Perseus' Wedding

Rich sacrifices brought Perseus to his father to Zeus, to Athena-Pallas and Hermes. The merry wedding feast began in the palace Kefea. Hymenaeus and Eros lit their fragrant torches. The whole palace of Kefei is covered with greenery and flowers. The sounds of kitharas and lyres are heard loudly, wedding choirs are thundering. The doors of the palace are wide open. The banquet hall burns with gold. Kefei and Cassiopeia feasting with the newlyweds, feasting and the whole people. Fun and joy reign all around. At the feast, Perseus tells about his exploits. Suddenly, a menacing clang of weapons rang out in the banquet hall. A war cry rang through the palace, like the sound of the sea, when it, heaving, beats its waves driven by a stormy wind on a high rocky shore. This is the first groom Andromeda, Finey, with a large army.

Entering the palace and shaking his spear, Phineus exclaimed loudly:

- Woe to you, bride thief! Neither your winged sandals nor even Zeus the Thunderer himself will save you from me!

Phineas was about to throw a spear at Perseus, but King Cepheus stopped him with words:

- What are you doing? What makes you so crazy? So do you want to reward Perseus' feat? Will this be your wedding present? Did Perseus steal your bride from you? No, she was stolen from you when they were leading her to be chained to a rock, when she was going to die. Then why didn't you come to her aid? Do you want to take away the winner's reward now? Why didn't you come for Andromeda yourself when she was chained to the rock, then why didn't you take her away from the monster?

Phineus did not answer Cepheus, he looked angrily at Cepheus, then at the beautiful son of Zeus, and suddenly, straining all his strength, threw a spear at Perseus. A spear flew past and plunged into Perseus' bed. The young hero tore it out with a mighty hand, jumped up from his bed and menacingly swung his spear. He would have struck Phineus to death, but he hid behind the altar, and the spear hit the hero's head Reta, and he fell dead. A terrible battle began to boil. The warrior Athena quickly came from Olympus to help her brother Perseus. She covered him with her aegis and breathed invincible courage into him. Perseus rushed into battle. Like lightning, the deadly sword with which he killed Medusa shines in his hands. One by one, he stabs to death the heroes who came with Phineus. A mountain of bodies drenched in blood is piled up in front of Perseus. He grabbed with both hands a huge bronze bowl in which wine was mixed for the feast, and threw it at the head of the hero Eurythoe. As if struck by thunder, the hero fell, and his soul flew away to the realm of shadows. One by one, the heroes fall, but Phineas brought them with him a lot. Perseus is a foreigner in the kingdom of Cepheus, he has few comrades in battle, almost alone he has to fight with many enemies. Many of Perseus' companions have already fallen in this fierce battle. Killed by a spear, and the singer, who delighted the feasting with mellifluous singing, playing the golden-stringed kithara. Falling, the singer touched the strings of the kithara, and sadly, like a dying moan, the strings rang, but the clatter of swords and the groans of the dying drowned out the ringing of the strings. Arrows fly like hail driven by the wind. Leaning against a column and covered with the shining shield of Athena, Perseus fights with his enemies. And they surrounded the hero from all sides; the fight around him is getting fiercer. Seeing that he was in imminent danger of death, the mighty son of Danae exclaimed loudly:

- I will find help from the enemy I have slain! You yourself forced me to seek his protection! Turn away quickly, everyone who is my friend!

Perseus quickly took out the gorgon's head from the wonderful bag Medusa and raised it high above his head. One by one, the heroes attacking Perseus turn into stone statues. Some of them turned to stone, swinging a sword to pierce the enemy's chest, others - shaking sharp spears, others - covered with shields. One look at the Medusa's head turned them into marble statues. The entire banquet hall was filled with marble statues. Fear seized Phineas when he saw that all his friends had turned to stone. Falling on his knees and stretching out his hands in supplication to Perseus, Phineus exclaimed:

- You have won, Perseus! A. Hide the dreadful head of the Medusa quickly, I beg you - hide it. Oh, great son of Zeus, take everything, own everything, only leave me one life!

Perseus replied mockingly to Phineus:

- Don't be afraid, you pathetic coward! My sword will not slay you. I will give you a reward for eternity! You will stand here forever in the palace of Kefei, so that my wife will be comforted by looking at the image of her first bridegroom.

The hero stretched out the head of Medusa to Phineus, and no matter how hard Phineus tried not to look at the terrible gorgon, his gaze fell on her, and in a moment he turned into a marble statue. Phineus stands turned to stone, bowing like a slave before Perseus. The expression of fear and slavish entreaty remained forever in the eyes of the statue-Phineus.