Stellar gold: Perseus

During his travels, Perseus once reached the shores of Ethiopia. Suddenly he saw a beautiful girl chained to a rock by the sea. His heart beat sweetly in the hero's chest. Perseus went down and asked the weeping beauty to explain why she was in such a terrible situation. The girl said that her name was Andromeda, she was the daughter of Cepheus, the king of these places, and she was going to die because of the fault of her parents. Her mother Cassiopeia was a very proud and arrogant woman. One day she tried to match her beauty with the sea nymphs, and they begged Poseidon, the god of the seas, to punish the earthly proud woman. Then Poseidon sent a monstrous whale to the island, which surfaced from the depths of the sea and devastated the possessions of Cepheus. This continued for many years. The lamentations of the Ethiopian people forced the king to turn to the Oracle. The verdict of the latter was cruel: to give the herd of white bulls to the sea monster or to send the beautiful Andromeda to certain death. Cepheus was sorry to part with his bulls, so Andromeda was chained to a rock. Looking out to sea in horror, she waited for death. Perseus promised her to kill the vile monster. When the sea boiled up and among the raging waves near the shore appeared Kit, with an open mouth approaching the rock on which the girl was crucified, Perseus, rising into the air, rushed at him from the height and plunged his sword into the broad back of the monster. The fight lasted long, but the hero was young, agile and strong, besides, the invincible sword of Hermes glittered in his hands. He had defeated the monster. Shouts of jubilation brought Perseus back to reality - it was the Ethiopian people on the shore praising him. The hero removed the shackles from Andromeda's hands and took the princess to the palace. He asked the king and queen to give him the girl he loved as his wife.

After the wedding festivities Perseus traveled with his young wife to the island of Serif. The treacherous Polydectes did not expect the hero's return: there was a feast in the palace, many guests were sitting at the tables, and they did not believe that Perseus had returned safe and sound from the island of the gorgons. Then Perseus took out of his bag the monstrous head of Medusa, and instantly all his offenders turned into stone statues. Soon Perseus and his wife and mother returned to Argos. His grandfather was mortally frightened by his grandson's return, gave him the throne and, remembering the Oracle's predictions, retired to his distant lands.