I found it rather amusing when, during his weekly visit last Saturday, Nick asked me to tell him a story.
— I just dig the way you tell ’em, he said.
— All right, but what kind of story do you want to hear?
— A good one! he said, emphatically.
Very well. In the time when God hid Himself in the heavens, other gods rose to take His place. Among them—older than most, present at the very beginning—were Pontus and Gaia. These two joined and had two children, Phorcys and Ceto. These brother and sister loved one another and begot six daughters. First came the Three Old Ones, who possessed all the knowledge in the world. They had only a single eye and a single tooth, which they passed from hand to hand so they might see and eat. Then were born the Three Gorgons, their bodies covered in reptilian scales, living serpents for hair, boar’s tusks jutting from their mouths, and golden wings.
“Their appearance was so dreadful that mortals were turned to stone by sheer horror at the sight. No one who looked upon them survived.
“Of the three Gorgons, the elder two—Stheno and Euryale—were immortal, but the youngest, Medusa, bore the burden of time and would one day die.
“On the island of Seriphos grew a young man of beauty and unshakable resolve. His name was Perseus. Years before, he and his mother had been rescued from the sea by a fisherman named Dictys, brother to Polydectes, the king of the island.”
— And where did this Perseus and his mother come from? They just showed up in the sea?
— No, but telling that tale would take us too far from the main story. Yet I’ll give you this much: the young Perseus’s father was the great god Zeus.
“Polydectes, king of Seriphos, fell in love with Perseus’s mother. Perseus, however, deemed the king unworthy of marrying Danaë. So Polydectes devised a cunning plan to rid himself of the young man. For the second time in his life, a king wished Perseus dead.
“Knowing Perseus had no horse, Polydectes held a gathering to receive the fine steeds he intended to offer as dowry to a queen he sought to marry. Before the king and his whole court, Perseus spoke honestly: he had no horse to give, but asked the king to name any other gift, and he, Perseus, would bring it.
“Satisfied that his plan was unfolding perfectly, Polydectes replied with feigned sweetness: ‘I want the head of Medusa.’
“‘Then the king shall have it,’ said Perseus, worthy son of a god. And without looking back—lest he see his mother in tears or allow her to see him pale with fear—he turned his back on the court and left the palace.
“Outside, in a grove, he prayed to his father for aid—if not for him, Perseus, then at least for the sake of the woman who had found favor in Zeus’s eyes.
“The Father of the Gods then sent two of his divine children to help him: Hermes and Athena.
“Hermes gave his half-brother his own winged sandals, so that Perseus might soar through the sky as he did. He also gave him his sword, and the helm of Ares, which rendered its wearer invisible. Athena gave Perseus her polished bronze shield, that he might behold the Gorgons’ reflection without turning to stone, and she gave him a sack in which to store Medusa’s head, for even in death her deadly power endured.
“Lastly, she told Perseus where to find the Old Ones, who would tell him where to find the Gorgons. Should they refuse, she instructed him to seize the single eye they shared; the fear of blindness would force them to speak the truth.
“And so Perseus flew through the air until he found the Old Ones, who indeed refused to help him slay their sister. With a swift movement he snatched their eye, and then, in desperate tears, they told him to go to the island of Sarpedon, where the sisters dwelled.
“Perseus flew with astonishing speed to where the Gorgons lay. Donning the helm of Ares to become invisible, and using the polished shield as a mirror to guide him, he found the monsters asleep. Aiming at Medusa, he brought down the sword of the god his brother in a single fatal stroke. Her head rolled, and from her neck gushed a jet of black, venomous blood.
“Perseus did not know that Medusa had been pregnant by the god Poseidon, and from the wound in her neck were born their children: the winged horse Pegasus and the giant Chrysaor.
“Swiftly Perseus rose to the heavens and fled.
“The immortal Gorgons awoke and burst forth in frantic grief to punish the slayer of their sister—but in vain, for they saw no one.
“Perseus flew on to Ethiopia, where the young princess Andromeda was about to be offered to the monster Cetus, as punishment for an offense her mother had given the Nereids.”
— And who’re those? Nick asked.
— They were the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris, ancient sea gods from the dawn of all things.
— And this Cetus thing?
— A gigantic monster, created on the fifth day. As the Nereids were part of Poseidon’s court, the god sent Cetus to devour the princess, who had been chained to a seaside rock. In truth, there was more than one cetacean monster. Who knows how many remain?
“Perseus advanced on the beast and showed it Medusa’s head. The creature turned to stone and sank into the ocean. Then, still soaring on Hermes’s sandals, he freed Andromeda from the rock where she was bound.
“Her parents, Cepheus and Cassiopeia, resolved to marry their daughter to Perseus, much to the displeasure of young Phineus, who already had an arranged marriage with her.
“During the wedding feast, driven by jealousy, heartbreak, and far too much wine, Phineus started a fight with Perseus, who, without a second thought, drew from the sack the fatal head that claimed yet another victim.”
— And then? Why’d you stop? Nick asked.
— Because it’s late, and I am tired of speaking. If you wish, next week there will be more.
— Oh, man… really? Nick said, disheartened.
