side the horrible features of Medusa.
Atlas, great as he is, becomes a mountain. Now his beard and his hair
are changed into woods; his shoulders and his hands become mountain
ridges, and what was formerly his head, is the summit on the top of the
mountain. His bones become stones; then, enlarged on every side, he
grows to an immense height (so you willed it, ye Gods), and the whole
heaven, with so many stars, rests upon him.

[Footnote 74: _Son of Abas._--Ver. 608. Acrisius was the son of
Abas, king of Argos. He was the father of Danae, by whom Jupiter
was the father of Perseus.]

[Footnote 75: _Of the same race._--Ver. 607. Some suppose that by
this it is meant that as Belus, the father of Abas, and
grandfather of Acrisius, was the son of Jupiter, who was also the
father of Bacchus, the latter and Acrisius were consequently
related.]

[Footnote 76: _A huge dragon._--Ver. 647. The name of the dragon
was Ladon.]

EXPLANATION.

The story of the seduction of Danae, the mother of Perseus, by
Jupiter, in the form of a shower of gold, has been thus explained by
some of the ancient writers. Acrisius, hearing of a prediction that
Danae, his daughter, should bring forth a child that would kill him,
caused her to be shut in a tower with brazen gates, or, according to
some, in a subterraneous chamber, covered with plates of that metal;
which place, according to Pausanias, remained till the time of
Perilaus, the king of Argos, by whom it was destroyed. The precautions
of Acrisius were, however, made unavailing by his brother Proetus; who,
falling in love with his niece, corrupted the guards with gold, and
gained admission into the tower. Danae, being delivered of Perseus,
her father caused them to be exposed in a boat to the mercy of the
waves. Being cast on shore near Seriphus, the king, Polydectes, gave
them a hospitable reception, and took care of the education of
Perseus.

Diodorus Siculus says that the Gorgons were female warriors, who
inhabited the neighborhood of Lake Tritonis, in Libya. Pausanias
explains the story of Medusa, by saying that she ruled the people in
that neighborhood, and laid waste the lands of the nations in her
vicinity. Perseus, having fled, with some companions, from
Peloponnesus, surprised her by night, and killed her, together with
her escort. The next morning, the beauty of her face appeared so
remarkable