Out of jealousy, Perseus' mission was to bring the head of the Gorgo Medusa to Polydektes, admittedly not without ulterior motives, since the client hoped for the death of the rival for Danae. But with divine help, Perseus succeeded in the difficult task that all others before him had failed at. Equipped with the mirrored shield of Athena, the winged shoes of Hermes and a cloak of invisibility from the nymphs, he hurried across the sky to the end of the world. With the mirror and without having to look Medsa directly in the face, he cut off her head with a single blow.
The outside of the lekythos shows the bust of Perseus with his utensils in shorthand, as it were. (AVS)
Former Erhart Kästner Collection, Wolfenbüttel
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