Andromeda (mythology)

Andromeda ( ancient Greek Ἀνδρομέδα = in memory of a man ) is in Greek mythology, the daughter of the Ethiopian king Cepheus and Cassiopeia.

Myth

To punish her ​​mother's hubris that had the daughter, Andromeda held for more beautiful than the Nereids, Poseidon sent the sea monster Keto as well as a flood. In order to rid the country of this plague, Andromeda was forged on the basis of the prophecy of an oracle to a rock by the sea, to be sacrificed to the monster.

Perseus defeated it, freed Andromeda and took her to wife. At the wedding, but it came to a fight with her uncle Phineus, who had previously asked for her hand and now by force of arms demanded his right. Was not until the struggle for Perseus nearly lost, this took the head of Medusa to help to petrify his enemies. He then flew through its wings shoes with Andromeda by Seriphos. With him, her parents and the Beast ( keto ), she was later transferred as a constellation in the sky. As punishment for their pride but Cassiopeia is upside down in the firmament.

Andromeda gave birth to Perseus many children, so the Perses who became the progenitor of the Persian kings, and Alcaeus, Sthenelus and Electryon. She is the grandmother of Alcmene, Eurystheus and of Amphitryon, and thus an ancestor of Teleboerkönigs Pterelaus and - officially - of Heracles.

Artist's impression

The following works have Andromeda taken to the subject:

  • Piero di Cosimo ( Piero di Lorenzo): Perseus frees Andromeda, oil on wood, 1513
  • Giorgio Vasari: Perseus and Andromeda, 1570
  • Giuseppe_Cesari: Perseus frees Andromeda, 1596
  • Rembrandt van Rijn: Andromeda chained to the rocks (Baroque), commissioned work of Dr. Tulp in January 1632
  • Peter Paul Rubens: Perseus and Andromeda, 1620/21; Andromeda, 1638
  • Domenico Guidi: Andromeda and the Sea Monster (marble sculpture), 17th c.
  • Gustave Doré: Andromeda chained to the rock, 19 JHT.
  • Tamara de Lempicka: Andromeda, 1927/28,

Perseus frees Andromeda Cesari, 1596

Perseus and Andromeda by Rubens

Andromeda, Peter Paul Rubens, 1638

Andromeda and the sea monster by Domenico Guidi

Andromeda chained to the rocks by Gustave Doré

High tide Phineus (son of Belus) Serifos Cetus Andromeda (constellation) Perses (son of Andromeda and Perseus) Alcaeus (mythology) Sthenelus (son of Andromeda and Perseus) Commission (art) Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher
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