Mythology

The night sky is filled with myths of heroes, monsters, gods and mortals. Many constellations represent tales of reward, punishment, bravery and tragedy. One of the most famous is the story of Andromeda, her parents Cassiopeia and Cepheus, the sea monster Cetus, the gorgon Medusa , the winged horse Pegasus , and the hero Perseus.

Cassiopeia, queen of Ethiopia, boasted that her daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids — sea‑nymph daughters of Neptune, the granddaughters of Oceanus and Tethys.
Insulted, the Nereids complained to their father, who sent the sea monster Cetus to ravage the kingdom.

Poor king Cepheus consulted the oracle of Ammon and discovered that the only way to save his kingdom was to feed his daughter to the monster. Faced with such a tough choice, he chained her to a rock to await her fate.

Meanwhile, Perseus was passing overhead on the winged horse Pegasus, homewards bound having just lopped off the head of the Gorgon Medusa. Spying the beauty below him, he landed and struck a deal with king Cepheus — Andromeda's hand in marriage for the destruction of Cetus.King Cepheus agreed, so Perseus took off, flew over Cetus and whipped out Medusa's head.

Cetus was instantly turned to stone. Perseus landed to claim his bride, but had to deal with a little trouble in the form of Andromeda's uncle Agenor - to whom she was betrothed. Perseus, being a decent sort of chap, turned Agenor's army to stone. He and Andromeda then took off into the sunset where they married and had several sons.

The gods placed all of them in the sky: Cassiopeia in the undignified pose of on her back, feet upwards Cepheus beside her, Andromeda chained, Perseus holding Medusa’s head- her twinkling eye is supposed to be the star Algol. Pegasus is flying nearby.