Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia, wife of Cepheus, claimed that she could rival the Nereids in beauty and boasted that she surpassed them all. The Nereids were angered by this claim. Poseidon shared their anger and sent a sea flood and a monster against the land ruled by Cepheus.

Cepheus consulted the Oracle of Ammon. The oracle declared that deliverance would come only if his daughter Andromeda were offered to the monster. His subjects compelled him to obey. They chained Andromeda to a rock, naked except for certain jewels, and left her for the sea creature.

Perseus arrived while Andromeda stood exposed as prey. He saw Cepheus and Cassiopeia watching from the shore and agreed to rescue her on the condition that she become his wife and return with him to Greece. After the agreement had been sworn, Perseus flew towards the monster. He drew his sickle and dived from above. The creature was deceived by his shadow on the sea, and Perseus beheaded it. He had drawn the Gorgon’s head from his wallet so that the monster could not look up. He then laid the head face down on leaves and seaweed, which became coral, and washed the blood from his hands.

Perseus freed Andromeda, and she became his wife. Poseidon later placed Cepheus and Cassiopeia among the stars. Cassiopeia was punished for her treachery by being tied in a market basket that turned upside down at some seasons of the year, making her appear ridiculous. Athene placed Andromeda in a more honourable constellation because she had insisted on marrying Perseus despite her parents’ bad faith. The marks of Andromeda’s chains were still shown on a cliff near Joppa, and the monster’s petrified bones were once displayed in the city before being taken to Rome.