PERSEUS


Meaning of PERSEUS in English

n.

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

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia.      Краткая энциклопедия Британика.