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In Greek mythology , the slayer of the Gorgon Medusa .
He was the son of Zeus and Danaë . His grandfather had him thrown into the sea in a chest with his mother as an infant because of a prophecy that Perseus would kill him. Perseus and his mother survived, and as a young man Perseus set out to gain the head of Medusa. On his way home he rescued the Ethiopian princess Andromeda from a sea monster, and she became his wife. When he took his mother back to her native Argos, he threw a discus that accidentally killed his grandfather, thus fulfilling the prophecy.
Perseus , bronze sculpture by Benvenuto Cellini, 1545–54; in the ...
Alinari/Art Resource, New York
II
born с 212
died с 165 BC, Alba Fucens, near Rome
Last king of Macedonia (r. 179–168).
Son of Philip V , he fought against Rome (199) and Aetolia (189). He persuaded the king to execute his brother Demetrius. As king he extended his influence in neighbouring states and tried to gain the trust of the Greek world, but he alarmed Greece by visiting Delphi with an army. Eumenes II of Pergamum informed Rome of Perseus's allegedly aggressive designs, provoking the Third Macedonian War (171–168). The struggle ended in a final defeat of the Macedonians by the Romans, ending the monarchy, and Perseus spent the rest of his life in captivity.