Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danaë, the daughter of Acrisius, King of Argos. Acrisius was met with an oracle who warned him that he would one day be killed by his daughter's son. In order to keep Danaë childless, Acrisius imprisoned her in a bronze chamber, open to the sky, in the courtyard of his palace. Zeus came to her in the form of a shower of gold, and impregnated her. Soon after, their child was born; Perseus, who would go on to defeat the monster, Medusa. He is the part of male instinct who is a gentleman that does not fear the worst in women, and who, through his high character, can be a hero to women. He is the high character hero in masculinity who must slay narcissism in himself and others, or he cannot be the hero he was meant to be. He is similar to the male main character in today's zombie films.
By analogy, Perseus is also the son of a single mom. King Acrisius cast his daughter and the son of Zeus into the sea in a wooden chest. Danaë's fearful prayer is made while afloat in the darkness. Mother and child washed ashore to be rescued by the fisherman Dictys, who raised the boy to manhood.
When Perseus was grown, a suitor of ill repute came to fall in love with his mother, Danaë. Perseus believed him to be less than honorable, and protected his mother from him. When the suitor threw a fine banquet, requiring a gift, Perseus had none, and had to promise the suitor anything he asked. His request was the head of the only mortal Gorgon, Medusa, whose gaze turned people to stone.
Medusa's had once been a vain woman, in love with her own hair, who was raped by Poseidon in the Temple of Athena. In punishment for the desecration of her temple, Athena had changed Medusa's hair into hideous snakes "that she may alarm her surprised foes with terror". In this way, both punishment for the vanity, and protection against the depravity of others was granted the mortal woman.
Athena instructed Perseus to find a knapsack to safely contain Medusa's head. Zeus gave him an adamantine sword and Hades' hood of darkness in which to hide. Hermes gave Perseus winged sandals to fly, and Athena gave him her polished shield. By viewing Medusa's reflection in his polished shield, he approached without harm, to cut off her head. From her neck sprang Pegasus the winged horse, and Chrysor, the sword of gold.
Perseus went on to the kingdom of Ethiopia, where King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia had a daughter Andromeda, and where a sea serpent, Cetus, was destroying the land. An oracle of Ammon claimed that the monster would not be vanquished unless the king exposed his daughter Andromeda to the monster, and so she was tied to a rock where the monster could attack her. Perseus slew the monster and, setting her free, claimed her in marriage. This is the revenge of the son of a single mom against the strife and hardship she had to endure in raising him. It also shows that the male instinct for heroism, especially when given in service to women has two faces - it cannot exist if it must suffer the narcissism of others (Medusa), otherwise it cannot assist, champion, save and cherish the virtuous (Andromeda) in marriage or in society.