Dictys’ bait shop is abuzz with excitement as the impending visit of the King looms closer, but Perseus could care less, a fact that distresses his mother, the exiled princess Danae, greatly. With the help of Dictys’ wife, the old panto Dame, Danae tries to encourage her son to make more of his life and become a real Greek prince, but their efforts are in vain and Perseus seeks shelter with his friends Evander and Linus, two shop boys who he’s grown up with as brothers, working for Dictys.
Everything changes, however, when the King arrives, accompanied by his servant Nestor and his daughter Andromeda. In one instant, the King falls in love with Danae, but afraid that Perseus might try to usurp him, plots with Nestor for a way to kill the boy. Meanwhile, poor Perseus meets Andromeda and the two of them instantly fall in love. When a banquet is called and the King announces he plans to marry, Perseus, trying to impress Andromeda, is tricked into going on a quest to bring the King back the head of a Gorgon, immortal monsters with snakes for hair that turn men into stone with a look.
Setting off with Dictys’ horse and supplies, Perseus, Evander, and Linus, joined in secret by the Dame, seek out the Gorgons. Andromeda prays to the gods and Hermes, the messenger god, agrees to help Perseus out. He directs the clueless coterie in the direction of the Gray Women, who know the location of a magical sword that can slay a Gorgon. Meanwhile, back in the bait shop, a distracted King pays Nestor no heed when he warns of a monster attacking the shore that demands a virgin sacrifice. With nowhere else to look, Nestor takes Andromeda to be that sacrifice.
Perseus and his friends manage to trick the Gray Women into helping them by stealing the one eye the three of them share. They tell him to go find the sword with the wood nymphs up north. On the way to find them, however, the group encounter Andromeda, chained to a rock. After rescuing her, and barely managing to escape a particularly angry sea monster with a head cold, they arrive in the lair of the beautiful wood nymphs. The bored immortals agree to give up the sword, but only if the crew can manage to make them laugh. They succeed with the follies of the Dame and leave to go slay the Gorgons. Back home, the King continually tries to woo Danae.
In the lair of the Gorgons, Perseus attempts to sneak up on the one called Medusa, but the Dame makes too much noise and wakes up the monsters. Evander and Linus are captured by two of the Gorgons who want them for boyfriends. Andromeda, Perseus, and the Dame, meanwhile, are chased by Medusa. It is only when the Dame appeals to Medusa’s feminine side, explaining that Perseus and Andromeda are in love and can only be together if Perseus succeeds, that Medusa agrees to return to the King with a bag over her head. After all, he asked for a Gorgon’s head, but never said it had to be detached from the Gorgon’s body.
Hermes manages to rescue Evander and Linus with the help of the audience and everyone returns back to the bait shop. Unwilling to believe that Perseus has brought back a Gorgon, the King pulls the bag off of Medusa’s head and is turned to stone. The group are unsure what to do, since Perseus will be accused of killing the king, but poor Nestor arrives and confesses all of the King’s crimes, clearing Perseus by way of self defense. Andromeda is left as sole heir to the kingdom and chooses to marry Perseus.
J.S. Puller's Writing Portfolio 