Polydectes

Polydectes is presented as a king of Seriphos with multiple genealogical attributions in the tradition. Sources summarized in the provided material report variant parentages: he is sometimes named a son of Magnes by a naiad, elsewhere of Peristhenes and Androthoe, and in other accounts of Poseidon and Cerebia. He appears in the narrative after Acrisius casts Danaë and the infant Perseus into the sea; they are rescued and sheltered on Seriphos, where Polydectes' later actions bring him into conflict with Perseus. Dictys, a fisherman who rescues Danaë and Perseus, is Polydectes' brother and later succeeds him as king in the canonical narrative.

The provided sources do not supply a detailed physical description of Polydectes (clothing, facial features, or age). He is attested in narratives as the ruling king of Seriphos and is therefore presented in the role and office of a local monarch; beyond this political identity, no specific, contemporaneous descriptive attributes are recorded in the cited material.

Polydectes possesses the secular and political powers of a local king: he commands the men of Seriphos, convenes nobles, and can demand gifts and levy obligations from his subjects. In the principal account he becomes enamoured of Danaë but, fearing Perseus, contrives to remove the young hero by ordering an expedition for Medusa's head—announcing that Perseus must return with the Gorgon's head when Perseus cannot provide the demanded gift (horses). During Perseus' absence some narrative versions report that Polydectes threatened Danaë, who sought sanctuary in a temple. In the climactic episode of the common tradition, when Perseus reveals Medusa's severed head Polydectes and the assembled nobles are instantly turned to stone by the head's petrifying power. An alternate tradition (noted by Hyginus) depicts Polydectes as protective of Danaë and Perseus, marrying Danaë and later dying; at his funeral games Perseus accidentally kills Acrisius with a discus in that variant.