Perseus in Myth
Perseus
Part Three – Savior of Andromeda
Andromeda
was the daughter of Cepheus, Ethiopian King
and Queen Cassiopeia.
Cassiopeia had
the bad sense to boast she and her daughter were more beautiful than the Nereids (sea nymphs). They complained to their
protector Poseidon, who sent
a flood followed by Cetus, a sea monster, to destroy their city.
Cepheus
consults an oracle and learns he must sacrifice his daughter.
Perseus
flies by and views the beautiful Andromeda chained naked to a rock. He makes a deal with her parents to save her from the beast
– her hand in marriage.
Perseus
slays Cetus and prepares to get married. Cepheus & Cassiopeia renege on the arrangement and try to have Perseus killed.
Perseus wins the ensuing battle using
an ancient weapon of mass destruction, Medusa’s head.
Accounts differ about who placed their
constellations in the sky. Some indicate Poseidon placed the dishonored Cassiopeia and Cepheus in the heavens
as a punishment for their
conniving ways with both circling the pole star while vain Cassiopeia combs her hair for eternity. He also placed
Cetus, the sea monster in the
heavens as a reward for the creature’s service to him. Other accounts indicate
Athena placed all of them in the
sky as constellations to serve as lessons, good and bad, for earthbound mortals in their common tale.