Irlandos: New page: '''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. In [[Greek mytholog...

2007-06-25T10:53:01Z

New page: '''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. In [[Greek mytholog...

New page

'''Andromeda''' was a [[Greeks|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.

In [[Greek mythology]], Andromeda was the daughter of [[Cepheus, King of Aethiopia|Cepheus]] and [[Cassiopeia]], king and queen of the Phoenician kingdom Ethiopia. The etymology of the name is "to think of a man", from ανδρος (''andros'') "of a man" combined with μηδομαι (''mēdomai'') "to think, to be mindful of".

[[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 they 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.

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.

==Sources==

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

{{Credit wikipedia}}

[[Category:Greek mythology]]

Andromeda - Revision history

Irlandos: New page: '''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. In [[Greek mytholog...