancinus commanded, also passed over without any important battle, but was, on the whole, favourable to Perseus. The third year (B.C. 169), in which the consul Q. Marcius Philippus commanded, again produced no important results. The length to which the war had been unexpectedly protracted, and the ill success of the Roman arms, had by this time excited a general feeling in favour of the Macedonian monarch; but the ill-timed avarice of Perseus, who refused to advance the sum of money which Eumenes, king of Pergamus, demanded, deprived him of this valuable ally; and the same unseasonable niggardliness likewise deprived him of the services of twenty thousand Gallic mercenaries, who had actually advanced into Macedonia to his support, but retired on failing to obtain their stipulated pay. He was left to carry on the contest against Rome single-handed.
The fourth year of the war (B.C. 168) was also the last. The new consul, L. Aemilius Paulus, defeated Perseus with great loss in a decisive battle fought near Pydna, on June 22, B.C. 168. Perseus took refuge in the island of Samothrace, where he shortly afterwards surrendered with his children to the praetor Cn. Octavius. When brought before Aemilius he is said to have degraded himself by the most abject supplications; but he was treated with kindness by the Roman general. The following year he was carried to Italy, where he was compelled to adorn the splendid triumph of his conqueror (November 30, B.C. 167), and afterwards cast into a dungeon, from whence, however, the intercession of Aemilius procured his release, and he was permitted to end his days in an honourable captivity at Alba. He survived his removal thither a few years, and died, according to some accounts, by voluntary starvation, while others, fortunately with less probability, represent him as falling a victim to the cruelty of his guards, who deprived him of sleep. Perseus had been twice married; the name of his first wife, whom he is said to have killed with his own hand in a fit of passion, is not recorded; his second, Laodicé, was the daughter of Seleucus IV. Philopator. He left two children —a son, Alexander, and a daughter, both apparently by his second marriage, as they were mere children when carried to Rome. Besides these, he had adopted his younger brother Philip, who appears to have been regarded by him as the heir to his throne, and who became the partner of his captivity. See Livy, bks. xl.-xliv.; and Polyb. bks. xxiv., xxvi., xxvii., xxix.
- Apollod. 1.2.6, Apollod. 2.4.1, Hdt. 7.61, Hdt. 7.150
- grandson of Acrisius, invents the quoit: Paus. 2.16.2
- his supposed Egyptian origin and temple at Chemmis: Hdt. 2.91
- Persian belief that he was an Assyrian: Hdt. 6.53, Hdt. 6.54
- "Perseus' watchtower" alleged to be in the west of the Delta: Hdt. 2.15
- cast into the sea with his mother, washed ashore on Seriphus: Apollod. 2.4.1
- sent by Polydectes to fetch the Gorgon's head: Apollod. 2.4.1
- visits the Phorcides and nymphs: Apollod. 2.4.1, Apollod. 2.4.2
- receives cap and shoes from nymphs: Paus. 3.17.3
- slays Medusa: Apollod. 2.4.2, Apollod. 2.4.2, Paus. 1.22.7, Paus. 1.23.7, Paus. 2.21.5ff., Paus. 2.27.2, Paus. 3.18.11
- pursued by sisters of Medusa: Paus. 5.18.5
- slays seabeast and washes off blood at spring in Joppa: Paus. 4.35.9
- rescues Andromeda: Apollod. 2.4.2, Apollod. 2.4.3
- turns Phineus to stone: Apollod. 2.4.3
- comes to Seriphus and turns Polydectes to stone: Apollod. 2.4.3
- gives back the sandals, wallet, and cap to Hermes: Apollod. 2.4.3
- gives the Gorgon's head to Athena: Apollod. 2.4.3
- goes to Argos: Apollod. 2.4.3
- defeats Dionysus and his host of Bacchanals at Argos: Paus. 2.20.4, Paus. 2.22.1, Paus. 2.23.7
- founds Mycenae: Paus. 2.15.4, Paus. 2.16.3
- sacrifices to Apesantian Zeus: Paus. 2.15.3
- goes to Larisa: Paus. 2.16.2
- accidentally kills Acrisius with quoit: Apollod. 2.4.4, Paus. 2.16.2
- surrenders Argos and reigns over Tiryns: Apollod. 2.4.4
- exchanges kingdom with Megapenthes: Paus. 2.16.3
- his children by Andromeda: Apollod. 2.4.4
- father of Gorgophone: Apollod. 1.9.2, Apollod. 1.2.2
- father of Cynurus: Paus. 3.2.2, and of Gorgophone: Paus. 2.21.7, Paus. 3.1.4, Paus. 4.2.4
- precinct of Perseus at Athens: Paus. 2.18.1
- shrine near Mycenae: Paus. 2.18.1
- honoured most in Seriphus: Paus. 2.18.1
- representations in art: Paus. 1.22.7, Paus. 1.23.7, Paus. 2.27.2, Paus. 3.17.3, Paus. 3.18.11, Paus. 5.18.5, Paus. 10.10.5
- saviours of Perseus: Paus. 2.18.1
- Apollod. 1.9.9
- king of Macedonia: Paus. 1.36.6
- poisons his brother Demetrius: Paus. 2.9.5, Paus. 4.29.1
- attacks Abrupolis, king of the Sapaeans: Paus. 7.10.6
- conquered by Romans: Paus. 7.10.5-7
- carried prisoner to Italy: Paus. 1.36.6