The great Greek philosopher Plato once said, “A hero is born among a hundred”. After reading this essay and discovering who the greatest hero, Perseus is, the reader will surely agree that “A hero is born among a hundred thousand” is a more fitting quote. The heroic traits Perseus possesses, such as courage, compassion, and intelligence, will prove that Perseus is the best example of a true hero. The first reason as to why Perseus is the best example of a true hero, is because he is very brave. One example of Perseus’s bravery is when he beheads the evil gorgon Medusa: “Then he struck. The magic sword bit into the vile neck, and through, and Perseus reached into the bed of snakes to grip the head” (Crieghton 92). Medusa is a Gorgon, with snakes for hair and eyes that can turn any creature into stone. In the story, as Perseus enters Medusa's lair, he sees that the island is littered with "strangely shaped rocks", and "realized that these were the Gorgons' …show more content…
As Perseus is travelling home, he sees the Titan Atlas and turns him into stone: "On his way back to Seriphus he had many adventures, one was that when he saw the Atlas holding up the sky Perseus was sorry for Atlas and turned him to stone by showing him the head of Medusa so he could no longer feel the weight of his burden (greekmythology.com). Atlas received the punishment of holding up the entire sky from the chief god Zeus, and has been suffering for many, many years. None, until Perseus, have the capability to free Atlas, and none want to. Nobody feels enough compassion to oppose the chief god, Zeus, by ruining his plans, except for Perseus. His empathy was too great, and when he saw the Titan Atlas suffering, he felt sorry for him and ended his suffering by turning him into stone. Perseus also proves that he possesses the trait of compassion when he frees Princess Andromeda from her chains: