Perseus:Demigod 1/2 (Patreon)

Wha... again? Husky...

The brothers Proteus and Acrisius, after a life of quarrelling and fighting, ended up going to war with each other. A bloody battle was fought, but since neither side gained an advantage, Proteus and Acrisius reluctantly agreed to divide the kingdom between them. Proteus was accompanied by seven gigantic cyclopes who helped him fortify his cities with massive walls.

Acrisius married a beautiful princess but had no sons, only this one daughter: Danaë. During a meeting between Acrisius and his brother Proteus, the latter waited for the night and sneaked into Danaë's room, seducing her. The girl initially resisted her uncle, but since the man was strong and manly, he managed to take her virginity.

When king Acrisius asked an oracle how to procure a male heir, he was told he wouldn't have any sons, and his grandson would kill him. To forestall this fate, Acrisius imprisoned Danaë in a dungeon and forbade his men to get any closer. Zeus, watching from Olympus, felt sorry for the girl and started giving her gifts to alleviate her detention. Despite these precautions, Zeus came upon her many times until she bore him a son named Perseus.

When king Acrisius learned of Danaë's condition, he would not believe that Zeus was the father, and suspected his brother Proteus of having renewed his intimacy with her. Since also the people would believe Proteus was the father, Acrisius exiled her and the infant Perseus in a wooden ark, which he cast into the sea. The ark was washed towards the island of Seriphos and netted by the fisherman Dictys.

Dictys was the brother of the local king, the tyrant Polydectes, who exiled him from the palace many years before, with a trick. Dictys took care of Danaë and Perseus, and since king Polydected forbade him to leave Seriphos island and threatened every woman not to approach him, he couldn't have married. Polydectes was afraid that, if he would die, his brother or his son would take his place. After he brought Danaë into his house, Dictys made love to her and the next day he decided to get married.

Knowing about the upcoming wedding, king Polydectes forced Dictys to bring him Danaë and her son Perseus. Polydectes reared Perseus and Danaë in his own house as long as the girl accepted to be his concubine and have sex with him.

Danaë prayed to Zeus, imploring him, if he really felt something for her or their child, he had to help her. Zeus, from Olympus, interceded with Eileithyia, goddess of childbirth, to prevent Danaë from getting pregnant; since a child would have been raised as a tyrant by king Polydectes. Danaë kept meeting with Dictys in great secrecy.

For interceding with goddess Eileithyia, in return Zeus bred Danaë every ten days. After sex, Zeus cradled young Perseus. When he came back on Olympus, he instructed Hermes and Athena to keep an eye on that child but without letting Hera know...

Some years passed and Perseus, grew into manhood, finally defended Danaë against king Polydectes who abused of her all those years. Scared of Perseus, since he was the son of Zeus, king Polydectes stopped molesting the woman and chose to marry a certain Hippodameia when she would've reach the appropriate age, in four years. Polydectes asked all his subjects for a horse as a wedding gift, knowing that Perseus had no horses and thereby would been humiliated for his poverty. When Perseus asked him what else he could've want instead, Polydectes said his mother Danaë, of course, so Perseus told him to name any other gift; he would not refuse. 

King Polydectes held the young demigod to his rash promise and demanded the head of the only mortal Gorgon, Medusa! He swore Danaë would not be touched until Perseus brought him the monster's head. Now, the Gorgon Medusa had serpents for hair, sharp teeth, a protruding tongue and the power to petrify whomever looked her in the eyes. Perseus had to do it, to save her mother from that horrible future.

Medusa was once an incredibly gorgeous maiden. One day, when she went to a temple dedicated to Athena to become a priestess. Since they have to remain virgins, the god Poseidon broke into the temple and mated with her on the altar where he impregnated her. The girl then prayed to Athena to give her the means to fight back, so no man could ever touch her again. Athena turned her into a gorgon with the power to petrify whomever she wanted. Unfortunately, that power corrupted her, and she became a cruel murderer who turned every person she met into stone.

The goddess Athena overhead the conversation at Seriphos island and, wanting to free Medusa from her curse, for whose frightful appearance she had herself been responsible, accompanied Perseus on his adventure when he left at the end of the cold season. Athena warned him to never look at Medusa directly, but only at her reflection, and presented him with a brightly-polished shield.

Perseus would've need another thing for his mission, and this could be found in the hands of the mythical Hesperides. The young demigod kept traveling with Athena, while his father Zeus started watching from the Olympus, anxious to see how his adventure would've continue...