PERSEUS: SIGNIFICANCES OF A BIG GREEK HERO OR AN EARLY SUN-GOD
PERSEUS: SIGNIFICANCES OF A BIG GREEK HERO OR AN EARLY SUN-GOD

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of the paper is to describe the fascinating myth of Perseus, son of Zeus and Danae, who became well known for his two great achievements: a) the beheading of gorgon Medusa and b) the killing of the Cetus sent to tear Princess Andromeda to pieces. The myth was so impressive that its personages were made constellations. The different scenarios proposed so far for Perseus but especially the various interpretations of the myth together with its symbolism and historical and technological significances are referred and discussed.Actually, our interest for the myth of Perseus started from the presence of its hero in the star catalogue of Ptolemy. The myth as such is a multi-level transposition of historical facts, human desires and imagined outcomes. It is the first coherent form of human knowledge, preceding philosophy and science. But the multiple symbolisms of the myth–and, concerning the myth of Perseus, it is only suggested here –deserves to be remembered, even if only for our belief in progress and development. More concretely, the technological objects that people dreamed of remind us that the first step of creation/innovation was –and is –imagination.

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