Editing Perseus (section)

===King of Mycenae===
[[File:Piero di Cosimo - Liberazione di Andromeda - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Perseus Freeing Andromeda]] by [[Piero di Cosimo]] ({{c.|1515}}) – [[Uffizi]]]]

The two main sources regarding the legendary life of Perseus—for the Greeks considered him an authentic historical figure—are Pausanias and the ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]''. Pausanias<ref>Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.15.4&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:book=:chapter=&highlight=Perseus 2.15.4], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.16.2&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:book=:chapter=&highlight=Perseus 2.16.2]–[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.16.3&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:book=:chapter=&highlight=Perseus 3] & [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.18.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:book=:chapter=&highlight=Perseus 2.18.1]</ref> asserts that the Greeks believed Perseus founded Mycenae as his capital.<ref name = britannica/> He mentions the shrine to Perseus that stood on the left-hand side of the road from Mycenae to Argos, and also a sacred fountain at Mycenae called ''Persea''. Located outside the walls, this was perhaps the spring that filled the citadel's underground cistern. He states also that [[Atreus]] stored his treasures in an underground chamber there, which is why [[Heinrich Schliemann]] named the largest [[Beehive tomb|tholos]] tomb the [[Treasury of Atreus]].

Apart from these more historical references, the only accounts of him are from folk-etymology: Perseus dropped his cap or found a mushroom (both named ''myces'') at Mycenae, or perhaps the place was named after the lady Mycene, daughter of [[Inachus]], mentioned in a now-fragmentary poem, the ''[[Megalai Ehoiai]]''.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Megalai Ehoiai]]'' fr. 246</ref> For whatever reasons, perhaps as outposts, Perseus ''fortified'' Mycenae according to Apollodorus<ref>{{cite web |url=http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.4.4 |id=2.4.4 |title=''pros-teichisas'', "walling in" |website=Perseus.org}}</ref> along with [[Midea, Greece|Midea]], an action that implies that they both previously existed. It is unlikely, however, that Apollodorus knew who walled in Mycenae; he was only conjecturing. Perseus took up official residence in Mycenae with Andromeda where he had a long, successful reign as king.