son of Jupiter and Danae, and the grandson of Acrisius, King of Argos, was renowned in classical fable for his wonderful adventures. No sooner had he come into the world than he was doomed to face difficulty and danger. His nervous old grandfather, terrified by a prediction of the Pythian oracle, placed him and his mother into a chest, and sent them adrift down the Argolic Gulf. The wind wafted them across the Myrtoan Sea to the island of Seriphos, and they fell into the hands of Polydectes, the selfish king of the country. At the court of that prince Perseus lived until he had grown up to be a brave and godlike young man. Then his royal patron, overawed by his superior presence, and anxious to get rid of him, commanded him to set out and bring home the head of the dreaded Gorgon Medusa. To this dangerous enterprise the youth set himself with eager alacrity. His first measure was to repair to the house of the Graiae,—three old prophetic crones, who had only one tooth and one eye for their common use. Coming upon them unawares, and snatching their eye and tooth, he compelled them, on pain of never recovering their precious organs, to mumble out where he would get the equipment necessary for his expedition. By their direction he found the dwelling of certain nymphs, and was there supplied with winged shoes to carry him through the air, and with the helmet of Hades to render him invisible. Minerva added a mirror; and the youthful hero was now ready to dare the perilous exploit. Speeding westward through the clouds, he alighted in the country of the Gorgons, a land situated on the shore of the solitary ocean, and near the abode of eternal Night. He stepped slowly forward, averting his head lest the sight of the monsters should turn him into stone, and using the mirror to ascertain what was in front of him. Suddenly there appeared in the glass the sleeping forms of the three dread Gorgons, with their snaky locks, golden wings, and brazen hands. He struck off the head of Medusa, seized it in his hand, and sped away through the air, pursued in vain by the two remaining sisters. Another adventure awaited Perseus on his flight homewards. After turning, by means of the wonder-working head, the inhospitable Atlas into a mountain, he was passing over Ethiopia when, looking down, he saw Andromeda, the lovely daughter of King Cepheus chained to a rock, and ready to be devoured by a sea-monster. He descended, slew the monster, and won the heart and hand of the liberated maiden. The remaining days of Perseus were not so eventful. After presenting the Gorgon's head to Minerva, he is said to have settled down for life as king of Tiryns, and to have occupied himself in founding the cities of Midéa and Myceae.

Perses, the last king of Macedonia, succeeded his father Philip V. in 179 B.C., was dethroned by the Romans in 167 B.C., and died in captivity at Alba not long afterwards. (See Macedonia.)