Perseus

Acrisius and Proetus, the twin sons of Abas, King of Argos had split the kingdom on their father's death. Proetus was king of Tiryns, and Acrisius was king of Argos. Prophecy said that Acrisius would be killed by his grandson, so to prevent this he locked away his only daughter, Danaë. However, Zeus visited Danaë and she had a son, Perseus. Acrisius set mother and son adrift on the sea in a chest. They were found by the sailor Dictys on the isle of Seriphos, he took them to King Polydectes, who took care of them.

When Perseus had grown to manhood, Polydectes sought to marry Danaë and sent Perseus away to fetch the head of Medusa, the Gorgon. She had been cursed by Athene and turned into a winged monster with serpent hair who was so hideous that anyone that looked at her was turned to stone. Athene gave Perseus a polished shield and Hermes told him to visit Medusa's sisters, the Grææ, who would tell him how to find winged sandals, Hades' helmet of invisibility and a magic wallet in which to carry her head.

Perseus travelled first to Mount Atlas, home of the Grææ, three women born old with only one eye and one tooth between them. By stealing the tooth and eye he persuaded them to tell him that he could get the items from Stygian nymphs. He collected the items and went to the land of the Hyperboreans.

He found Medusa asleep, and easily beheaded her, but was surprised to see Pegasus and Chrysler spring from her body. Although he was pursued by Medusa's sisters Stheno and Euryale, he used Hades' helmet of invisibility to escape them.

As he fled, he saw and fell in love with Andromeda the daughter of Cepheus, King of Æthiopia and his wife Cassiopeia. Andromeda had been chained to a rock as a sacrifice to appease Poseidon and his monster, Cepheus had offended the god by boasting that his daughter was more beautiful than the Nereids.

Perseus pledged to kill the monster if he would then be able to marry the girl. However after the monster was dead, at their wedding a man to whom Andromeda had previously been promised arrived with his followers. When they caused trouble, Perseus showed them Medusa's head and they were turned to stone. Poseidon set Cassiopeia and Cepheus' images were placed in the stars in an embarrassing position.

When Perseus and his wife arrived in Seriphos he found that Danaë and Dictys had taken refuge in a temple. He went to the palace, where he showed the head to Polydectes and the king and his followers were turned to stone. He then gave the head to Athene and Hermes returned the other items to the Stygian nymphs.

Perseus made Dictys king of Seriphos, then travelled to Argos with his mother and wife. Acrisius fled to Larissa, but was killed accidentally by a discus thrown by Perseus in public games. Perseus was upset by this and arranged to swap kingdoms with his cousin Megapenthes ,the son of Proetus. So Perseus became king of Tiryns and also founded Mycenæ