Perseus and Atlas
Everything is rushing on Perseus from Gorgon Island. Like a cloud driven by a stormy wind, it rushes across the sky. Finally he reached the country where the son of titan reigned Iapetus, brother Prometheus, giant Atlas. Thousands of herds of fine-fleeced sheep, cows and steeple-horned bulls grazed in the fields of Atlas. Magnificent gardens grew in his domain, and among the gardens there was a tree with golden branches and foliage, and the apples that grew on this tree were also golden. Atlas kept this tree as the apple of his eye, it was his greatest treasure. The goddess Themispredicted to him that the day would come when the son of Zeus would come to him and steal golden apples from him. Atlas was afraid of this. He surrounded the garden in which the golden tree grew with a high wall, and at the entrance he placed a dragon throwing down flames as a guardian. Atlas did not allow foreigners into his domain - he was afraid that the son of Zeus would appear among them. It was to him that Perseus flew in his winged sandals and addressed Atlas with such friendly words:
- Oh, Atlas, accept me as a guest in your house. I am the son of Zeus, Perseus, who killed the gorgon Medusa. Let me rest with you from my great feat.
When Atlas heard that Perseus was the son of Zeus, he immediately remembered the prediction of the goddess Themis and therefore rudely answered Perseus:
- Get out of here! Your lies about the great feat and that you are the son of the thunderer will not help you.
Atlas wants to kick the hero out of the door already. Perseus, seeing that he cannot fight the mighty giant, hurries out of the house himself. Anger rages in Perseus' heart; Atlas angered him by refusing him hospitality and calling him a liar.
In anger Perseus says to the giant:
- Well, Atlas, you're driving me away! Well, at least accept a gift from me!
With these words, Perseus quickly took out the head of Medusa and, turning away, showed it to Atlas. Immediately the giant turned to the mountain. His beard and hair turned into leafy forests, his arms and shoulders turned into high rocks, his head turned into a mountain peak that went into the sky itself. Since then, Mount Atlas supports the entire firmament, with all its constellations.Perseus, when the morning star ascended into the sky, rushed on.