Historiae Romanorum

Cassiopeia

The wife of Cepheus, a king of Ethiopia, and the mother of Andromeda.

Cassiopeia claimed that she was more beautiful than the Nereids.  Poseidon took offense to this boasting of a mortal, and sent a sea monster and a flood to ravage Ethiopia.  From an oracle, Cepheus learned that he could only appease Poseidon by sacrificing his lone daughter Andromeda to the sea monster.  Cepheus prepared his daughter for the sacrifice by chaining her to a rock.  Andromeda was saved by Perseus, who was returning from his quest to kill Medusa.

Source(s):

1. Apollodorus.  Bibliotece.

This page was last updated on July 21, 2004.