Andromeda was the daughter of a king, but she was not spoiled at all. Andromeda was as kind as she was beautiful. She was even more beautiful than her mother, the lovely Cassiopeia. Andromeda lived in a city by the sea. She was very happy. Everything was going along swimmingly until one day Andromeda's mother went too far with her boasting
Her
mother boasted about Andromeda all the time. Her mother insisted she was the
most beautiful child ever born, except for Aphrodite, of course. One day, she
boasted that Andromeda was more beautiful than any of the gods' daughters
(except for Aphrodite, of course.)
The
trouble started when someone told the Nereids what she had boasted. The Nereids
were the daughters of the sea god, Poseidon. Poseidon told his daughters all
the time that they were more beautiful than seashells. Who could possibly be
more beautiful than seashells? (Except perhaps for Aphrodite.) They whined to
their father about it, and whined and whined until Poseidon, in a fit of rage,
flooded the city by the sea, and sent a huge sea serpent to devour the entire
population, thinking that would certainly shut his daughters up.
The
people were terrified. The flood had caused great discomfort. Even after the
flood waters receded, the monster kept nipping at people. You never knew when
he was going to pop up. He had not eaten anyone yet, but he kept trying. The
people were very unhappy.
The king
asked a local oracle what he could do to put a stop to things. The oracle told
him he had to sacrifice his beloved daughter, Andromeda, if he wanted to save
his city. It saddened him greatly, but the king ordered his daughter to be
chained to a tree on a cliff that overlooked the sea.
That day,
the hero Perseus was out adventuring. He sailed past just as the king's
servants were chaining the terrified Andromeda to a tree at the edge of a
cliff. Perseus fell in love immediately. As soon as the servants left, Perseus
rescued Andromeda, using his magic sickle to cut the chains.
Just then,
the giant sea serpent reared its ugly head and reached for Andromeda. Andromeda
screamed. Perseus, who was still holding his magic sickle, chopped off the
serpent's head.
Naturally,
after that, Andromeda loved Perseus as much as he loved her. Perseus wanted her
to sail away with him immediately. But Andromeda was insistent that he first
ask her father's permission to marry him. She would not feel right about
marrying anyone without it.
Perseus
offered the king a deal. If the king would let him marry his daughter, Perseus
promised to chop off the sea monster's head. The king thought it a very good
joke when he heard that Perseus had already killed the monster. When he heard
that Perseus' mother was a princess in the famous and rich city-state of Argos,
he was even more pleased. When he heard that Perseus' was half god, and his
father was the mighty Zeus, the king of all the gods, the king gladly agreed to
the wedding.
After the
wedding festivities, Perseus sailed away with Andromeda. They headed for his home
in the city-state of Argos, where they lived happily ever after.
Since
Andromeda had left town, and her mother was no longer allowed to boast about
her daughter's beauty by order of the king, Poseidon did not send another sea
serpent to devour the people, feeling they had learned their lesson. His
daughters wanted him to at least go after Andromeda, but Poseidon stood firm.
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