Wednesdays with Words

The Heroes by Charles Kingsley

They asked him, and he answered mildly, pointing to the sea-board with his mighty hand: “I can see the Gorgons lying on an island far away, but this youth can never come near them, unless he has the hat of darkness, which whosoever wears cannot be seen.”

Then cried Perseus. “Where is that hat, that I may find it?”

But the giant smiled. “No living mortal can find that hat, for it lies in the depths of Hades, in the regions of the dead. But my nieces are immortal, and they shall fetch it for you, if you will promise me one thing and keep your faith.”

Then Perseus promised; and the giant said, “When you come back with the head of Medusa, you shall show me the beautiful horror; that I may lose my feeling and my breathing, and become a stone for ever; for it is weary labour for me, to hold the heavens and the earth apart.”

My heart is always filled with sympathy for Atlas when I read this passage.