Throughout history, many ancient cultures created stories involving great heroes and deities to explain aspects of their daily lives. These stories would form an important part of the culture's religion and are called mythology today. A great hero of ancient Greek mythology is Perseus. By ancient and modern standards, Perseus would be seen as a great hero. The numerous actions Perseus is said to have performed in his adventures demonstrate his heroism. Perseus was born to Danae and the Greek god Zeus. The oracle of Apollo told Acrisius, Danae's father, that Danae's son would kill him. After discovering that Danae had his son, Perseus, Acrisius locked Perseus and Dane in a large chest and threw the chest into the sea. After a while at sea, they landed on the island of Seriphos, where they were rescued by King Polydectes' brother, Dictys. Polydectes, after hearing about Danae, wanted her to marry him. To get rid of Perseus, so that no one could stop him from marrying Danae, Polydectes devised a plan. He pretended to marry the daughter of one of his friends and asked everyone to bring him a wedding gift. Polydectes knew that Perseus, being very poor, would arrive empty-handed. Perseus swore that he could bring Polydectes anything he wanted and so Polydectes asked Perseus to bring him the head of the gorgon Medusa, hoping that he would be killed. Perseus set out on his adventure to kill Medusa, and as he stopped one night to rest in an unknown land, Perseus realized how hopeless the adventure seemed. “The Gorgons were horrible, instead of hair they had black snakes writhing on their heads, they had bronze hands that could ... middle of paper ... his adventures. They both give Perseus something to help him on his adventure; from Athena the shield and from Hermes the sandals and the sickle. The god Dionysus ends up being the one who kills Perseus. In conclusion, Perseus is one of the greatest heroes of ancient Greek mythology. According to the ancient and modern definitions of what a hero is, Perseus' deeds and adventures fit him into both standards of what a hero is. Works Cited Albright, Tommy. "Perseus." San Diego State University Online. 6 January 2014 “The concept of the hero”. Harvard Online. 6 January 2014. "Oxford Dictionary". Oxford Online. January 6 2014 .