Source Verification: Polydectes
Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.
What the Sources Attest
Why did Polydectes want Medusa's head?
He did not really want the head. He wanted Perseus gone. Apollodorus says Polydectes loved Danaë but could not reach her while her grown son stood in the way. He gathered his friends on the pretext of collecting a wedding gift for Hippodamia and asked each for horses. Perseus had boasted he would bring even the Gorgon's head. With no horse to offer, he was held to that boast. The king expected the errand to kill him.
Source: Apollodorus, Library 2.4.2
What did Polydectes do to Danae?
The sources disagree sharply. Apollodorus says Polydectes could not get access to Danaë at first, and later used violence. Perseus came home to find her and Dictys sheltering at the altars from him. Pindar's Pythian 12 goes further, speaking of her long slavery and a forced marriage bed. Strabo says the king meant to marry her against her will. Hyginus's fable 63 reverses all of this: Polydectes marries Danaë and raises Perseus himself.
Source: Pindar, Pythian Ode 12.10-16
What did Perseus do to Polydectes?
He turned him to stone with Medusa's head. Apollodorus says Perseus entered the palace while Polydectes sat among his friends. Looking away himself, he held up the head, and every man who saw it was frozen in his pose. Ovid adds that the king had just called Medusa's death a fraud, so the head served as proof. Afterward Perseus made Dictys king of Seriphos.
Source: Apollodorus, Library 2.4.3
Who killed Polydectes?
In most ancient accounts Perseus did, using the severed head of Medusa. Apollodorus, Pindar's Pythian 12 and Ovid's Metamorphoses all end the king's life that way. Strabo widens the punishment to all the Seriphians who had helped him. One Latin handbook breaks ranks. Hyginus's fable 63 has Polydectes die with no killer named, and his funeral games become the place where Perseus accidentally kills Acrisius.
Source: Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.177-249
Was Polydectes the brother of Dictys?
Apollodorus says so twice. He names both as sons of Magnes and a Naiad nymph who settled Seriphos, and he calls Polydectes the brother of Dictys when the king enters Perseus's story. The two brothers end on opposite sides. Dictys raises Perseus and shelters Danaë, and Perseus makes him king once Polydectes is stone. Hyginus's fable 63 calls Dictys only a fisherman and says nothing of any kinship with the king.
Source: Apollodorus, Library 1.9.6
Where Accounts Differ
- how Polydectes treated Danaë
- how Polydectes died
- who was turned to stone on Seriphos
- whether Dictys was his brother
- How Polydectes treated Danaë differs by source. Apollodorus says he could not reach her while Perseus was grown and later drove her to the altars with violence. Pindar's Pythian 12 speaks of her long slavery and forced bed, and Strabo of a marriage against her will. Hyginus's fable 63 has Polydectes marry her and raise Perseus kindly.
- How Polydectes died is not settled. Apollodorus, Pindar and Ovid have Perseus turn him to stone with Medusa's head. Hyginus's fable 63 has him die with no cause given, his funeral games becoming the scene of Acrisius's death, while fable 64 in the same collection has him petrified after plotting against Perseus.
- Who else was turned to stone varies. Apollodorus petrifies Polydectes and the friends gathered in his palace. Ovid's scene centers on the king alone. Pindar's Pythian 10 and 12 and Strabo's Geography extend the stony death to the islanders of Seriphos, and Strabo says they had helped the king against Danaë.
- The family link rests on Apollodorus, who makes Polydectes and Dictys brothers, sons of Magnes and a Naiad. Hyginus's fable 63 names Dictys only as a fisherman and gives no kinship to the king.
Sources
- Apollodorus, Library 1.9.6
- Apollodorus, Library 2.4.1
- Apollodorus, Library 2.4.2
- Apollodorus, Library 2.4.3
- Pindar, Pythian Ode 12.10-16
- Pindar, Pythian Ode 10.45-48
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.177-249
- Strabo, Geography 10.5.10
- Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.22.7
- Hyginus, Fabulae 63
- Hyginus, Fabulae 64
- Timothy Gantz, Early Greek Myth (1993)