How did Perseus manage to kill Medusa, who can turn a person into stone with just a glance, and what did he need for this? Detailed answer

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How did Perseus manage to kill Medusa, who can turn a person into stone with just a glance, and what did he need for this? Detailed answer

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How did Perseus manage to kill Medusa, who can turn a person into stone with just a glance, and what did he need for this?

Perseus was the son of the Argive princess Danae and Zeus. By the will of fate, Perseus and Danae ended up on the island of Serif, where Perseus grew up in the house of the local king Polydekt.

The time has come when the already matured Perseus had to protect his beautiful mother from Polydectes, who tried to marry her against her will. To get rid of Perseus, Polydect sent him after the head of the Gorgon Medusa - a terrible, winged monster covered with scales with burning eyes, huge fangs and snakes instead of hair; one look from Medusa was enough to turn a man into stone.

Perseus came to the aid of Athena, who hated Medusa, in whose terrifying appearance she was to blame. First, the goddess took Perseus to the island of Samos, where the statues of all three gorgons stood, so that Perseus could distinguish Medusa from her immortal elder sisters Stheno and Euryale. Then she warned Perseus not to look at Medusa herself, but only at her reflection, for which she presented him with a shield polished to a shine. He helped Perseus and Hermes by handing him an adamant curved knife with which to cut off the head of Medusa.

However, Perseus still needed winged sandals, a magic bag in which to store a severed head, and a cap of invisibility that belonged to Hades. All these things were kept by the Stygian nymphs, whose whereabouts were known only to the sisters of the Gorgons - swan-like grays, who had only one eye and one tooth for three. Perseus began by seeking out the Grays, who sat on thrones at the foot of the mountains to the west. Creeping up behind them, he snatched out an eye and a tooth as one of the sisters handed them to the other, and agreed to return the stolen item as soon as they told where the Stygian nymphs lived. When the Grai reluctantly gave him the required information, Perseus threw his eye into Lake Triton so that they could not warn their Gorgon sisters of his arrival.

Having easily taken sandals, a bag and a hat from the nymphs, Perseus flew west, to the land of the Hyperboreans, where among the statues of people and animals petrified by the gaze of Medusa, he found sleeping gorgons. Staying away from the immortal Stheno and Euryale, Perseus crept up to their younger sister, watching her reflection in the shield, and with one wave of his hand, guided by Athena, cut off the head of Medusa with a knife.

To his surprise, the winged horse Pegasus and the warrior Chrysaor emerged from her dead body. Perseus quickly put Medusa's head in a bag and rushed to run. Stheno and Euryale, awakened by their newly-born nephews, rushed after Perseus in pursuit, but he, putting on an invisibility cap, safely disappeared.

Author: Kondrashov A.P.

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

Why did the Mongols fail to conquer Japan?

In 1274, the Mongol Great Khan Kublai sent a fleet to capture Japan. The Mongols broke the resistance of the defenders of the Japanese islands of Tsushima and Iki, after which the ships of the conquerors approached the island of Kyushu, preparing to land troops. However, the death of the Mongol commander-in-chief and a typhoon forced the attackers to retreat.

In 1281, two Mongol fleets moved to Japan at once: one from the coast of South China, the other from Korea. But a terrible typhoon again destroyed almost all Mongolian ships.

The Japanese call typhoons the word "kamikaze" (literally - the wind of the gods).

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