e king's father, Perseus, by an unfortunate throw of the discus,
accidentally struck his grandfather, and thereby was the innocent cause of
his death.

After celebrating the funereal rites of Acrisius with due solemnity,
Perseus returned to Argos; but feeling loath to occupy the throne of one
whose death he had caused, he exchanged kingdoms with Megapenthes, king of
Tiryns, and in course of time founded the cities of Mycenae and Midea.

The head of the Medusa he presented to his divine patroness, Pallas-Athene,
who placed it in the centre of her shield.

Many great heroes were descended from Perseus and Andromeda, foremost among
whom was Heracles, whose mother, Alcmene, was their granddaughter.

Heroic honours were paid to Perseus, not only {210} throughout Argos, but
also at Athens and in the island of Seriphus.

ION.

Ion was the son of Creusa (the beauteous daughter of Erechtheus, king of
Athens) and the sun-god Phoebus-Apollo, to whom she was united without the
knowledge of her father.

Fearing the anger of Erechtheus, Creusa placed her new-born babe in a
little wicker basket, and hanging some golden charms round his neck,
invoked for him the protection of the gods, and concealed him in a lonely
cave. Apollo, pitying his deserted child, sent Hermes to convey him to
Delphi, where he deposited his charge on the steps of the temple. Next
morning the Delphic priestess discovered the infant, and was so charmed by
his engaging appearance that she adopted him as her own son. The young
child was carefully tended and reared by his kind foster-mother, and was
brought up in the service of the temple, where he was intrusted with some
of the minor duties of the holy edifice.

And now to return to Creusa. During a war with the Euboeans, in which the
latter were signally defeated, Xuthus, son of AEolus, greatly distinguished
himself on the side of the Athenians, and as a reward for his valuable
services, the hand of Creusa, the king's daughter, was bestowed upon him in
marriage. Their union, however, was not blest with children, and as this
was a source of great grief to both of them, they repaired to Delphi in
order to consult the oracle. The response was, that Xuthus should regard
the first person who met him on leaving the sanctuary as his son. Now it
happened that Ion, the young guardian of the temple, was the first to greet
his view, and when Xuthus beheld the beautiful youth, he gladly welcomed
him as his son, declar