Cassiopeia- Greek FigureMortal"Queen of Ethiopia"

The Boast Against the Nereids

Cassiopeia ruled Aethiopia alongside King Cepheus. In Eratosthenes' Catasterismi, she declared herself more beautiful than the Nereids, the fifty sea-nymph daughters of Nereus. Apollodorus gives a different version: the boast was about her daughter Andromeda, not herself. Either claim reached the same ears. The Nereids carried the insult to Poseidon.

Poseidon's Punishment

Poseidon sent a flood against Aethiopia and loosed the sea monster Cetus on its coastline. Villages drowned. Ships splintered. Cepheus consulted the oracle of Ammon, and the answer was terrible: only his daughter, chained to a rock at the shore's edge, would appease the god. The people's fury had already turned on their queen, and Cepheus had no room to refuse. Andromeda was bound at the water's edge, left for Cetus.

Perseus and Deliverance

Perseus spotted Andromeda from the air on his return from killing Medusa. He offered her parents a bargain: Andromeda's life for her hand in marriage. They accepted. Perseus killed Cetus and cut Andromeda free. But Cassiopeia, according to Hyginus, then conspired with Phineus, Cepheus's brother, to whom Andromeda had first been promised. Armed men filled the wedding hall. Perseus ended it by lifting Medusa's head. Phineus and his company turned to stone.

Bound to Her Throne

After death, Poseidon set Cassiopeia among the stars. The placement was punishment, not honor. He bound her to her throne and fixed it to the celestial pole. As Aratus describes in the Phaenomena, she revolves through the sky in an endless circle, and for half the year hangs upside down. The Nereids' anger followed her past death.