The king of Argos Acrisius, the grandson of Lynceus, had a daughter, Danae, famous for her unearthly beauty. Acrisius was predicted by the oracle that he would die at the hands of the son of Danae. To avoid such a fate, Acrisius built vast chambers deep underground from bronze and stone and imprisoned his daughter Danae there so that no one could see her.
But the great thunderer Zeus fell in love with her, entered the underground chambers of Danae in the form of golden rain, and the daughter of Acrisius became the wife of Zeus. From this marriage Danae had a lovely boy. His mother named him Perseus.
Little Perseus did not live long with his mother in the underground chambers. One day Acrisius heard the voice and cheerful laughter of little Perseus. He went down to his daughter to find out why children's laughter was heard in her chambers. Acrisius was surprised to see the charming little boy. How frightened he was when he learned that this was the son of Danae and Zeus. He immediately remembered the oracle's prediction. Again he had to think about how to avoid fate. Finally, Acrisius ordered to make a large wooden box, imprisoned Danae and her son Perseus in it, hammered the box and ordered it to be thrown into the sea.
The box rushed for a long time on the stormy waves of the salty sea. Death threatened Danae and her son. The waves threw the box from side to side, then lifted it high on their crests, then lowered it into the depths of the sea. Finally, the ever-noisy waves drove the box to the island of Serifu. At that time, the fisherman Dictis was fishing on the shore. He just threw his nets into the sea. The box became entangled in the nets, and together with them Dictys pulled it ashore. He opened the box and, to his surprise, saw in it an amazingly beautiful woman and a charming little boy. Dictys took them to his brother, the king of Serif, Polydectes.
Perseus grew up at the court of King Polydectes and became a strong, slender young man. Like a star, he shone among the young men of Serif with his divine beauty; no one was equal to him in beauty, strength, dexterity, or courage.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru