![]() It is said to depict the eye of the severed head of Medusa in the constellation of Perseus (opens in new tab)- although gazing up at this particular star won’t turn you to stone. When the stars were later given names by al-Sufi, the variable star Beta Persei (opens in new tab) was named Algol, meaning the Demon’s Head. The goddess Athena placed the image of Andromeda among the stars as. All of these characters have been placed into the stars, with the majority of them grouped together in a section of sky in the Northern Hemisphere, while Cetus lurks further south. ![]() Falling in love at first sight with the beautiful damsel in distress below, Perseus saved her from her doom using the severed head of Medusa as a weapon, and took Andromeda as his bride. As luck would have it, the great hero Perseus was flying back over Ethiopia on his winged horse, Pegasus, after slaying the Gorgon Medusa. ![]() They chained the beautiful maiden to a rock to await her fate - hence why the constellation of Andromeda is often called "the Chained Maiden" in modern times. As a result of Cassiopeias boast that she was as beautiful as the Nereids ( sea nymphs ), Poseidon (sea god) sent a great sea monster to ravage the coastline. Wanting to appease the gods and end Poseidon’s wrath, the king and queen were told that they must sacrifice their daughter to the sea monster. Andromeda had the misfortune to be the daughter of the vain Cassiopeia, wife of King Cepheus of Ethiopia. To punish the queen for her arrogance, Poseidon sent floods and a sea monster, Cetus (opens in new tab)- though this constellation is often called the Whale in astronomy-to terrorize the coast of Ethiopia. This vanity angered the Nereids, who complained to the sea god Poseidon about the vain queen’s words. We have created this audio story exclusively for Mother’s Day 2021. Cassiopeia was incredibly vain, and boasted of her daughter’s beauty, telling people she was lovelier than even the Nereids, sea nymphs whose beauty was renowned. They had a beautiful daughter, Andromeda (opens in new tab). In Greek mythology, Cepheus (opens in new tab) and Cassiopeia (opens in new tab) were the king and queen of ancient Ethiopia - now they are the King and Queen in our stars. The Cassiopeia constellation has the shape of an M or W, depending on how its position in the sky.
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