Perseus
Perseus is the name given to a statue of a knight found on Medusa's Island. He is named for the Greek mythological figure that beheaded and killing Medusa, using his polished shield to view her reflection and avoid meeting her gaze directly.
Description
The statue of Perseus appears in all versions of Medusa's domain, with his location dependent on the version. The statue has a chance of containing the following items, with an independent chance for each:
- A 75% chance of a cursed +0 shield of reflection; in the second version, the chance is instead 25%
- A 25% chance of a +0 pair of levitation boots; in the second version, the chance is instead 75%
- A 50% chance of a blessed +2 scimitar
- A 50% chance of a sack
Casting stone to flesh on his statue will revive him as a named player monster, much like any other statue.
Strategy
Perseus's statue is often broken by those seeking a source of reflection after killing Medusa if they manage to make it to her domain without one. He can also potentially provide a source of levitation, either for later points of the game or to be able to actually cross Medusa's island (e.g. after digging past).
Origin
The items found in the statue each reflect some of the actual tools the mythological Perseus was gifted for his task: Zeus gave him a set of winged sandals and an adamantine harpe (a sword with a sickle or scythe in the blade, hence the scimitar); the polished shield was a gift from Athena; and the Hesperides gave him a knapsack with which to safely contain Medusa's head as well.
This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.
It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.6.4. Information on this page may be out of date.
Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-364}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.
