TAKE YOUR TIME. IF NO WORK YOU ARE GETTING REPORTED THE HEROES PERSEUS AND THESEUS
When an oracle told King Acrisius that he would have no son and that his grandson would kill him, Acrisius locked up his only daughter, Danaë, figuring that if she had no suitors, he would have no grandson. But locked doors could not keep out Zeus. He appeared to lovely Danaë as a shower of gold, and she bore him a son, Perseus. After the king discovered what had happened, he set his daughter and her baby adrift on the sea.
The two were rescued, however, and taken to King Polydectes, in whose kingdom Perseus grew up. By then, Polydectes had decided he wanted Danaë for his wife, so he decided to get rid of Perseus by sending him on a seemingly impossible quest. He sent Perseus to bring back the head of Medusa, one of three horrible sisters called Gorgons. Medusa had snakes for hair, and her glance was so terrible that anyone who looked directly at her was instantly turned to stone.
The gods helped Perseus by sending him first to the Graiai, or Gray-Eyed Ones, three strange sisters who shared one eye and one tooth among them. By stealing their eye and tooth, Perseus forced them to tell him the whereabouts of the magic helmet, sandals, and pouch he needed for his quest.
Another god-provided prop, a magic mirror, made it possible for him to cut off Medusa's head without looking directly at her. Stowing the head in the magic pouch, he began his return journey. On his way home, he rescued a beautiful princess, Andromeda, whose father was offering her to a sea monster that had been threatening the king dom. Making use of the winged sandals, Perseus attacked the monster from above, killed it, and carried away Andromeda as his bride.
Home at last, the hero used Medusa's head to turn Polydectes and his court to stone, and then he rescued his mother. Eventually, he did kill his grandfather by accident, proving that the fate foretold by the oracle could not be avoided.

The hero Theseus showed his great strength early. Before leaving home, Theseus's father had hidden a sword and sandals under a huge boulder, telling his wife to let their son remove them when he was able. After young Theseus had accom plished that feat, he went on to Athens and performed other deeds of strength and courage, thus becoming a special hero to the Athenians.
At that time, the Athenians were forced to pay a yearly tribute of seven young men and seven young women to Minos, King of Crete. Minos would imprison them in the labyrinth that Daedalus had built for him. But imprisonment was not all that these poor Athenians suffered. In the maze, Minos kept a strange and fearsome animal, half man and half bull, called the Minotaur. Eventually, it ate anyone imprisoned there.
Theseus wanted to prove himself to his father so he decided to halt this horrible slaughter of the innocents. He went to Crete, entered the labyrinth, and slew the monster. But he might have remained Minos's prisoner if the king's daughter, Ariadne, had not given him a ball of twine. Theseus unraveled the twine as he walked through the labyrinth and then used it to retrace his steps. When Theseus left Crete, he took Ariadne with him; but unfortunately he later abandoned her.

ANALYZING THE HEROES' ACTIONS
• In an earlier lesson, you read that all the heroes possessed certain characteristics in
common in a sense, they were all poured from the same mold. These characteristics are listed below:

bravery strength cleverness persistence/determination

mercy to the weak mercilessness to enemies

Instructions:Match the positive character trait that best describes the “heroic” actions.

Perseus's Stealing the Graiai's eye and tooth

Theseus's moving the boulder to get the sword and sandals

Theseus's decision to go to Crete to kill the Minotaur

Perseus's willingness to go on the quest to get the Gorgon's head

Perseus's using the magic mirror to avoid look ing at Medusa

Perseus's rescue of Andromeda

Perseus's use of the Gorgon's head to turn Polydectes and his court to stone

Ariadne's showing Theseus a way to get out of the maze

Part 2
Hercules's outstanding trait was his great strength. What do you think was the outstanding trait of Perseus? of Theseus? Explain your choices.

In the accounts of Perseus and Theseus, what do you think the fate of Ariadne, Danaë, and Andromeda indicates the status of women in ancient Greece?