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The Courage Of Perseus In Homer's Odyssey

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Courage Courage is not the absence of fear, it is being fearful but knowing that any mission is possible if great effort is put into it. The hero Perseus teaches this well as he embarks on a seemingly impossible mission to capture the head of the menacing Medusa. Perseus is not just another mortal though, he is the son of the great god Zeus and of the beautiful princess Danae, who was the only daughter of King Acrisius of Argos. King Acrisius wanted a son but the gods told him that he would never have a son that Danae will have a son that would kill him. To avoid this fate without angering the gods by killing Danae he locks her up in a brass tower with no doors that he orders to be built. Zeus enters the tower in the form of golden rain to …show more content…
As Perseus was flying back he spotted a beautiful young princess named Andromeda that is chained to a rock at Joppa to where she was being fed to a giant sea-serpent sent by Poseidon to eat her (Greek Gods and Heroes 101). Perseus fell in love with her immediately as she was extremely beautiful. "He waited beside her until the great snake came for its prey; then he cut its head off just as he had the Gorgon's. The headless body dropped back into the water; Perseus took Andromeda to her parents and asked for her hand, which they gladly gave him" (Mythology 206). Soon after he continues his journey back to Seriphos and as soon as he arrives Perseus discovers that his mom and Dicty are in hiding from Polydectes as he as made their lives terrible once Danae refuses to marry him. Perseus heads to the palace to end all the hostilities between his mom and Polydectes in a very special way. Once he reaches Polydectes Perseus pulls Medusa's head out of his bag and transforms everyone in the room into stone. These heroic acts demonstrate the valor that Perseus possess throughout his life. This finale to the myth helps to augment the theme of Perseus representing the ideal of

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