The Heroes | Page 9

than live here, useless and despised,' said Perseus. 'Tell me,
then, oh tell me, fair and wise Goddess, of your great kindness and
condescension, how I can do but this one thing, and then, if need be,
die!'
Then Athene smiled and said -
'Be patient, and listen; for if you forget my words, you will indeed die.
You must go northward to the country of the Hyperboreans, who live
beyond the pole, at the sources of the cold north wind, till you find the
three Gray Sisters, who have but one eye and one tooth between them.
You must ask them the way to the Nymphs, the daughters of the
Evening Star, who dance about the golden tree, in the Atlantic island of
the west. They will tell you the way to the Gorgon, that you may slay
her, my enemy, the mother of monstrous beasts. Once she was a
maiden as beautiful as morn, till in her pride she sinned a sin at which
the sun hid his face; and from that day her hair was turned to vipers,
and her hands to eagle's claws; and her heart was filled with shame and
rage, and her lips with bitter venom; and her eyes became so terrible
that whosoever looks on them is turned to stone; and her children are

the winged horse and the giant of the golden sword; and her
grandchildren are Echidna the witch-adder, and Geryon the
three-headed tyrant, who feeds his herds beside the herds of hell. So
she became the sister of the Gorgons, Stheino and Euryte the abhorred,
the daughters of the Queen of the Sea. Touch them not, for they are
immortal; but bring me only Medusa's head.'
'And I will bring it!' said Perseus; 'but how am I to escape her eyes?
Will she not freeze me too into stone?'
'You shall take this polished shield,' said Athene, 'and when you come
near her look not at her herself, but at her image in the brass; so you
may strike her safely. And when you have struck off her head, wrap it,
with your face turned away, in the folds of the goat-skin on which the
shield hangs, the hide of Amaltheie, the nurse of the AEgis-holder. So
you will bring it safely back to me, and win to yourself renown, and a
place among the heroes who feast with the Immortals upon the peak
where no winds blow.'
Then Perseus said, 'I will go, though I die in going. But how shall I
cross the seas without a ship? And who will show me my way? And
when I find her, how shall I slay her, if her scales be iron and brass?'
Then the young man spoke: 'These sandals of mine will bear you across
the seas, and over hill and dale like a bird, as they bear me all day long;
for I am Hermes, the far-famed Argus-slayer, the messenger of the
Immortals who dwell on Olympus.'
Then Perseus fell down and worshipped, while the young man spoke
again:
'The sandals themselves will guide you on the road, for they are divine
and cannot stray; and this sword itself, the Argus-slayer, will kill her,
for it is divine, and needs no second stroke. Arise, and gird them on,
and go forth.'
So Perseus arose, and girded on the sandals and the sword.
And Athene cried, 'Now leap from the cliff and be gone.'
But Perseus lingered.
'May I not bid farewell to my mother and to Dictys? And may I not
offer burnt-offerings to you, and to Hermes the far-famed Argus- slayer,
and to Father Zeus above?'
'You shall not bid farewell to your mother, lest your heart relent at her
weeping. I will comfort her and Dictys until you return in peace. Nor

shall you offer burnt-offerings to the Olympians; for your offering shall
be Medusa's head. Leap, and trust in the armour of the Immortals.'
Then Perseus looked down the cliff and shuddered; but he was ashamed
to show his dread. Then he thought of Medusa and the renown before
him, and he leaped into the empty air.
And behold, instead of falling he floated, and stood, and ran along the
sky. He looked back, but Athene had vanished, and Hermes; and the
sandals led him on northward ever, like a crane who follows the spring
toward the Ister fens.

PART III--HOW PERSEUS SLEW THE
GORGON

So Perseus started on his journey, going dry-shod over land and sea;
and his heart was high and joyful, for the winged sandals bore him each
day a seven days' journey.
And he went by Cythnus, and by Ceos, and the pleasant Cyclades to
Attica; and past Athens and Thebes, and the Copaic lake, and up the
vale of Cephissus,