Editing Perseus (section)

===The Birth of Perseus===

King [[Acrisius]] of [[Ancient Argos|Argos]] had only one child, a daughter named [[Danaë]]. Disappointed by not having a male heir, Acrisius consulted the [[Delphi|Oracle at Delphi]], who warned him that he would one day be killed by his own grandson. To keep Danaë childless, Acrisius imprisoned her in a room atop a bronze tower in the courtyard of his palace:{{efn|"Even thus endured Danaë in her beauty to change the light of day for brass-bound walls; and in that chamber, secret as the grave, she was held close".<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Sophocles]] |title=[[Antigone (Sophocles)|Antigone]] |type=stage play}}</ref> In post-Renaissance paintings the setting is often a locked tower.}} This [[mytheme]] is also connected to [[Ares]], [[Oenopion]], [[Eurystheus]], and others. [[Zeus]] came to her in the form of a shower of gold, and fathered her child.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Trzaskoma |first1=Stephen |display-authors=etal |year=2004 |title=Anthology of Classical Myth: Primary sources in translation |publisher=Hackett |place=Indianapolis, IN |isbn=978-0-87220-721-9}}</ref> Soon after, their child, a son, was born; Perseus-"Perseus Eurymedon,{{efn|''Eurymedon'': "far-ruling"}} for his mother gave him this name as well".<ref>[[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/126#4.1502 4.1514]</ref>

Fearful for his future, but unwilling to provoke the wrath of the gods and the [[Erinyes]] by killing the offspring of Zeus and his daughter, Acrisius cast the two into the sea in a wooden chest.<ref>For the familiar motif of the [[Exposed Child]] in the account of [[Moses]] especially, see {{cite journal |last=Childs |first=Brevard S. |author-link=Brevard S. Childs |year=1965 |title=The birth of Moses |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=84 |issue=2 |pages=109–122 |doi=10.2307/3264132 |jstor=3264132}} or {{cite journal |last=Redford |first=Donald B. |year=1967 |title=The literary motif of the exposed child (cf. Ex. ii 1–10) |journal=Numen |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=209–228 |doi=10.2307/3269606|jstor=3269606 }} Another example of this mytheme is the Indian figure of [[Karna]].</ref> Danaë's fearful prayer, made while afloat in the darkness, has been expressed by the poet [[Simonides of Ceos]]. Mother and child washed ashore on the island of [[Serifos|Seriphos]], where they were taken in by the fisherman [[Dictys]] ("fishing net"), who raised the boy to manhood. The brother of Dictys was [[Polydectes]] ("he who receives/welcomes many"), the king of the island.[[File:Persus-with-the-head-of-med.jpg|thumb|left|200px|''Perseo trionfante'' by Antonio Canova (1801) [[Musei Vaticani]], [[Rome]]]]