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by the name of a woman, Danaë, daughter of Acrisius, who was from the land of the Argives; concerning whom the most wise Euripides told the myth in his composition of the same drama, that Danaë was cast into a certain chest and thrown out, as having been seduced by Zeus who had changed himself into gold. But the most wise Vuttius, a historical chronicler, set forth that the same 35 Picus, who is also Zeus, having persuaded her with much gold, was able to win her over while she was in a chamber next to the sea; whom, since she was very comely, he seized and seduced, and from her he had a son named Perseus, the one previously mentioned. Whom they write of as winged because the boy was exceedingly swift from childhood; whence also his father Picus, who is also Zeus, taught him to practice and perform the sorcery of the abominable cup, teaching him all the mystical and impious delusions concerning it, saying to him that, By it you conquer all your enemies and your foes and every man who opposes you and all who look upon its face are blinded and remain as if dead and are slain by you. And so Perseus, being persuaded by his own father Picus, who is also Zeus, in the time that followed, after the death of his same father Picus, having come of full age, desired the kingdom of the Assyrians, being jealous of the children of Ninus, his uncle, his father's brother. And having received an oracle, he went away into the land of Libya; and on the way a maiden, a country girl, with wild hair and eyes, met this Perseus. And stopping, he asked her, saying, What is your name? And she said with boldness, Medusa; and seizing her hair with the spear-sickle sword he was carrying, he cut off her head. And Perseus, taking it, immediately consecrated the same head mystically, just as he had been taught by his own father Picus the delusion 36 of abominable sorcery; which he carried for his own aid against all foes and enemies in order to subdue and destroy them. And he called the head Gorgon because of the swiftness of its aid and because of its power against adversaries. And passing over from there he came to the land of Ethiopia, which was ruled by Cepheus, and finding there a temple of Poseidon, he entered it and saw in the temple a maiden abiding, given over by the order of her own father Cepheus, the one called the virgin Andromeda. And he tore her from the temple, and having seduced her since she was comely, took her as his wife. And having sailed down, he departed from that country; coming towards the land of the Assyrians, he arrived in the land of Lycaonia; and they, learning of it, immediately resisted and made war on him; and using the aid of the Gorgon's head, he conquered the Lycaonians. And finding a village called Amandra, he made it a city, and set up for himself a stele outside the gates, bearing the image of the Gorgon, and having made a sacrifice, he called the fortune of the city Persis after his own name; which stele stands there to the present day. Which city he called Iconium, because there he obtained the image of his first victory with the Gorgon. And he subdued the other lands with no one resisting. And as he was coming to Isauria and Cilicia, and enduring the resistance of his enemies, he received this oracle: Dismounting from your own horse and fixing the sole of your foot into 37 the earth, you would obtain victory. And dismounting from his own horse in the village called Andrasus, there he fixed the sole of his foot; and having conquered by the use of the Gorgon, he made the same village a city, which he called Tarsus from the oracle of his own foot, sacrificing an unknown maiden named Parthenope for the purification of the city. And having given thanks, he set out from there through Mount Argaeus against the Assyrians; and having conquered them and slain Sardanapalus, their king,
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γυναικὸς ὀνόματι ∆ανάης, θυγατρὸς τοῦ Ἀκρισίου τοῦ καταγομένου ἐκ τῆς Ἀργείων χώρας· περὶ ἧς ἐμυθολόγησεν Εὐριπίδης ὁ σοφώτατος ἐν τῇ συντάξει τοῦ αὐτοῦ δράματος ἐν κιβωτίῳ τινὶ βληθεῖσαν καὶ ῥιφεῖσαν τὴν ∆ανάην, ὡς φθαρεῖσαν ὑπὸ ∆ιὸς μεταβληθέντος εἰς χρυσόν. ὁ δὲ σοφώτατος Βούττιος, ἱστορικὸς χρονογράφος, ἐξέθετο ὡς ὁ αὐτὸς 35 Πῖκος ὁ καὶ Ζεὺς οὖσαν ταύτην ἐν κουβουκλείῳ παρακειμένῳ τῇ θαλάσσῃ πολλῷ χρυσῷ πείσας ἠδυνήθη προτρεψάμενος· ἥντινα ἁρπάσας ὡς πάνυ εὐπρεπῆ ἔφθειρεν, καὶ ἐξ αὐτῆς ἔσχεν υἱὸν ὀνόματι Περσέα, τὸν προειρημένον. ὅντινα πτερωτὸν γράφουσι διὰ τὸ ἐκ παιδόθεν περίγοργον εἶναι τὸν παῖδα· ὅθεν καὶ ὁ τούτου πατὴρ Πῖκος ὁ καὶ Ζεὺς ἐδίδαξεν αὐτὸν πράττειν καὶ τελεῖν τὴν μαγγανείαν τοῦ μυσεροῦ σκύφους, διδάξας αὐτὸν πάντα τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ μυστικὰ καὶ δυσσεβῆ πλανήματα, λέγων αὐτῷ ὅτι Νικᾷς πάντας τοὺς πολεμίους ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου καὶ πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐναντίον καὶ πάντας τοὺς βλέποντας ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ προσώπῳ τυφλουμένους καὶ μένοντας ὡσεὶ νεκροὺς καὶ κατασφαζομένους ὑπό σου. καὶ λοιπὸν ὁ Περσεὺς πεισθεὶς τῷ ἰδίῳ πατρὶ Πίκῳ τῷ καὶ ∆ιί, εἰς τὸν μετὰ ταῦτα χρόνον μετὰ τελευτὴν τοῦ αὐτοῦ πατρὸς Πίκου τελείας ἡλικίας γενόμενος, ἐπεθύμησε τῆς τῶν Ἀσσυρίων βασιλείας, διαφθονούμενος τοῖς τέκνοις τοῦ Νίνου, τοῦ θείου αὐτοῦ, τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ. καὶ χρηματισθεὶς ἀπῆλθεν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ τῆς Λιβύης· καὶ κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ὑπήντησε τῷ αὐτῷ Περσεῖ μία παρθένος, κόρη χωρική, ἀγρίας ἔχουσα τὰς τρίχας καὶ ὀφθαλμούς. καὶ στήσας ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτὴν λέγων, Τί σου τὸ ὄνομα; ἡ δὲ εἶπε μετὰ παῤῥησίας Μέδουσα· καὶ κρατήσας αὐτῆς τὰς τρίχας ᾧ ἐβάσταζε λογχοδρεπάνῳ ξίφει ἀπέτεμεν αὐτῆς τὴν κάραν. καὶ λαβὼν ὁ Περσεὺς εὐθέως ἐτέλεσε τὴν αὐτὴν κάραν μυστικῶς, καθὼς ἐδιδάχθη ὑπὸ τοῦ ἰδίου πατρὸς Πίκου τῆς μυσερᾶς μαγγανείας τὴν πλά 36 νην· ἥντινα ἐβάσταζεν εἰς ἰδίαν βοήθειαν πρὸς πάντας ἐχθροὺς καὶ πολεμίους εἰς τὸ ὑποτάσσειν καὶ ἀναιρεῖν. τὴν δὲ κάραν ἐκάλεσε Γοργόνα διὰ τὸ ὀξὺ τοῦ βοηθήματος καὶ διὰ τὸ ἐνεργὲς πρὸς τοὺς ὑπεναντίους. κἀκεῖθεν περάσας ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὴν τῆς Αἰθιοπίας χώραν, ἥτις ἐβασιλεύετο ὑπὸ τοῦ Κηφέως, καὶ εὑρηκὼς ἐκεῖ ἱερὸν Ποσειδῶνος, εἰσῆλθεν ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ εἶδεν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ παραμένουσαν κόρην, κατὰ τάγμα τοῦ ἰδίου αὐτῆς πατρὸς τοῦ Κηφέως ἐκδοθεῖσαν, τὴν λεγομένην Ἀνδρομέδαν παρθένον. καὶ ταύτην ἀπέσπασεν ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ, καὶ φθείρας αὐτὴν ὡς εὐπρεπῆ ἔλαβεν εἰς γυναῖκα. καὶ καταπλεύσας ἀνεχώρησεν ἐκ τῆς χώρας ἐκείνης· ἐρχόμενος κατὰ τὴν Ἀσσυρίων χώραν κατήντησεν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ τῆς Λυκαονίας· καὶ γνόντες εὐθέως ἀντιστάντες ἐπολέμησαν αὐτῷ· καὶ χρησάμενος τῇ βοηθείᾳ τῆς κάρας τῆς Γοργόνης ἐνίκησε τοὺς Λυκάονας. καὶ εὑρηκὼς κώμην λεγομένην Ἄμανδραν ἐποίησεν αὐτὴν πόλιν, καὶ ἔστησεν ἑαυτῷ στήλην ἔξω τῶν πυλῶν, βαστάζουσαν τὸ ἀντεικόνισμα τῆς Γοργόνος, καὶ θυσίαν ποιήσας ἐκάλεσε τὴν τύχην τῆς πόλεως Περσίδα εἰς τὸ ἴδιον αὐτοῦ ὄνομα· ἥτις στήλη ἕως τοῦ παρόντος ἵσταται ἐκεῖ. ἥντινα πόλιν ἐκάλεσε τὸ Ἰκόνιον, διότι πρώτης νίκης εἰκόνα σὺν τῇ Γοργόνῃ ἐκεῖ ἔλαβεν. ὑπέταξε δὲ καὶ τὰς ἄλλας χώρας μηδενὸς ἀνθισταμένου. ἐρχόμενος δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἰσαυρίαν καὶ Κιλικίαν, καὶ ἀντιστάσεις αὐτοῦ πολεμίων ὑπομένοντος, ἐχρηματίσθη ταῦτα ὅτι Ἀπὸ τοῦ ἰδίου ἵππου ἀποβὰς τὸν σὸν ταρσὸν τοῦ ποδὸς εἰς 37 τὴν χθόνα πήξας νίκην λάβοις. καὶ κατελθὼν ἐκ τοῦ ἰδίου ἵππου ἐν τῇ λεγομένῃ κώμῃ Ἀνδρασῷ, ἐκεῖ τὸν ταρσὸν τοῦ ποδὸς ἔπηξεν· καὶ νικήσας τῇ χρήσει τῆς Γοργόνος, ἐποίησε τὴν αὐτὴν κώμην πόλιν, ἥντινα ἐκάλεσε Ταρσὸν ἐκ τοῦ χρησμοῦ τοῦ ἰδίου αὐτοῦ ποδός, θυσιάσας κόρην ἀδαῆ ὀνόματι Παρθενόπην εἰς ἀποκαθαρισμὸν τῆς πόλεως. καὶ εὐχαριστήσας ὥρμησεν ἐκεῖθεν διὰ τοῦ Ἀργαίου ὄρους κατὰ Ἀσσυρίων· καὶ νικήσας αὐτοὺς καὶ φονεύσας τὸν Σαρδανάπαλλον, βασιλέα αὐτῶν,