above, but Dionysos foiled him by increasing his stature until he touched heaven. At the sight of Medousa's head Ariadne, the wife of Dionysos, became an image of stone, and this so filled her husband's heart with rage that he would have destroyed Perseus and all the cities of his realm, with Hera as well, had not Hermes checked him by force. On becoming calm the god recognized that the attack had been inspired by Hera, and he accordingly absolved Perseus from all blame, whereupon the Argives instituted rites in honour of both Dionysos and Perseus. Later generations, it was said, were able to locate the graves of the Maenads who fell in the struggle, as well as the hiding-place of Medousa's head.
It has been suggested by one school of scholars, who have the foible of tracing almost every deity back to a Cretan or Philistine origin, that Perseus sprang from a Cretan offshoot of the sun-worship of Gaza, and that the story was borne from Crete to Thronion of the Lokrians, where Perseus was identified with Hermes and assimilated many of his attributes. A much more plausible theory holds, however, that Perseus was a pre-Dorian hero of the Peloponnesos whose cult was so wide-spread as to make it necessary for the Dorian conquerors to connect themselves with him genealogically in order to maintain their supremacy among the people. The story of Perseus impresses one as being an ancient folk-tale.[1]
Historically, the account of the birth of Herakles should be included among the Argive myths, but we shall prefix it to the narrative of the hero's career to which it logically belongs.
IV. CORINTH
The Divine Patrons of Corinth.—The great patron deity of Corinth was Poseidon who gave prosperity to her mariners and traders. Yet he did not have this high place from the beginning, for when he made his claim, Helios, the sun, disputed it. Both disputants submitted their respective cases to Briareos of the
- ↑ The story of Perseus in its bearings on primitive folk-tale and religion is exhaustively treated by E. S. Hartland, Legend of Perseus, 3 vols., London, 1894-96.
