When Danaë's old father, the king of Argos, heard that a strange ship
was coming over the sea with his daughter and her son on board, he was
in great distress; for he remembered what the Pythia had foretold about
his death. So, without waiting to see the vessel, he left his palace in
great haste and fled out of the country.
"My daughter's son cannot kill me if I will keep out of his way," he
said.
But Perseus had no wish to harm him; and he was very sad when he learned
that his poor grandfather had gone away in fear and without telling any
one where he was going. The people of Argos welcomed Danaë to her old
home; and they were very proud of her handsome son, and begged that he
would stay in their city, so that he might some time become their king.
It happened soon afterwards that the king of a certain country not far
away was holding games and giving prizes to the best runners and leapers
and quoit throwers. And Perseus went thither to try his strength with
the other young men of the land; for if he should be able to gain a
prize, his name would become known all over the world. No one in that
country knew who he was, but all wondered at his noble stature and his
strength and skill; and it was easy enough for him to win all the
prizes.
One day, as he was showing what he could do, he threw a heavy quoit a
great deal farther than any had been thrown before. It fell in the crowd
of lookers-on, and struck a stranger who was standing there. The
stranger threw up his hands and sank upon the ground; and when Perseus
ran to help him, he saw that he was dead. Now this man was none other
than Danaë's father, the old king of Argos. He had fled from his kingdom
to save his life, and in doing so had only met his death.
Perseus was overcome with grief, and tried in every way to pay honor to
the memory of the unhappy king. The kingdom of Argos was now rightfully
his own, but he could not bear to take it after having killed his
grandfather. So he was glad to exchange with another king who ruled over
two rich cities, not far away, called Mycenae and Tiryns. And he and
Andromeda lived happily in Mycenae for many years.
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