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.

Generation

The statue of Perseus appears in all versions of Medusa's domain, with his location dependent on the version and tied to the down stairs location. Two versions of the isle will have the statue occupy the same tile as both Medusa and the down stair; the other two have three (or four) eligible squares for Medusa and the down stair to appear on, and his statue will appear on one of the remaining squares.

The statue of Perseus 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); the raven-filled variant of Medusa's island is likely to have the statue on a different island from Medusa herself, making it the least preferable for those who lack a means of crossing water in particular.

The usual strategies for facing Medusa without reflection apply in any event; even with reflection and a means of blinding, be sure to have them actually readied/equipped, or you may well end up like Perseus.

Origin

The items found in the statue each reflect some of the actual tools the mythological Perseus was gifted for the task of killing Medusa: 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 that would allow him to safely view Medusa; 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 Information on this page may be out of date.

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