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Weeping and lamenting, the princess's parents waited on the shore. It
just so happened that the young Perseus, the son of Zeus, was passing that way on his winged horse Pegasus. On seeing
the desperate sovereigns, the hero, who had just killed the terrible Medusa, stopped to ask them what was wrong. Sobbing,
the King and Queen told him their story.
He donned the magic helmet of invisibility, which had been given to him by
Pluto, the King of the underworld, slipped his arm into the shining shield which had been a present from the goddes Athena {he was related to both these divinities} and, brandishing the diamond
sword given to him by the god Mercury, he rushed at the dragon. Since the helmet made Perseus invisible, the monster
was unable to defend himself, and Andromeda had no idea who was coming to her rescue. The demigod sliced through the
dragon's flesh until he reached the heart and plucked it out. Then he removed his helmet and showed himself to the beautiful
princess. With one stroke he cut through the chains that bound her to the rock, and then hoisted the maiden up on to
his winged steed and headed for the palace.
On reaching the royal palace, however, an unpleasant surprise was in store
for him. Standing at the head of his army was Phineus, Andromeda's former suitor, claiming her as his wife. Perseus,
reluctant to give up his well-deserved reward, took out the Medusa's head from a bag, showed it to his enemies and thus turned
them to stone. And so he was able to marry the beautiful Andromeda unopposed, and they had many children, one of whom
was Alcmena, the mother of the powerful Hercules.
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