![]() ![]() Though Cassiopeia’s claims of beauty may have been hubris in the myth, the constellation that bears her name has plenty to admire. While other renditions do exist, such as a woman holding a mirror in reflection of Cassiopeia's vanity, or holding a palm branch, an ancient symbol of peace or victory-they are ancillary to the primary tale.īy Till Credner - Own work: Beauty in Scientific Discovery For this reason, he cast her into the sky, where she would sit for eternity, chained to a throne to mimic Andromeda's cruel torture by the sea.īecause of this myth, the constellation Cassiopeia is often depicted as a woman sitting on a throne. While Perseus might have inadvertently saved the kingdom of Aethiopia, Poseidon still desired revenge against Cassiopeia-not only for her slight against the Nereids but also for her cruel actions towards Andromeda. This is, however, where the myth of Perseus intersects-as he would then slay the monster Cetus, and take Andromeda as his own wife. By chaining her daughter to a rock by the sea, and leaving her for dead, Cassiopeia believed she had saved herself from Poseidon’s wrath. And, by the council of a wise oracle, Cassiopeia thought she could save herself and her kingdom by sacrificing Andromeda to the sea-monster Cetus. The boast enraged the sea-god Poseidon, who sought to punish the kingdom of Aethiopia for Cassiopeia’s transgression. ![]() Its namesake was derived from the myth of Cassiopeia, who was said to have been a queen of ancient Aethiopia (a place roughly aligning with the modern region of Ethiopia), an ancient Greek territory.Īs the story goes, Cassiopeia was said to have been a vain and arrogant queen-going so far as to claim that the beauty of herself and her daughter, Andromeda, was far greater than that of the Nereids, a group of sea-nymphs. Cassiopeia MythologyĬassiopeia is another example of the original forty-eight constellations listed out by the Greek-Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the eighty-eight recognized constellations today. ![]() However, despite this, Cassiopeia is still home to unrivaled beauty and wonder-perhaps not in the figure it represents, but in the contents of its space. Said to be in the shape of a ‘beautiful queen’, one might be hard-pressed to make out that likeness. ![]() Constellations are the stars an astronomer chose to connect, and Cassiopeia is no exception to this rule. While it is said to be in the likeness of a ‘bear’, someone viewing it without that specified prior knowledge may be more inclined to view it as a ‘dog’ or ‘horse’ or some other four-legged animal-or not an animal at all. Through their long histories, we assume constellations reside in the night sky as inarguable depictions of their collected stars-but sometimes constellations aren’t all that reflective of the images we ascribe to them. While Cassiopeia may not be among the most widely-known constellations, it might be one of the few that truly lives up to its namesake. ![]()
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