Perseus and Andromeda

10/2/05 – 10/8/05

By C. Zaitz

One of my favorite constellation stories is the tale of Andromeda and Perseus. It is the story of the hero Perseus and his dashing rescue of Princess Andromeda. All the characters in this story are found as constellations in the Fall sky.

Cassiopeia was a vain and outspoken queen of Ethopia. One day she boasted that she was more beautiful than the Nereids, the immortal daughters of Poseidon, god of the sea. Poseidon caught wind of this boast and promptly sent a sea monster to harass and destroy the land of Ethiopia. Cassiopeia was distraught. She went to Poseidon to beg his forgiveness, but Poseidon merely offered her a choice- either she would be punished, or her daughter Andromeda.

Cassiopeia chose the latter. Thus Andromeda was dragged to the cliffs by the sea to be chained to a rock and left to the whims of the sea monster. Alas poor Andromeda!

Meanwhile, our hero Perseus had been sent to kill the Medusa, a woman who had snakes for hair and who could turn you to stone with a glance. He was armed with a helmet that made him invisible, a pair of sandals sporting wings borrowed from Hermes, a sharp sword and a shield polished like a mirror. Thus armed, he set off to find the Medusa.

Perseus found her in her dark, dank lair. Using his shield as a mirror to avoid being turned to stone, he called out to her, “MEDUSA! I’m here to kill you!” (I paraphrase.) Medusa came to the edge of the cave and peered into the mist- she saw no one. Perseus repeated his threat. The agitated Medusa took three steps from the mouth of the cave. Perseus was waiting; he snuck up behind her and brought his mighty sword down upon her. Her head went one way, her body the other, and thus was the demise of Medusa. From her blood came the white, winged horse Pegasus. Some say that Pegasus was Medusa’s pure spirit being released from her body.

Perseus put the head of Medusa in his sack and rode Pegasus back to his homeland of Greece. While flying over Ethiopia, he looked down and saw a tiny white figure being tossed by wind and waves. He heard a lonesome cry and saw that it was a beautiful young woman. Immediately he landed on the beach and ran to Andromeda to release her from her chains. But no sooner had begun to ask Andromeda how she came to be in her predicament, than the sea monster rose up from the waves with his jaws gaping open, ready to devour them both. Perseus saw the monster and knew he had to use his head- the Medusa’s head. He pulled it out of his sack, warned Andromeda not to gaze at it, and swung it around to the monster. The sea monster took one look, turned to stone, and sank to the bottom of the sea. Andromeda gratefully agreed to marry Perseus and they flew off on Pegasus back to their happy ending in Greece.

Many years later they were put into the sky as constellations. You can see all the characters in the sky tonight. Come visit the Ensign Planetarium on October 12th at 7pm to find them.

Until next week, my friends, enjoy the view!