h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Perseus - A659487
Author: Mina - U290

This was written for a uni project that has fallen by the wayside, so I've decided to add my entries into PR.

Let me know what you think.

Great, but... the last paragraph is not as detailed as the beginnings... Furthermore, I have come across a different version of that legend. Especially that part about Atlas. And the snakes in Lybia...

Here's your version:

"On the way back to Seriphos, he flew past Atlas. Feeling sorry for him for having to hold up the heavens, he turned him to stone so he would no longer feel the weight."

Here's Joh. Schwab's (he was one of the illustrous seven of Göttingen - ever heard of them? - anyhow, he collected those legends and filtered out what most of them had in common.) The Atlas part according to him went more o' less like this:

After having killed Medusa he set to rest in King Atlas' castle. Atlas however hadn't allowed him to, and was afraid Perseus would steal his treasury of golden fruits. Perseus was indignant with that attitude and turned him to stone with Medusa's head.

He then flew on and found Andromeda on the cliffs. He rescued her and was about to marry her. Her uncle however showed up in Andromeda's castle claiming he had proposed before. Perseus butchered half Andromeda's family before he married, and had many children with, her.

THEN he went to the games and killed his grand-dad by accident.

OH, and the snakes in lybia... While on the fly to Atlas, blood from Medusa's head dropped on the deserts below him (Lybia) and turned into venomous snakes.

PLUS: That Rock is supposed to be somewhere in Ethiopia...

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Sorry, I don't want to sound like a smartass, but I was just wondering how different the versions are. Maybe you could add a small paragraph in the beginning explaining that discrepancies are normal in those legends as they were passed on orally.

See you around,

HELL

I'll look into the differences, but I think you are right, I should add something that states that this is only one version of many.

Thanks.

Hell's version sounds familiar to me too. But maybe a mention at the beginning to say that, as with all legends, many details have been distorted or changed completely over time.

'Perseus took the head out of the bag and showed them.'

Might read better if it says 'showed him and his courtiers'. Otherwise, you're talking about the King, and then suddenly talking about 'them', which might at first appear to mean' the King and Perseus'.

I used to love Greek and Roman legends. You might also want to link to the entry on Ray Harryhausen (A330896), whose last film, Clash of the Titans, was a reworking of the Perseus legend. And the medusa was the best one ever on film - she had the body of a huge serpent. *SO* cool!

Jims

That's not MY version. It's Johann Schwab's - He is illustrous. I am not.

Mine goes like this:

Perseus and his mother were sent away because King Akrisios believed in some stupid hokus-pokus that he would be killed by his grand-son.

After he grew up far away from his birthplace, he decided to go have some adventures. He killed some old hag with stoney looks. He took her head with him because he was weird. People who saw that decomposing head got sick giving him the chance to butcher them.

He then killed Atlas because he needed rest and he wouldn't allow him to rest in his house.

He then found some sacrificial virgin, Andromeda, attached to a cliff - nothing uncommon in those days - and rescued her. The story with the beast he invented to sound more imposing with her dad. Her uncle had doubts and ended up being massacred by Perseus. Andromeda wasn't asked anything. Perseus simply married her, or else... Then they had a lot of kids together.

One fine day he kills his grand-dad by accident. A stupid coincidence.

The rest of the story and all the mythical garnish was invented by Perseus himself to sound cooler, and raise his reputation.

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My version sounds plausible, but then again, it's just a version...

HELL

Oopsey... Got home and looked at the table. Guess what. Schwab's name isn't Johann (as were 99% of the remaining illustrous Germans of that time). His name is Gustav. Just in case it matters...

HELL

Hi there!

Good recounting of the myth!

I suppose you could put that there are many variations on the story... with regards to the Atlas bit I thought that Atlas tried to kill Perseus because a prophet told him that a son of Zeus would try and steal his golden apples (Bulfinch's Mythology), and then Perseus turned him to stone to save his skin... oh well...

Has the Project fallen by the wayside for definite? I was writing a couple of Entries for that too...

Good Entry!

Caper Plip

" He was trying to force her to marry him, by pretending to marry another woman. "
How's that work?

I wrote something for that project too. It seemed almost finished to me, what happened?

Great article Mina

***
#I wrote something for that project too. It seemed almost finished to me, what happened?#

It's still going, just veerrrrrryyyy slowly (I've got one more to write, plus chasing others up). If you wanted to put your article in PR that'd be fine - I could link to it when done.

That's ok, mine was just a short little thing on Pygmallion. Not much on its own. It can stay with the project.

Oho, does that mean I can put mine in on Heracles? I have to say, I really liked it.

About there being different variants of stories. There were different variants. In my Heracles entry, I've mentioned different variants as they were told in different parts of the Greek empire. Doesn't mean that they were distortions, Jimster.

(With regards a conversation going on in another PR thread of mine, about a similar entry - http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/F48874?thread=206726.) As they stand, this and the other myth entry I have put in PR are not ready for the Edited Guide, so I'm going to take them both out when I get a moment, and put them into WW. I will take into account all the comments on both so far, and work on them there. I'll post the links here when I've done it, in the hope that I'll get some help on getting these up to scratch. Thanks everyone who's commented so far.

Whoops,
Sorry Mina, I just read your entries on Theseus and Perseus and clicked on 'discuss this entry' rather than going back to peer review first.
Doh!

Anyway, just to say hope they both find their way back to peer review soon, they are both well written and informative.

Thanks Simon, I'll pick them up when I do some work on this entry.

WW thread - F57153?thread=207039