The Messed-Up Side Of Perseus that "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" Never Elaborated Upon (For Obvious Reasons)

One of the Easter eggs dropped in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is that of Perseus, founder of the kingdom of Mycenae. It was mentioned in the episode "Love Takes a Holiday" that Hephaestus designed a shield for Perseus -- the one needed to help the hero slay Medusa the Gorgon. However, the messed-up origins of Perseus were never given. Sure, one can think of Perseus as a son of Zeus or one can think of the classic movie Clash of the Titans. Unlike Hercules, Hera was just too indifferent towards Perseus in the movie. Perseus' enemy in the movie was Thetis who mothered the movie-only character Calibos. Thetis in Greek mythology is the mother of Achilles. The story of Clash of the Titans has had some revisions since Pegasus was born from Medusa's blood - not having sided with Perseus. Perseus used winged sandals to fly instead and was sent on errand by King Polydectes - a wicked king who still wanted to marry Perseus' mother Danae.

What was interesting was that in the ultra-violent God of War games - we had the return of two old actors. We had Harry Hamlin voice Perseus, a son of Zeus. Later on, we had Kevin Sorbo voice Hercules, who's portrayed to be unusually huge. At that point, it seems Hercules and Hera had already reconciled their differences. In the myths, Hercules did save Hera from being raped by her uncle Porphiryon, who was also a brother of their father Cronos. Yeah, you know how messed up it is as Hades is married to his own niece Persephone, and Persephone was born out of Zeus and Demeter, who were also siblings. Though, it was understandable because there were no other people yet, unlike the later dynasties.

The family tree of Perseus does get messed up, even before the revelation that Hercules (or Heracles in Greek) is also a descendant of the House of Perseus. The amount of inbreeding in Greek mythology is hard to keep count of. Inbreeding was normal for the gods because they belonged to a time when there were no other people yet. In some versions, Uranus was born a son of Gaia and they become husband and wife since there were no other people yet. In other versions, Uranus was Gaia's brother, and the two married since there were no other people yet. Zeus and Hera were also brother and sister, and so were their parents, Cronus and Rhea. 

Alcmene was actually a granddaughter of Perseus and Andromeda. Amphitryon was both first cousin and maternal uncle to Alcmene. Talk about the inbreeding in the House of Perseus because the gods were so inbred! Yeah, Zeus's inbreeding habits passed down to his offspring, and Zeus began more inbreeding. Zeus would further mess things up with mating with his own descendants.

It can also be seen in this family tree proving Hercules' lineage is just F*CKED UP... revealing the generations of INBREEDING involved... 

The lineage of Perseus can go all the way back to Io. Zeus had a lover named Io and there was the hundred-eyed monster known as Argos. Io was a mortal lover of Zeus. Zeus himself disguised Io as a cow. It was through that union that Zeus and Io had a son named Epaphus. From Epaphus and Memphis came Libya. It's revealed that Poseidon impregnated his grandniece since Zeus and Poseidon are brothers, making Poseidon the uncle of Epaphus. If I'm not wrong, Tityas (a son of Zeus and Elara) also had a daughter who had a child with Poseidon. Okay, how F*CKED up is that? One should know that Poseidon even had a child named Antaeus with his own GRANDMOTHER Gaia. It's also said that Hephaestus also has a child with Gaia, his GREAT GRANDMOTHER. Poseidon also impregnated another grandniece of his named Europa -- a granddaughter of Zeus via his bastard son Tityos with Elara. 

We can count several generations later and we realize Perseus is severely inbred from Zeus down to Acrisius. Poseidon is also his ancestor and uncle at the same time. Acrisius would be a descendant of Zeus six generations later. Acrisius would later hear the prophecy that his own grandson would kill him. Yeah, that scene from the movie where Zeus destroyed Acrisius for the deed. That means Zeus already had the habit of recycling his own genes among his mortal descendants! Zeus showed himself as a shower of gold to his GREATX6 GRANDDAUGHTER and impregnated her with Perseus. Since Acrisius was a descendant of Io that makes it a double jeopardy. Acrisius probably had no idea he was a descendant of Zeus. Call it multiple times inbred because Zeus wasn't only Perseus' father but also Perseus' GREATX7 GRANDFATHER!

Perseus marries the Ethiopian princess Andromeda (something often ignored by modern media), and the two have children. Okay, just thinking about Zeus' final scene dialogue in Clash of the Titans can creep anyone out IF they knew what happened generations later. Alcmene was more than just a great-granddaughter of Zeus. Tracing back, Alcmene was already a descendant of Io as well. Alcmene was already the GREATX9 GRANDDAUGHTER OF ZEUS! Imagine that Hercules didn't only have Zeus as a father but also as a GREATX2 GRANDFATHER, but also a GREATX11 GRANDFATHER. How can things get more messed up than that? It freaks me out thinking of Claire Bloom as Hera. Hera was indifferent about Perseus, even mockingly stating that Zeus had so many women, how could he possibly remember Danae? Hera would have an intense hatred for Hercules generations later.

If one looks at the inbreeding of the House of Perseus, it was done to keep the family wealth intact. However, this would be a terrible genetic choice. Amphitryon's uncle Electryon was also his brother-in-law. Alcmene's parents, Electryon and Anaxo (depending on the source), are both uncle and niece. That makes Amphitryon both the first cousin (on the side of Electryon) and the maternal uncle (on the side of his sister Anaxo) to Alcmene. In some sources, Alcmene wasn't a granddaughter of Perseus. However, Alcmene's relationship to Perseus is the more recognized version. One can't think of Alcmene's inbreeding coefficient because of how Zeus wasn't only her great-grandfather but also her GREATX9 grandfather, as Danae was Zeus' GREATX6 granddaughter via Acrisius. Alcmene, being born of uncle and niece is already terrible enough. 

That means Hercules' lineage would get more bizarre all the more. Hercules' name in itself is a contradiction. The name Hercules is the Romanized version of Heracles or "Hera's Glory". In short, Hercules' suffering would be because Hera couldn't stand a mortal son of Zeus bears such a name. Hercules was the prophesied descendant of Io -- the very mortal lover Zeus took. Io was changed into a heifer whom Hera demanded as a sacrifice. Prometheus managed to reveal to Io that not only will she become human again. It's also that Io's greatest descendant would be Hercules -- the one who would free Prometheus from the chains! 

If one reviews the family tree, then think of the complexities. Poseidon isnt' just Hercules' paternal uncle (because Zeus and Poseidon are brothers) but also his GREATX6 grandfather. The family tree gets convoluted because both Epaphus and Perseus aren't just his half-brothers but also his GREATX8 grandfather and GREAT-GRANDFATHER (or also his GREATx2 grandfather because Alcmene's mother Anaxo is NIECE to Electryon). That would mean Agenor wouldn't just be Hercules' paternal cousin (fathered by Poseidon ) but also his GREATX6 grandfather. To cover the complex relations of a Tangled Family Tree would require several pages! 

Trying to connect the Argive Genelaogy into Hercules: The Legendary Journeys may also be tiresome. Maybe, that's why the House of Perseus isn't all too established. It would be freaky to think of one's own incestuous lineage. Hercules father Zeus was also his ancestor of many generations ago. Why did Zeus end up having sex with his descendants such as DANAE and ALCMENE -- both descendants of his? Europa the one whom he abducted as a white bull was also his GREATx3 granddaughter. It's not explained but I'd say that Zeus with so many women -- he couldn't possibly even remember their lineage. Just think that centuries of infidelity backfired on Zeus' face -- when Zeus ended up mating with his own descendants!