Читать книгу The Story of Greece: Told to Boys and Girls онлайн
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Year by year as the spring sun shines, the wonderful purple of the hyacinth is seen. Then you, who know the story, think of the days of long ago, when the Sun-god lost his little friend and a cluster of purple flowers bloomed upon the spot where he lay.
CHAPTER VII
DANAE AND HER LITTLE SON
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The stories I have told you are about the gods of ancient Greece; the story I am going to tell you now is about a Greek hero.
When you think of a hero, you think of a man who does brave, unselfish deeds. But to the Hellenes or Greeks a hero was one who was half god, half man—whose one parent was a god while the other was a mortal. So the god Zeus was the father of Perseus, the hero of whom I am going to tell, while his mother was a beautiful princess named Danae.
From morning to night, from night till morning, Acrisius, the father of Danae, was never happy. Yet he was a king.
A king and unhappy? Yes, this king was unhappy because he was afraid that some day, as an oracle had foretold, he would be slain by his grandson.