Perseus. He was one of the most distinguished of the early heroes. He was the son of Jupiter and Danae, educated by Polydectus on the Island Seriphus. His chief exploit was the destruction of the gorgon Medusa, whose head he struck off with a sword given to him by Vulcan. From the blood that fell, sprang the winged horse Pegasus, on which Perseus afterwards passed over many lands. Of his subsequent achievements, the most remarkable were his changing King Atlas into a high rock or mountain, by means of Medusa's head, and his deliverance of Andromeda, when bound and exposed to be devoured by the sea-monster.
