1931/06/01 by Henry Martin · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · #Early Modern Spanish Literature #Literature, Magical Realism, García Márquez #Cultural and Mythological Studies
paper · doi:10.2307/458043
openalex publication_date 1931/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
In 1621 Lope de Vega published his El Perseo , and Calderon followed in 1653 with Las Fortunas de Perseo y Andrómeda on the same subject. Both dramatists so embellished the narrative of Ovid, their common source, with their own inventions for the most part and to a lesser degree with accretions gathered during centuries of transmission as to make those features the subject of pertinent inquiry. A statement of the main incidents of the myth will facilitate our study. Danäe, having been exposed after the birth of her son, Perseus, in the tower, was cast on the island of Seriphus. There she became the wife of its king, Polydectes, who, finding Perseus an obstacle to his designs, induced him to undertake the slaugher of Medusa. Perseus accomplished the feat with the aid of a magic wand (sandals) and a sword, both the gift of Mercury, and a shield from Pallas. He also secured the Gorgon's head. While returning from Africa he rescued Andromeda, who was exposed on a cliff in Ethiopia to the visitation of a sea monster.