The Mask of the Underworld Daemon—Some Remarks on the Perseus-Gorgon Story

At the VIIth Congress for the History of Religions, held at Amsterdam in 1950, the central question was posed whether a mythical-ritual pattern could be discerned in various ancient and modern civilisations. Reading the Congress Report, one does not get the impression that many final and far-reaching conclusions have been reached. Various conflicting views were brought forward in the section-meetings. But meanwhile the discussion goes on. And it may be not without interest to inquire into some individual cases where a ritual background behind some famous myth can be reconstructed, if not beyond all doubt, at least with a high degree of probability. In the following pages such an attempt is made in the case of the Seriphian Perseus-legend.The present writer believes that there is a clue to the understanding of this story, which has been overlooked hitherto, namely its connexion with hot springs. A certain number of cults, myths, and legends were connected with such springs in the ancient Greek world; that they all show in origin a chthonic aspect is self-evident. But to dwell upon all of them would fall beyond the scope of this article. Let us for the present moment turn our attention to the thermal springs of that tiny piece of rock in the Aegean round which a major part of the Perseus-story centres.