Andromeda (mythology)

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See Andromeda (disambiguation) for other uses of "Andromeda".

Andromeda was a Greek mythological figure who was chained to a rock to be eaten by a sea monster and was saved by Perseus, whom she later married.

Contents 1 Myth 1.1 Meaning of name 1.2 Biography 2 Origin of the Myth 3 Portrayals of the myth 4 Sources

[edit] Myth

[edit] Meaning of name

Andromeda is the Latinized form of the Greek Ανδρομέδη (Andromedē). The etymology of the name is "to think of a man", from ανδρας (andros) "of a man" combined with μηδομαι (mēdomai) "to think, to be mindful of".[1]

[edit] Biography

In Greek mythology, Andromeda was the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, king and queen of the Phoenician kingdom Ethiopia.

Cassiopeia, having boasted herself equal in beauty to the Nereids, drew down the vengeance of Poseidon, who sent an inundation on the land and a sea-monster, which destroyed man and beast. The oracle of Ammon announced that no relief would be found until the king exposed his daughter Andromeda to the monster, so she was fastened to a rock on the shore.

Perseus, returning from having slain the Gorgon, found Andromeda, slew the monster, set her free, and married her in spite of Phineus, to whom she had before been promised. At the wedding a quarrel took place between the rivals, and Phineus was turned to stone by the sight of the Gorgon's head (Ovid, Metamorphoses v. 1).

Andromeda followed her husband to Tiryns in Argos, and became the ancestors of the family of the Perseidae through Perseus' and Andromeda's son, Perses. Perseus and Andromeda had six sons (Perseides): Perses, Alcaeus, Heleus, Mestor, Sthenelus, and Electryon, and one daughter, Gorgophone. Their descendants ruled Mycenae from Electryon down to Eurystheus, after whom Atreus got the kingdom, and include the great hero Heracles. According to this mythology, Perses is the ancestor of the Persians.

After her death she was placed by Athena amongst the constellations in the northern sky, near Perseus and Cassiopeia. Sophocles and Euripides (and in more modern times Corneille) made the story the subject of tragedies. The tale is represented in numerous ancient works of art.

Andromeda is represented in the northern sky by the constellation Andromeda which contains the Andromeda Galaxy.

[edit] Origin of the Myth

Four constellations are associated with the myth, and their relative positions create a scene which may be the origin of a proportion of the myth. Viewing the fainter stars, visible to the naked eye, renders the constellations as

• A large man wearing a crown, upside down with respect to the ecliptic. (The constellation Cepheus)
• A smaller figure, next to the man, sitting on a chair. As it is near the pole star, it can be seen the whole year, although sometimes upside down [2]. The Greeks considered that this was an undignified position (being upside down, and also the normal way up, in a chair), and must be a suitable punishment for some crime. Since the punishment was one of losing dignity, vanity is a suitable crime. (The constellation Cassiopeia)
• A maiden, chained up, facing/turning away from the ecliptic [3]. (The constellation Andromeda)
• A sea monster just under the ecliptic. (The constellation Cetus)

The constellation Pegasus is next to Andromeda, and may also be the origin of the part of the tale concerning Andromeda's rescue. Accessories to the story are;-

• Perseus
• The constellation Pegasus, who was born from Medusa's blood which fell in the sea.
• The constellation Pisces, which may have been treated as two fish caught by Dictys the fisherman who was brother of Polydectes king of Seriphos where Perseus and his mother Danae were stranded.

The genealogies in the myth possibly have their origin either in history, or in propaganda asserting a historic royal claim, such as a connection to Perseus.

[edit] Portrayals of the myth

Sophocles and Euripides (and in more modern times Corneille) made the story the subject of tragedies, and its incidents were represented in numerous ancient works of art.

The 1981 film Clash of the Titans retells the story of Perseus, Andromeda, and Cassiopeia, but makes a few changes (notably Cassiopeia boasts that her daughter is more beautiful than Thetis as opposed to the Nereids as a group). Thetis was a Nereid, but also the future mother of Achilles. She is also depicted as being strong-willed, whereas in the stories she is only really mentioned as being the princess whom Perseus saves from the sea monster. Also, a subplot about Thetis' son Calibos was added to the plot of the film. However, he more closely resembles Caliban from Shakespeare's Tempest than any creature truly found in Greek myth.

At the port city of Jaffa, Israel, an outcropping of rocks near the harbour is reputed by local legend to have been the place from which Andromeda was rescued by Perseus.

In the fantasy novel Herald, author N.F. Houck points out that most works of art depict Andromeda as a white woman even though Andromeda is an Ethiopian princess and, according to the ancient poet Ovid, is supposed to be black. Andromeda is therefore depicted in Herald as a black woman.

[edit] Sources

• Apollodorus, Bibliotheke II, iv, 3-5
• Ovid, Metamorphoses IV, 668-764.
• Edith Hamilton, Mythology, Part Three, 204-207