The Heroes; Or, Greek Fairy Tales for My Children — John Shaqi
The Heroes; Or, Greek Fairy Tales for My ChildrenKingsley, Charles
General
The Heroes; Or, Greek Fairy Tales for My Children
Kingsley, Charles
Mythology, Greek -- Juvenile literature
So Perseus sailed away with his Phoenicians, round Hydrea and Sunium,
past Marathon and the Attic shore, and through Euripus, and up the long
Euboean sea, till he came to the town of Larissa, where the wild Pelasgi
dwelt.
And when he came there, all the people were in the fields, and there was
feasting, and all kinds of games; for Teutamenes their king wished to
honour Acrisius, because he was the king of a mighty land.
So Perseus did not tell his name, but went up to the games unknown; for
he said, ‘If I carry away the prize in the games, my grandfather’s heart
will be softened toward me.’
So he threw off his helmet, and his cuirass, and all his clothes, and
stood among the youths of Larissa, while all wondered at him, and said,
‘Who is this young stranger, who stands like a wild bull in his pride?
Surely he is one of the heroes, the sons of the Immortals, from Olympus.’
And when the games began, they wondered yet more; for Perseus was the
best man of all at running, and leaping, and wrestling and throwing the
javelin; and he won four crowns, and took them, and then he said to
himself, ‘There is a fifth crown yet to be won: I will win that, and lay
them all upon the knees of my grandfather.’
And as he spoke, he saw where Acrisius sat, by the side of Teutamenes the
king, with his white beard flowing down upon his knees, and his royal
staff in his hand; and Perseus wept when he looked at him, for his heart
yearned after his kin; and he said, ‘Surely he is a kingly old man, yet
he need not be ashamed of his grandson.’
Then he took the quoits, and hurled them, five fathoms beyond all the
rest; and the people shouted, ‘Further yet, brave stranger! There has
never been such a hurler in this land.’
Then Perseus put out all his strength, and hurled. But a gust of wind
came from the sea, and carried the quoit aside, and far beyond all the
rest; and it fell on the foot of Acrisius, and he swooned away with the
pain.
Perseus shrieked, and ran up to him; but when they lifted the old man up
he was dead, for his life was slow and feeble.
Then Perseus rent his clothes, and cast dust upon his head, and wept a
long while for his grandfather. At last he rose, and called to all the
people aloud, and said—
‘The Gods are true, and what they have ordained must be. I am Perseus,
the grandson of this dead man, the far-famed slayer of the Gorgon.’
Then he told them how the prophecy had declared that he should kill his
grandfather, and all the story of his life.
So they made a great mourning for Acrisius, and burnt him on a right rich
pile; and Perseus went to the temple, and was purified from the guilt of
the death, because he had done it unknowingly.
Then he went home to Argos, and reigned there well with fair Andromeda;
and they had four sons and three daughters, and died in a good old age.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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