Historica Wiki
Advertisement
Andromeda

Andromeda was, in Greek mythology, a 14th-century BC Ethiopian princess and the wife of Perseus.

Biography[]

Andromeda was the daughter of King Cepheus and Cassiopeia of Aethiopia. In 1342 BC, her mother foolishly boasted that Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids, angering Poseidon and causing the god to send the sea monster Cetus to terrorize Ethiopia. Cepheus and Cassiopeia were told by the Oracle of Siwa that peace could be restored only through the sacrifice of Andromeda. Andromeda was thus chained to a rock by the sea to await her death, but the hero Perseus fell in love with Andromeda and used the severed head of Medusa to turn Cetus to stone.

He then decided to claim Andromeda as his wife, using Medusa's stone to petrify her uncle Phineus when Phineus attempted to claim Andromeda for himself, as promiser earlier. Andromeda followed Perseus to Seriphos and then to Argolis, where Perseus became King of Tiryns, and Andromeda gave birth to his sons Perses, Alcaeus, Heleus, Mestor, Sthenelus, Electryon, and Cynurus and his daughters Autochthe and Gorgophone from 1342 to 1320 BC.

Their descendants went on to rule Mycenae, and, on Andromeda's death, Athena turned Andromeda into a constellation in the northern sky.

Advertisement