Perseus and Andromeda
Wielding the Gorgon’s head, Perseus saves a beautiful maiden from a ravening sea-monster.
Wielding the Gorgon’s head, Perseus saves a beautiful maiden from a ravening sea-monster.
Polydectes, King of Seriphos, has sent young Perseus to get the head of Medusa the Gorgon, the very sight of which will turn any man to stone. His hope is that the boy will never come back, clearing the way for him to marry Perseus’s mother, Danaë. But Perseus is on his way home even now...
AS Perseus passed by the Libyan coast, he heard a pitiable cry. It came from a lovely young woman, chained by hands and feet to a rock, who told him that she was the Princess Andromeda, and that her mother Cassiopeia had angered Poseidon by comparing the beautiful Nereids, the spirits of the waves, unfavourably with her.
Poseidon had unleashed a torrent of such watery devastation that the local people had gone to an oracle for advice, who had told Andromeda’s father Cepheus, King of Ethiopia, that he must chain her to this rock. Now Cetus, a ravening sea-monster, was on its way to devour her.
In a moment, the monster was upon them. Perseus told Andromeda to look away, and drawing the head of the Gorgon from his bag, turned Cetus instantly to stone. Then he released Andromeda, and with her parents’ blessing took her with him to Seriphos.
He had something he wanted to show Polydectes.
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
What had Cassiopeia done to anger Poseidon?
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Poseidon’s sea-nymphs were beautiful. Cassiopeia said Andromeda was more beautiful. This made Poseidon angry.