Andromeda (mythology)

Andromeda (mythology)

Andromeda is the daughter of an Aethiopian king in Greek mythology who, as divine punishment for her mother's bragging, the Boast of Cassiopeia, was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster aroused by the queen's hubris. She was saved from death by Perseus, her future husband. Her name is the Latinized form of the Greek Ἀνδρομέδα (Androméda) or Ἀνδρομέδη (Andromédē): "ruler of men", from ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός (anēr, andrós) "man", and medon, "ruler".

The subject has been popular in art since classical times; it is one of several Greek myths of a Greek hero's rescue of the intended victim of an archaic sacred marriage, giving rise to the "princess and dragon" motif. From the Renaissance, interest revived in the original story, typically as derived from Ovid's account.