Perseus looked down across the hall towards Phineus. There must have been sixty armed men behind him. But talk of heads decorating gateposts gave Perseus an idea that made his head spin. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I’ll give you two minutes to leave the palace – unless you want you and your men to decorate this hall.’
Phineus blew out his lips in amused contempt. ‘You’ve got a nerve, I’ll give you that. A purse of gold to the first to fire an arrow through this brat’s insolent neck.’
The armed men roared in delight and started to draw their bows.
‘Those with me, get behind me!’ shouted Perseus, opening his satchel and bringing out the head of Medusa.
Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus and the wedding guests on the top table shrieked in astonishment as Phineus and his sixty men instantly froze.
‘Why aren’t they moving?’
‘Oh, my lord – they’re stone!’
Perseus put the head back into the satchel and turned to his parents-in-law to be. ‘I hope you didn’t like him too much.’
‘My hero …’ breathed Andromeda.
‘How did you do that?’ shrieked Cassiopeia. ‘They’re statues. Stone statues! How is this possible?’
‘Oh, you know,’ said Perseus with a modest shrug. ‘I just happened to meet Medusa the Gorgon last night. Came away with her head. Thought it might come in useful.’
Perseus hid the extremity of his relief. He had by no means been certain that the gaze from the Gorgon’s dead eyes would have retained the power to petrify, but an inner voice had told him that it was worth trying. Whether the inner voice was his own inspiration or the whispered advice of Athena, he would never know.
Cepheus put a hand on Perseus’s shoulder. ‘Always hated Phineus. Done me a great service. Don’t know how to thank you.’
‘The hand of your daughter in marriage is all the thanks I need. I hope you will allow me to fly her to my home island of Seriphos to meet my mother? No!’ Perseus slapped Queen Cassiopeia’s hand which had inched forward to lift the flap of the satchel. ‘Not a good idea.’
‘Oh, mother,’ sighed Andromeda. ‘Will you never learn?’
THE RETURN TO SERIPHOS
‘It’s not a palace,’ Perseus warned Andromeda as they flashed across the sea towards Seriphos. ‘Just a simple cottage.’
‘If it’s where you grew up, I know I’ll adore it.’
‘I love you.’
‘Of course you do.’
But when they landed on the beach, they found that Dictys’s cottage had been burned to the ground.
‘What can have happened? Where is everyone? What can have happened?’
Perseus found a group of fishermen mending nets not far off. They shook their heads sadly. Danaë and Dictys had been taken prisoner by Polydectes.
‘They say the king is holding a great feast at the palace.’
‘Aye. Even now.’
‘Some announcement to make, they say.’
Perseus grabbed Andromeda’s hand and flew with her to the palace. They arrived at the back of the throne room in time to see Danaë and Dictys, bound with ropes and being dragged before the seated Polydectes.
‘How dare you? How dare you marry each other without my permission?’
‘It was all my doing,’ said Dictys.
‘It was our doing,’ said Danaë.
‘But I offered you my hand. You could have been my queen!’ screamed Polydectes. ‘For this insult, you will both die.’
Perseus stepped forward and walked towards the throne. Polydectes looked over the shoulders of Danaë and Dictys and saw him coming. He smiled broadly.
‘Well, well, well. If it isn’t brave young Perseus. You told me you wouldn’t return without the head of the Medusa.’
‘You told me you were going to challenge Oenomaus to a chariot race for the hand of Hippodamia.’
‘I changed my mind.’
‘Why have you arrested my mother?’
‘She and Dictys are due to die. You can be hanged alongside them if you like.’
Danaë and Dictys turned.
‘Run, Perseus, run!’
‘Mother, Dictys, if you love me, turn and look at Polydectes. I beg you! All who love me, look on the king now!’
The smile on Polydectes’ face was a little less certain. ‘What nonsense is this?’
‘You asked for the head of Medusa. Here she is!’
‘Surely you don’t expect me to —’ Polydectes got no further.
‘You can turn and look at me now,’ said Perseus, putting Medusa’s head back in the satchel. ‘It’s safe now.’
The statue of Polydectes on his throne, flanked by stone men-at-arms, became a popular attraction on Seriphos. Visitors paid to see and touch them, and the money was spent on the construction of a temple to Athena and the installation of a hundred herms around the island.fn16
Andromeda and Perseus left King Dictys and Queen Danaë on Seriphos and moved on. Perseus and Andromeda could have stayed and inherited the throne. They could have returned to Andromeda’s homeland and ruled the combined kingdoms of Ethiopia and Egypt. But they were young, spirited and minded to travel, and Perseus was keen to visit the land of his birth. As a baby he had been there for less than a week. His grandfather King Acrisius had done everything to prevent his existence and shorten his life, but he was curious to see what Argos, the famous kingdom of his birth, was like.
When Perseus and Andromeda arrived, they discovered that Acrisius, after casting his daughter and grandson onto the waters in their chest all those years ago, had turned dark, cruel and despotic. Never a popular ruler, he had soon been toppled from his throne. Nobody knew where he was now. The people of Argos, having heard of Perseus’s astonishing feats, invited him to fill the vacant throne. Uncertain what to do or where to settle, the young couple thanked the Argives and asked for time to consider.
They wandered about mainland Greece, Perseus funding their travels with prize money from athletic meetings that he entered and invariably won. They heard news that the King of Larissa was holding the richest games of the year and made their way north to Thessaly to compete. The finest athletes in Greece were taking part and great would be the honours awarded the competitor who won the most events. One by one, Perseus prevailed in every race and every competition. It came at last to the discus. Perseus threw his so far it shot over the longest mark, cleared the stadium and landed amongst the spectators. The great roar of delight that met this astounding feat swiftly turned to a groan of horror. The discus had struck someone in the crowd.
Perseus ran to the place. An old man was lying on the ground, blood streaming from his gashed head. Perseus cradled him in his arms.
‘I’m so sorry,’ he said. ‘So terribly sorry. I don’t know my own strength. May the gods forgive me.’
To Perseus’s astonishment the old man smiled and even managed to cough out a laugh.
‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘It’s funny really. I defeated the oracle. How many can say that? It said I would be killed by my grandson, and here I am instead, felled by some clumsy oaf of an athlete.’
The old man’s attendant pushed Perseus away. ‘Give his majesty air.’