Divine Comedies by Jeanne Steig

Author:Jeanne Steig
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Venus, goddess of love, took no part in this story, though it was in her temple at Sestos that the lovers met. It is only a simple tale, moved not by vain or lustful gods with all their shenanigans, but only by nature, both human and elemental—as dangerous, in the end, as any jealous Olympian.

PERSEUS

King Acrisius of Argos had a spirited daughter, Danaë, but he longed for a son—one who would look just like him, and would, under his tutelage, become a noble ruler when Acrisius decided to retire. He traveled to Delphi to consult Apollo’s oracle about his chances. But the news was not good. Indeed, the priestess terrified him, saying,

“Of male children you shall have none,

But you shall be slain by your own daughter’s son.”

Acrisius knew that the gods never looked kindly upon those who slew their blood relations, so he did not have his daughter killed, as he was tempted to do, but sealed her up in a dungeon with brass walls and set fierce dogs to guard her. “No man will find you here,” he told her. “No man will have the chance to father my murderer.” This was true enough—but in the roof of the dungeon there was a little skylight, and one day Zeus, with his ever-wandering eye, caught sight of her and visited her, fancifully disguised as a shower of gold.

By and by Danaë bore a son, whom she called Perseus. When King Acrisius learned of the birth, he was beside himself with anger and demanded to know who the father might be.

“Zeus,” explained Danaë. “He came through the skylight, in a golden rain.”

“Wretched, treacherous girl,” raged Acrisius, “how can you insult me with such a ridiculous tale? I dare not have your blood on my hands, but the wild waves will do my work for me.” And fearing the fulfillment of the Delphic prophecy, he locked Danaë and her infant son in a large wooden chest and cast it into the sea.

Storm-tossed and despairing, Danaë clung to her child, certain that they would both be drowned; but the chest was carried safely to the island of Seriphos, where a fisherman, Dictys, brought it up in his net. When he discovered Danaë and Perseus inside, he led them at once to his brother, King Polydectes.

“The poor things,” said Polydectes, “they can stay for as long as they like.” Then he dismissed them to a faraway wing of his house and didn’t give either of them a thought for years. One day, however, as he was strolling in the garden he chanced upon Danaë, sitting on a little stone bench eating a fig, her lips and fingers sticky with its juice. She was still a fine-looking woman, and Polydectes was suddenly smitten with love for her. “You will be my wife,” he declared.

“I’m quite content as I am,” replied Danaë. The king persisted. But when he tried to force her to marry him, Perseus, now a young man, defended his mother against these unwanted attentions, and Polydectes decided to rid himself of the youth.

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