in the wrong, let Perseus and his mother pass.

Perseus took his mother to the temple of Athene, and there the
priestess made her one of the temple-sweepers; for there they knew
she would be safe, and not even Polydectes would dare to drag her
away from the altar. And there Perseus, and the good Dictys, and
his wife, came to visit her every day; while Polydectes, not being
able to get what he wanted by force, cast about in his wicked heart
how he might get it by cunning.

Now he was sure that he could never get back Danae as long as
Perseus was in the island; so he made a plot to rid himself of him.
And first he pretended to have forgiven Perseus, and to have
forgotten Danae; so that, for a while, all went as smoothly as
ever.

Next he proclaimed a great feast, and invited to it all the chiefs,
and landowners, and the young men of the island, and among them
Perseus, that they might all do him homage as their king, and eat
of his banquet in his hall.

On the appointed day they all came; and as the custom was then,
each guest brought his present with him to the king: one a horse,
another a shawl, or a ring, or a sword; and those who had nothing
better brought a basket of grapes, or of game; but Perseus brought
nothing, for he had nothing to bring, being but a poor sailor-lad.

He was ashamed, however, to go into the king's presence without his
gift; and he was too proud to ask Dictys to lend him one. So he
stood at the door sorrowfully, watching the rich men go in; and his