| Mythic fiction | Adventure |

I do not own the story
Cerita asli berasal dari Mitologi Yunani
Saya hanya menceritakan kembali
Dengan gaya penulisan sendiri
Jadi, mungkin agak sedikit lawak

Thanks for Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan as the main inspiration of the making of this chapter

Warning:

CERITA INI BILINGUAL ALIAS DITULIS DALAM DUA BAHASA:
BAHASA INGGRIS DAN BAHASA INDONESIA

SILAKAN SCROLL KE BAWAH UNTUK LANGSUNG MEMBACA TERJEMAHANNYA
Cheers! (๑°▽°๑)ฅ  

| E-Jazzy | 1799 words |

ENGLISH VERSION

Once, there lived a Greek Hero from Argos named Perseus. He was the son of the mortal Danaë and the God Zeus.

Perseus was the first Greek Hero who got a mission from the Greek Gods, even before Heracles. For the standard of Greek Heroes, Perseus had a long life and didn't die wretchedly. Yet, he had such a hard journey.

So, here the things started.

Before, the king of Argos and also the father of Danaë, Akrisios, really wanted a son to inherit the kingdom. Akrisios went to the Oracle Delphi to ask if in the future he would have a son, but the prophecy said that he would have a grandson instead, who would someday take over the kingdom.

As a final touch, the Oracle told him that, someday, he would be killed by his own grandson.

The fidgety Akrisios went home with the thought of Danaë, his own daughter, giving birth to a boy who would end his life. What happen next was that Akrisios locked up his daughter in a dungeon so she would never marry or bear anyone.

Unfortunately, dungeon couldn't keep away Zeus from falling for Danaë. He came to Danaë in a form of a shower of gold.

Then, there born Perseus.

One of the prison guards brought the news to Akrisios and told him in anxiety, "Um ... your daughter wanted to meet you to meet your grandson. The father is the God Zeus."

The meaning of Perseus's name was avenger or destroyer. Along with Danaë's anger against her father, that halfblood grandson of his made Akrisios terrified. Akrisios could imagine the sound of the Oracle saying, I told you so.

Akrisios decided to pack both of Perseus and Danaë in a large wooden chest, then exile them to the sea. To show how kind his heart was, he added some holes on the wooden chest for her daughter and grandson to breathe. Akrisios thought that he would be in peace after all, avoiding the prophecy.

Meanwhile, inside the afloat wooden chest, Danaë was struggling with baby Perseus. It was stormy and dark that Danaë was praying fearfully, hoping they would be saved. Zeus heard her and asked Poseidon, the God of Sea, to help them. Poseidon then sent some fish and drizzle to slip inside through the holes of the chest.

For days, Danaë and baby Perseus survived by eating the fish and drinking small amount of water from the drizzle until their chest drifted and washed ashore on Serifos. They were found by Dictys, the local fisherman, who was also the sibling of the king of the island named Polydectes. Dictys brought them to his brother and asked him to let them stay in his palace.

Perseus grew up as a strong young man and very fond of his mother. However, he wasn't the only one. Danaë's natural beauty attracted Polydectes that he really wanted to marry her, but Perseus believed that cruel king as Polydectes didn't deserve his mother. He kept his eyes on his mother protectively. No one could ever lay a hand on Danaë since Perseus' popularity as a demigod and the strongest one in town had already been well known.

Polydectes realized that he would never get a chance to approach Danaë as long as Perseus was around. So, Polydectes made a scheme by holding a banquet where every guest had to bring a gift.

All the honourable and rich guests brought jewelry, horses, expensive silk tunic, and even gold chariot; the civilians brought chests of fruits, vegetables, and more fresh farm produce; and the fishermen gave tons of fishes.

As a poor guy who didn't own anything but a mother, Perseus couldn't get a gift to give and Polydectes used it against Perseus to mock him. Feeling insulted, Perseus challenged Polydectes to name a gift and he promised that he would comply it no matter what.

Polydectes smirked. Danaë glanced nervously at her son, so did Dictys, who was really aware of his brother's personality traits. By the time Polydectes announced, "Bring me the head of Gorgon Medusa!" all the guests, except Danaë and Dictys, started to laugh—that was impossible, even just to get near one of the Gorgon.

Eventually, Perseus went on his mission in despair in order to get back all the respect for him and his mother. He walked by himself with the thought if he could only hold his tounge for a second, and also the thought on how to kill a very dangerous creature, which was Medusa, without getting killed first.

Medusa was the mortal Gorgon whose eyes turned people to a stone and whose hair was bunch of snakes, and this fact reminded Perseus that Medusa was a beautiful woman before the Goddess Athena cursed her into a monster. Goddess Athena could give a help, he thought. Moreover, for the fact that Athena was also a daughter of Zeus ....

Perseus murmured at the top of the hill, "Hello ... sister? Step sister? Little help?"

Then, Athena came to him with the instructions to find a weapon and not to call her a sister. She also gave him a polished shield.

Besides Athena, Perseus got more helps from Hermes, who was, one way or another, also his sibling.

Perseus received a sword, Hades's helmet of darkness to hide as he was just a dark shadow while he was wearing it, a pair of sandals with wings to fly, and a sack to contain Medusa's head safely.

Perseus got ready to accomplish his mission, this time, with a little more confidence that he said gladly, "Thank you, um ... God and Goddess relatives. Medusa's lair, here I come!"

When Perseus approached the cave, which were surrounded by statues that looked like real humans, Medusa was sleeping. So, he cut off the monster's head right by walking backwards and looking at Medusa's reflection on his shield. He put the head into the sack.

All of a sudden, from the neck of Medusa, sprang out a winged white horse and a soldier with golden body and sword. Perseus jerked in surprised, but then he calmed himself and recalled that, when Athena cursed her for inappropriate scene inside her temple, Medusa was pregnant with Poseidon. And there he freed the children from Medusa's body—Pegasus and Chrysaor.

Done with the impossible mission, Perseus heard noises from the other Gorgons, who started to realize something was up in their cave. Perseus escaped by dissolving himself into a dark shadow using Hades' helmet.

On his way back to Serifos, Perseus passed Ethiopia and stopped on a huge offshore reef where a beautiful young lady was fastened to a rock, then he decided to save her. After freed the lady, Perseus asked her name and how come she could be tied up to the rock.

It was revealed that Andromeda, the name of the young lady, was a tribute for a sea monster. Her mother was the queen of Ethiopia, named Cassiopeia, and made Poseidon angry by claiming that she was way more beautiful than the God of Sea's Nymph. Poseidon sent a monster to capture fishermen and threw Ethiopia into terror. For her pride and conceit, Cassiopeia was also called "she whose words excel" as the meaning of her name.

Perseus and Andromeda fell for each other during the story telling. A few minutes later, interupting the story, a huge wave started to form in the middle of the sea and was getting near the reef. Both of Perseus and Andromeda knew that it was the monster, getting ready to take the tribute.

Perseus rose his eyebrows and asked, "So, your mother sacrifices you to redeem her bad deed?"

Andromeda nodded, then Perseus added, "If I beat that monster, would you marry me then?"

And she nodded again. Perseus lift up his sword and won the battle undoubtedly.

After beating the monster and having a little wedding party, still carrying a sack of head, Perseus navigated his winged sandals and flied towards Serifos along with his wife, Andromeda. In fact, his journey didn't stop there.

As he returned to the palace, Perseus saw her mother was about to be married to Polydectes by force.

Perseus was outraged.

He landed on the middle of the hall and stopped the wedding. He claimed to accomplish Polydectes request, and, once again, everyone laughed at him. To prove his heroism and also to save her mother, Perseus shouted, asked everyone who were on his side to close their eyes.

Only Danaë, Dictys, and Andromeda did, including Perseus himself. He pulled Medusa's head out of the sack. Slowly, all noises from laugh and yell stopped as it absorbed by the darkness, dissolved with the noise of something petrified.

All the arrogant people in Serifos became stones.

Finally, Perseus felt like going home, back to Argos to strive for his rights. However, Danaë didn't want to go back to his father territory. Instead, Danaë lived in Serifos with Dictys as her consort after Perseus made him a king to replace his mean brother.

After making sure that his mother was happy, Perseus flied to Argos with Andromeda. The news that an adroit and strong demigod went back to home spread fast in Argos.

The old Akrisios, who was still thinking that he was in peace for the rest of his life, was really shocked and ran away from his palace. During his escape, Akrisios was haunted by the Oracle sang, I told you so.

Eventually, Perseus became the king of Argos and returned the head of Medusa as a votive gift to Athena.

One day, the runaway Akrisios went to the athletic game, which, he didn't know, was participated by Perseus. When it was Perseus's turn to throw the projectile, Akrisios tried to run away. Unfortunately, Perseus's throw veered suddenly and struck Akrisios, killed that old man instantly, unintentionally.

Sure, the last thing Akrisios could think of was the whisper of the Oracle Delphi, I told you so.

For the fact that Perseus took over Argos from his reckless grandfather who abandoned him, it can be said that he had such a happy-ending life story. He had gone through a lot since he was born until he was sent away to a dangerous mission. However, he succeeded. He suffered much, but it made him a hero.

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| E-Jazzy | 1810 words |

TERJEMAHAN

Pada zaman dahulu, hiduplah seorang Pahlawan Yunani dari Argos bernama Perseus. Ia lahir dari seorang ibu yang merupakan manusia fana bernama Danaë dan berayahkan Dewa Zeus.

Perseus adalah Pahlawan Yunani pertama yang mendapatkan misi dari para Dewa Yunani, bahkan sebelum Heracles. Untuk seorang Pahlawan Yunani, Perseus memiliki umur yang panjang dan tidak mati mengenaskan. Namun, tetaplah dirinya melalui perjalanan yang berat.

Di sinilah masalahnya bermula.

Raja Argos sekaligus Ayah dari Danaë yang bernama Akrisios begitu menginginkan seorang putra untuk mewarisi kerajaannya. Akrisios pun menemui Oracle Delphi untuk menerawang masa depan, akankah ia memiliki putra nantinya. Namun, ramalan mengatakan bahwa, alih-alih putra, ia justru akan memiliki seorang cucu laki-laki. Cucu yang suatu hari akan mengambil alih kerajaannya.

Sebagai sentuhan terakhir, sang Oracle memberi tahu bahwa, suatu hari, Akrisios akan terbunuh oleh cucunya itu.

Akrisios yang resah pun pulang dengan pemikiran akan Danaë, putrinya sendiri, melahirkan seorang anak yang akan mengakhiri hidupnya. Maka, Akrisios mengurung putrinya sendiri di penjara bawah tanah agar Danaë tidak menikahi atau melahirkan siapa pun.

Sayangnya, penjara bawah tanah tidak menghentikan Zeus untuk jatuh hati kepada Danaë. Ia datang kepada sang putri dalam wujud siraman cahaya keemasan.

Maka, lahirlah Perseus.

Salah satu penjaga penjara bawah tanah membawakan berita tersebut kepada Akrisios dengan cemas, "Um ... anak perempuanmu ingin Anda menemui cucu Anda. Ayahnya adalah Dewa Zeus."

Arti dari nama Perseus yang merupakan 'pembalas dendam' atau 'penghancur'. Ditambah dengan kemarahan Danaë kepada ayahnya, membuat Akrisios ketakutan. Akrisios seolah dapat mendengar suara sang Oracle di kejauhan, Tuh, 'kan.

Akrisios memutuskan untuk mengemas keduanya dalam peti kayu dan membuang mereka ke laut. Sebagai kebaikan hatinya, Akrisios menambahkan lubang-lubang kecil pada peti kayu agar anak gadis dan cucunya bisa bernapas. Akrisios pikir dirinya akan damai pada akhirnya, menghindari ramalan.

Sementara itu, di dalam peti kayu yang terombang-ambing, Danaë berjuang dengan Bayi Perseus di tengah badai dan kegelapan. Danaë berdoa dengan ketakutan, berharap mereka akan selamat. Zeus mendengar doanya dan meminta Poseidon, Dewa Laut, untuk menolong mereka. Poseidon pun mengirimkan ikan-ikan kecil serta air gerimis melalui lubang di peti kayu.

Selama berhari-hari, Danaë dan Bayi Perseus bertahan hidup dengan memakan ikan dan meneguk air gerimis kiriman Poseidon sampai mereka terdampar di Serifos. Mereka ditemukan oleh Dictys, nelayan lokal, yang juga merupakan saudara dari raja pulau tersebut—Polydectes. Dictys membawa mereka kepada saudaranya dan memohon agar keduanya diizinkan tinggal di istana raja.

Perseus tumbuh menjadi pria muda yang kuat dan begitu menyayangi ibunya. Sayangnya, bukan hanya ia yang demikian. Kecantikan alami Danaë menarik Polydectes hingga sang raja ingin menikahinya, tetapi Perseus tidak menginginkan raja jahat macam itu untuk ibunya. Ia mengawasi ibunya dengan protektif. Tiada yang bisa menyentuh Danaë karena Perseus yang tersohor sebagai anak manusia setengah dewa yang terkuat di kota.

Polydectes sadar bahwa dia takkan punya kesempatan untuk mendekati Danaë selama Perseus ada. Maka, Polydectes menyusun rencana dengan menggelar pesta di mana setiap tamu harus membawa hadiah.

Para tamu kaya yang terhormat membawakah perhiasan, kuda, tunik sutra nan mahal, dan kereta emas; warga setempat membawakan berpeti-peti buah, sayuran, dan produk tani lainnya; sedangkan para nelayan membawakan berton-ton ikan.

Sebagai orang miskin yang tak memiliki apa-apa selain ibu, Perseus tidak membawakan hadiah apa pun. Polydectes pun mengejeknya. Merasa tersinggung, Perseus menantang Polydectes untuk menyebutkan hadiah apa pun yang ia ingin Perseus bawakan.

Polydectes menyeringai. Danaë melirik gugup ke arah putranya, begitu pula Dictys, yang paham betul watak saudaranya. Begitu Polydectes mengumumkan, "Bawakan aku kepala Gorgon Medusa!" seluruh tamu terpingkal-pingkal. Itu mustahil, bahkan hanya untuk mendekati salah satu Gorgon.

Segeralah Perseus menjalani misinya dalam keputus-asaan untuk meraih kembali kehormatan untuk dirinya dan ibunya. Ia berjalan seorang diri dengan penyesalan andai saja dirinya mampu menahan mulutnya sedetik saja, juga pemikiran buruk berseliweran mengenai cara untuk membunuh makhluk berbahaya, yakni Medusa, tanpa terbunuh duluan.

Medusa adalah salah satu dari tiga makhluk mengerikan. Mata wanita itu mampu mengubah orang jadi batu dan rambutnya terbuat dari ular. Perseus pun teringat akan fakta bahwa, sebelum ini, Medusa adalah wanita cantik sebelum Dewi Athena mengutuknya menjadi monster. Barangkali sang Dewi bisa memberi bantuan, pikir Perseus. Dan lagi, lantaran Dewi Athena sendiri adalah anak dari Dewa Zeus, itu artinya ....

Perseus pun memberanikan diri untuk bergumam di atas bukit, "Halo ... saudari? Saudari tiri? Sedikit pertolongan?"

Kemudian, Athena datang kepadanya dengan perintah untuk mencari senjata dan untuk tidak memanggilnya saudari. Sang Dewi pun memberinya perisai logam.

Selain Athena, Perseus mendapat bantuan tambahan dari Dewa Hermes, yang entah bagaimana pula silsilahnya, adalah saudaranya.

Perseus menerima sebuah pedang, helm kegelapan milik Hades untuk membaur dengan bayangan gelap sebagai persembunyian, sepasang sandal bersayap untuk terbang, dan sebuah karung untuk mengarungi kepala Medusa.

Perseus bersiap-siap memenuhi misinya, kali ini, dengan lebih percaya diri sampai ia berkata gembira, "Terima kasih, um ... para kerabat dewata. Sarang Medusa, aku datang!"

Saat Perseus sampai di gua yang dikelilingi oleh patung-patung menyerupai manusia, Medusa tengah terlelap. Maka, ia memotong leher monster itu dengan cara berjalan mundur dan melihat refleksi Medusa di perisainya. Dikarunginya kepala Medusa.

Tiba-tiba, dari leher Medusa, menyembullah kuda putih bersayap dan prajurit bertubuh emas. Perseus tersentak, tetapi kemudian menenangkan dirinya dan mengingat lagi bahwa, saat dikutuk Athena atas tuduhan adegan tak pantas yang dilakukan di kuilnya, Medusa sedang hamil anak Poseidon. Jadi, Perseus baru saja membebaskan anak-anak itu dari tubuh Medusa, yakni Pegasus dan Chrysaor.

Selesai dengan misi sulitnya, Perseus mendengar dua Gorgon lagi yang mendekat karena menyadari ada yang tak beres di gua mereka. Perseus melarikan diri dengan berbaur di kegelapan menggunakan helm Hades.

Dalam perjalanan kembali ke Serifos, Perseus melalui Ethiopia dan berhenti di sebuah karang besar di mana seorang gadis mudah cantik tengah terikat ke batu. Ia putuskan untuk menyelamatkannya. Setelah membebaskan sang gadis, Perseus menanyakan namanya dan bagaimana bisa gadis itu terikat ke batu.

Andromeda, sang gadis yang diselamatkannya, menceritakan bahwa dirinya adalah tumbal untuk monster laut. Ibunya, Ratu Ethiopia yang bernama Cassiopeia, telah membuat Poseidon marah dengan mengakui bahwa sang ratu jauh lebih cantik daripada peri-peri laut. Poseidon mengirim monster laut untuk menangkapi nelayan dan meneror Ethiopia. Karena kesombongan dan kecongkakannya, Cassiopeia dipanggil "yang ucapannya unggul" sebagai arti dari namanya.

Perseus dan Andromeda jatuh cinta kepada satu sama lain selama proses cerita itu. Beberapa menit kemudian, menyela cerita mereka, sebuah gelombang besar terbentuk di tengah lautan dan mendekati karang. Perseus dan Andromeda tahu bahwa monster itu datang untuk mengambil tumbal.

Perseus mengangkat alisnya dan bertanya, "Jadi, ibumu mengorbankanmu untuk menebus tabiat buruknya, 'kan?"

Andromeda mengangguk.

Perseus menambahkan, "Jika kukalahkan monster itu, maukah kau menikah denganku?"

Andromeda mengangguk lagi.

Perseus mengangkat pedangnya dan menang begitu saja.

Setelah mengalahkan monster dan mengadakan pesta pernikahan kecil-kecilan, masih membawa sekarung kepala, Perseus terbang menggunakan sandal bersayapnya ke Serifos dengan istrinya, Andromeda. Namun, perjalanannya tidak berhenti sampai sana.

Sepulangnya ke istana, Perseus melihat ibunya yang akan dinikahi dengan paksa oleh Polydectes.

Perseus begitu murka.

Ia mendarat di tengah-tengah aula pernikahan. Ia mengklaim ketuntasan misinya atas Polydectes, dan, sekali lagi, semua orang menertawainya. Untuk membuktikan kepahlawanannya dan menyelamatkan ibunya, Perseus berteriak dan meminta kepada orang-orang yang berada di pihaknya untuk menutup mata. Hanya Danaë, Dictys, dan Andromeda yang melakukannya, termasuk Perseus sendiri. Ditariknya kepala Medusa keluar dari karung. Perlahan, keriuhan dari tawa dan seruan berhenti seolah disedot oleh kegelapan, lenyap bersama bunyi sesuatu yang membatu.

Semua orang arogan di Serifos menjadi batu.

Akhirnya, Perseus berkeinginan pulang ke Argos untuk menuntuk hak atas tahtanya. Namun, Danaë tidak lagi ingin kembali ke teritorial ayahnya. Danaë pun tinggal di Serifos dengan Dictys sebagai pendamping setelah Perseus mengangkat sang nelayan sebagai raja, menggantikan saudara jahatnya yang membatu.

Setelah memastikan ibunya bahagia, Perseus terbang ke Argos bersama Andromeda. Berita akan kepulangan sang pahlawan tersebar dengan cepat di Argos.

Akrisios tua, yang masih berpikiran bahwa dirinya akan damai seumur hidupnya, benar-benar terkejut, lalu lari dari istana. Dalam pelariannya, Akrisios dihantui oleh sang Oracle yang menyenandung, Tuh, 'kan.

Diangkatlah Perseus menjadi raja. Dikembalikannya kepala Medusa sebagai sesembahan untuk Athena.

Suatu hari, Akrisios yang masih dalam pelarian menghadiri sebuah perlombaan atletik, yang, tanpa diketahuinya, Perseus pun ikut serta di dalamnya. Saat giliran Perseus untuk melemparkan proyektil, Akrisios mencoba lari. Sialnya, cakram yang dilemparkan Perseus menikung dan menghantam Akrisios, membunuh pria tua itu seketika, tanpa sengaja.

Tentu, hal terakhir yang melintas di kepala Akrisios adalah bisikan sang Oracle, Tuh, 'kan.

Dengan Perseus yang mengambil alih Argos dari kakeknya yang sembrono dan pernah membuangnya, bisa dikatakan sang pahlawan memiliki akhir bahagia dalam cerita hidupnya. Ia melalui banyak hal sejak lahir dan dikirim ke dalam misi yang berbahaya. Namun, Perseus berhasil. Ia banyak menderita, tetapi itulah yang membentuknya sebagai pahlawan.

Song source: Songs to Your Eyes - Perseus (Epic Music World II)

Sekarang nama Perseus tenar karena ada "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" karya Rick Riordan. Percy sendiri memang cuma nama panggilan, nama aslinya Perseus, dan diceritakan dia anak Poseidon.

Tapi, originally, dari mitologi Yunaninya, Perseus adalah anak Dewa Zeus.

Percy dinamakan Perseus oleh ibunya dengan harapan hidup anaknya bisa seperti Perseus asli—panjang umur, bahagia, dan tidak kedengaran berita buruk tentang mautnya bagaimana.

Soalnya sebagian besar—mungkin juga semua—pahlawan Yunani diceritakan bernasib buruk, mati sebatang kara, gila, sampai membunuh keluarganya sendiri //lirik Heracles

Sedikit komentar kalian amat berarti untuk saya; dan,
Menekan bintang di bawah ini takkan membuat Anda sekalian kehilangan jari '-')/