Chapter 10, Perseus and Bellerophontes: Part 1
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He [Dictys] took them to King Polydectes, who married Danaë and brought up Perseus in the temple of Minerva. When Acrisius discovered they were staying at Polydectes’ court, he started out to get them, but at his arrival Polydectes interceded for them, and Perseus swore an oath to his grandfather that he would never kill him. When Acrisius was detained there by a storm, Polydectes died, and at his funeral games the wind blew a discus from Perseus’ hand at Acrisius’ head which killed him (original Latin).
Pindar, Py (Pythian) 10.46-48:
He killed the Gorgon, and came back bringing stony death to the islanders, the head that shimmered with hair made of serpents (original Greek).
Pherekydes of Athens 3F11 (Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker 1, ed. F. Jacoby, 2d ed. [1957], pp. 61-62):
Perseus gets to Seriphos, goes to Polydektes, and tells him to collect his people so he can show them the Gorgon’s head, knowing that if they saw it they were going to be rocks. And Polydektes assembles the crowd and tells him to show it. And, turning himself away, he takes it out of the pouch and shows it. And when they saw it they turned to rocks (translation by Silvio Curtis).
Edited by Silvio Curtis, Teaching assistant, Department of Classics, Univ. of Georgia, fall 2015.
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