Greek Myths: Perseus

The people who recount the myth of Perseus and Medusa get a large part of it wrong, which was to be expected, because the story was repeated mostly by itinerant story-tellers, who were not above embellishing some of the details. Besides that circumstance, once he became a legendary hero and a king, it seemed not quite right to include all the true facts in the story.

He was born out of wedlock to Princess Danae, the daughter of King Acrisius; that much is correct. One of the king's advisors told the monarch that the boy would kill him some day, so he banished mother and son, thereby earning the everlasting enmity of the little bastard.

This is all common knowledge but the most important fact, one that has almost been lost to posterity, is that Perseus was gay and I don't mean he swung both ways or even that he was just a little gay. During my childhood, I sometimes heard gay men described as being "Queer as a three dollar bill." If somebody back then had applied a similar description to Perseus, he would have been described as being "Queer as a six dollar bill," which, of course, would be twice as queer as a three dollar bill. During my childhood, I was brought up as a proper young lady, so I have never spoken or written the expression, not even as a teenager, because I don't like using slurs such as that, but I used to hear or read it now and then.

At the time, his sexual orientation was known to all, but later story tellers chose to omit it from their tales of him. His gayness was so well known during his youth, his name was sometimes used in referring to a gay man. It still is although the user of the name probably doesn't know the source of the term, and it has been Anglicized to "Percy."

He did slay the Gorgon Medusa. That much is true, and the weapon he used to dispatch her – his sword – and that he chopped off her head are also correct and he brought that beautiful head to King Polydectes, as promised, ostensibly as a wedding present. What is not true is that he looked at her reflection in his shield, which was polished as a mirror, rather than straight at Medusa and thereby was able to nullify her power. In fact, he looked right into the face of the Gorgon and had no problems doing so. He was immune to her beauty, even though it was so incredible it could mesmerize any straight man, rendering her victim unable to fight or flee or do anything else.

Many centuries later, Al Capp copied this concept in his literary invention of Stupefyin' Jones. The cartoonist even drew the character with long, black tresses, much like the hair of Medusa. Some have claimed the Gorgon's hair was a nest of snakes, thereby making her even more frightening, but these people are doing neither more nor less than trying to rewrite history. The so-called snakes were no more than ringlets of hair.

One support the story-tellers had for their tale of looking at Medusa through a mirror was that his shield really was polished so well as to let him see his face in it. Besides being gay, Perseus was also vain, and he used his mirror-shield to primp and preen and apply his makeup. He also liked to be able to see his face whenever he wanted, so he propped it beside his sleeping pallet and looked at himself the first thing every morning.

Perseus had a great many difficulties finding the lair of Medusa but he was helped in this quest by some who, for reasons of their own, also wanted to eliminate her. When he finally faced his quarry, she overconfidently expected to enchant him with her beauty and kill him at her leisure. Imagine her surprise when her charms were ignored! Too late she tried to take defensive action but Perseus's sword was swift and sure and he slew her with a single stroke. After cutting off her head, he started back to deliver the prize to King Polydectes.

The journey back was also arduous and he had to fight his way there but he was a mighty warrior and able to prevail. The most memorable and important adventure was the rescue of Princess Andromeda, who was chained to a rock, left there to be eaten by a sea monster. Perseus had other plans involving the young woman and he killed the monster with the same sword as he had used to slay the Gorgon.

During his travels to and from the lair of Medusa, he had become ambitious and hoped to overthrow one of the petty kings of the time. As a gay man, he would not have been able to gather a following so he intended to go back into the closet. One sure way to help convince people he had become straight was to marry a beautiful woman, such as Andromeda and, with that goal in mind, he returned the damsel to her father, King Cepheus of Phoenicia. When Perseus asked for Andromeda's hand in marriage Cepheus was glad to agree. So Perseus - with Andromeda in his arms – set off in the direction of the kingdom of Polydectus.

However, on the way they stopped at Larisa, among other places, so Perseus could compete in some games and earn prize money to finance his still rather nebulous plans. During the course of the competition, he threw a discus which hit and killed an old man in the stands. It was King Acrisius, so the prophecy came true. After mourning the man who was, after all, his grandfather, Perseus resumed his journey with Andromeda, competing in and winning many more athletic competitions and amassing a substantial fortune.

When they arrived at their destination, Perseus learned the king had not really gotten married. This had been a trick, intended to send the young man on a suicide mission so Polydectus could have his way with Danae. When he learned this, Perseus was so infuriated he decided to put his plan into motion and that the king he would overthrow would be the man who had tried to get him killed and, he discovered, had been abusing his mother.

He first had to gather followers. Most fighting men would not have followed even as mighty a warrior as Perseus if he had been known to be gay but everybody reasoned a man with a wife as gorgeous as Andromeda must be straight. With this deceit and the fortune he had accumulated winning athletic events while returning, he was able to surreptitiously recruit a band, small in number but all skilled in battle, and launch his attack on his enemy.

They assaulted the royal palace, attacking through all the doors and Perseus and his elite band of warriors quickly slew Polydectes, his courtiers and all members of the palace guard who did not surrender. After the short but bloody battle, the victor declared himself king and nobody there or anywhere else in the kingdom questioned his new status. Led by his father-in-law, Cepheus, the king of Phoenicia, the other monarchs in the area also recognized the new ruler.

Perseus was still gay, of course, and had no sexual interest in Andromeda. This could have been a problem because it might have meant he would not produce an heir to his throne. The problem was solved when he prevailed upon his most trusted associate to bed the lady periodically until she became pregnant. This ruse worked perfectly and all the citizens of the realm hailed this proof their king was gay no longer. It also enabled him to remain as king for many years until he abdicated in favor of the oldest of his stepsons.