Legends! Beasts and Monsters (7 page)

One night he found himself sitting under a tree on the edge of a swamp in an unknown country. He had no money with him and so he was unable to stay in an inn or a hotel – even if he had
stumbled on such a thing. His only food, as usual, was the fruit and the berries that he found along the way. He was cold and he was alone. For the first time he was beginning to wonder if he
hadn’t been a bit hasty in agreeing to the king’s request.

It was at that moment that a figure suddenly appeared, stepping out of the flames of the meagre bonfire he had built to keep himself warm. It was a woman, tall and imperious, with bright,
purposeful eyes. Her head was covered by a silver helmet and she was carrying a spear and a gleaming shield. Perseus recognized her at once. Like every child, he had been taught about the gods and
goddesses, although he had never expected to meet one. This woman had to be Athene. She was the Goddess of Wisdom.

‘Perseus,’ she said, standing in front of him, ‘I’ve come to help you. You have a good heart and I know that one day you will be a great hero, but you are also young and
foolish and you have allowed King Polydectes to trick you.’

‘Thank you, great Athene,’ Perseus said. ‘I do need your help. You see, I’m looking for—’

‘I know who you’re looking for,’ Athene interrupted. ‘I am, after all, the Goddess of Wisdom. And it’s lucky you didn’t interrupt my father so rudely. He
would have turned you into an acorn or a frog or something. But as I say, I’ve decided to help you and I’ll begin by saying that the only way to find the Gorgons is to ask their sisters
– the Grey Ones.’

‘Where will I find them?’ Perseus asked.

‘By a happy coincidence, they live in the swamp, a few minutes from here. But listen to me, Perseus. You have to be very careful how you kill Medusa. Because anyone who sees her turns to
stone.’

‘You mean . . . I can’t even look at her?’

‘Not directly. No.’ Athene laughed briefly and without much humour. ‘Polydectes didn’t tell you that, did he! But it doesn’t matter. I can show you what to
do.’

‘It’s very kind of you, mighty Athene,’ Perseus said.

‘Don’t mention it. As a matter of fact, I’ve never cared much for Medusa and it’s about time someone did away with her. Now listen to what I have to tell you, Perseus.
Your life will depend on it . . .’

The Grey Ones

A short while later, Perseus crept up on the Grey Ones, who were sitting beside a bog arguing. They were always arguing. The Grey Ones weren’t exactly monsters but
they were certainly very strange. They had been born with grey hair (which is how they got their name) and they had only one eye and one tooth between the three of them. They were called Enyo,
Pemphredo and Deino.

As Perseus approached, this is what he heard.

‘Can I have the tooth, please, Enyo?’ Pemphredo was saying.

‘Why?’ Enyo asked.

‘Because I want to eat an apple.’

‘But I’m eating a toffee.’

‘You can suck the toffee. I want the tooth!’

‘All right. All right. Here it is, then.’

‘I can’t see it.’

‘Haven’t you got the eye?’

‘I’ve got the eye,’ Deino said.

‘Let me have it,’ Pemphredo demanded.

‘No. I’m looking at something.’

The argument continued endlessly and Perseus guessed that the three old hags must have had the same conversation every day of their lives. Making no sound, he tiptoed up behind them and snatched
away both the eye and the tooth.

‘Who is it?’ Enyo demanded.

‘Bite him!’ Pemphredo exclaimed.

‘I can’t!’ Deino cried. ‘He’s got the tooth!’

‘All right,’ Perseus said. ‘I’ve got your eye and your tooth and I won’t let you have them back until you tell me where I can find your sister, the Gorgon
Medusa.’

The three Grey Ones got up and tried to grab him, but being unable to see they only grabbed each other. Eventually they sat down again, banging their fists in the mud and wailing with
frustration.

‘If you don’t tell me what I want to know,’ Perseus continued, ‘I’ll throw your eye and your tooth away and you’ll never see or bite anyone again.’

‘All right!’

‘All right!’

‘All right!’

The Grey Ones tried to grind their teeth. But since that was impossible, they ground their gums instead.

‘Go to the Land of the Hyperboreans,’ Enyo said. Her voice was shrill and bitter. ‘There’s a big cave in a valley there. You can’t miss it.’

‘That’s where you’ll find her,’ Pemphredo added. ‘Just make sure you get a good look at her.’

‘Look her straight in the eyes!’ Deino giggled. ‘You’ll never forget your first sight of Medusa.’

Perseus gave them back their eye and their tooth and left them, their laughter echoing in his ears. The Grey Ones were still cackling to themselves, thinking how clever they had been, when he
arrived in the Land of the Hyperboreans.

Medusa

Athene had not only told Perseus how to destroy the Gorgon, she had given him the means. As he approached Medusa’s cave, trying not to make any sound, he was
carrying the goddess’s brightly polished shield in one hand and his own army sword in the other.

He knew that this must be where Medusa lived. He was in a gulley, a narrow cleft in the rocky landscape that was filled with stone people, some trapped as they turned to run, others frozen in
horror, their mouths open, the screams still on their lips. It was as if they had been photographed in the last second of their life. Their reaction in that second had been caught for eternity. One
young soldier had covered his face, but then he had tried to peep through his fingers. His stone hand still shuttered his stone eyes. A farmer with a scythe stood rigid with a puzzled smile, his
stone fingers curled around the weapon, still trying to swing it through the air. There were stone women and stone children. It was like a crazy open-air museum.

Perseus saw the mouth of a large cave yawning darkly at him. Holding the shield more tightly than ever, he climbed up the gentle slope and, taking a deep breath, entered the gloom.

‘Medusa!’ he called out. His voice sounded lost in the shadows.

Something moved at the back of the cave.

‘Medusa!’ he repeated.

Now he could hear breathing and the sound of hissing.

‘I am Perseus!’ he announced.

‘Perseus!’ came a deep, throaty voice from the back of the cave. It was followed by a soft giggling. ‘Have you come to see me?’

The Gorgon stepped forward into the light. For a dreadful moment, Perseus was tempted to look up at her, to meet her eyes. But with all his strength he kept his head turned away as Athene had
instructed him and instead concentrated on the reflection in the shield. He could see her green skin, her poisonous red eyes and her yellow teeth, all reflected in the polished bronze. He lifted
the sword.

‘Look at me! Look at me!’ the Gorgon cried.

Still he kept his eyes on the shield. He took another step into the cave. The reflection was huge, the teeth snarling at him out of the shield. The snakes writhed furiously, hissing with the
sound of red-hot needles being plunged into water.

‘Look at me! Look at me!’

How could he find her when all he could see was the reflection? Surely it would be easier to kill her if he took one quick look at her, just to make sure that he didn’t miss . . .

‘Yes. That’s right. I’m here!’

‘No!’

With a despairing cry, Perseus swung wildly with his sword. He felt the sharp steel bite into flesh and bone. The Gorgon screamed. The snakes exploded around her head as the whole thing flew
from her shoulders, bounced against the cave wall and rolled to the ground. A fountain of blood spouted out of her neck as her body crumpled. Then at last it was over. With his eyes still fixed on
the shield, Perseus picked up the grim trophy of his victory and dropped it into a heavy sack.

The Gorgon’s Head

Perseus had spent months looking for the Gorgon and he had many other adventures on his way back to Seriphos. And so a whole year had passed by the time he returned.

The first person he saw on the island was an old fisherman who was just bringing in the morning catch. His name was Dictys and by coincidence it had been he who had first discovered Perseus and
his mother when they were washed ashore. The two greeted each other like old friends.

‘My dear Dictys,’ Perseus said. ‘Here I am, back at last. Now tell me, has the king married?’

‘No,’ the fisherman said. ‘King Polydectes lives alone.’

‘And how is my mother?’ Perseus asked.

At this, the old man burst into tears. ‘Oh Master Perseus!’ he cried. ‘It was your mother that the wicked king wished to marry. Once you were gone, he tried to force her into
his bed, and when she refused he turned her into a slave. For a whole year now she’s been worked to the bone in the palace kitchens, carrying and cleaning. It’s a terrible thing, Master
Perseus. The king just laughs at her . . .’

‘He does, does he?’ Perseus said through gritted teeth. ‘We’ll soon see about that!’

Throwing the bundle that he carried over his shoulder, Perseus strode into the palace and straight into the great hall where King Polydectes was sitting on his throne.

‘Greetings, Your Majesty!’ he called out to the astonished monarch. ‘It is I, Perseus, returned after twelve long months. I bring with me the present that you asked
for.’

‘The Gorgon’s head?’ Polydectes muttered. ‘A likely story!’

‘Don’t you believe me, sire?’ Perseus asked.

‘Certainly not,’ the king said.

‘Would you believe your own eyes?’

‘Have you got it there?’ The king pointed at the sack.

‘See for yourself.’

And with that, Perseus lifted the Gorgon’s head out of the sack and held it up for the king to see.

‘It’s . . .’ King Polydectes got no further than that. What was he about to say? It’s hideous? It’s not possible? Nobody would ever know. The next moment there was
a stone statue leaning out of the throne, a stone sneer on its stone face and one stone eyebrow raised in disbelief.

Perseus wondered what would happen next. He had, after all, just assassinated the king. He was completely surrounded by the courtiers and the royal guard and he was prepared to turn the
Gorgon’s head on anyone who tried to arrest him. But no sooner had Polydectes been frozen than there was a great cheering that began around the throne and spread throughout the palace. For it
turned out that everyone on the island was tired of their cruel and scheming monarch. Perseus had finally got rid of him and, by popular acclaim, he was invited to become the new king.