Cepheus
King of Aethiopia who nearly sacrificed his daughter Andromeda to a sea monster
The Legend of Cepheus
Cepheus was the king of Aethiopia and husband of Cassiopeia. When his wife boasted that their daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids, Poseidon sent a great sea monster to ravage the kingdom. An oracle declared that only the sacrifice of Andromeda could appease the beast. Cepheus, in desperation, chained his daughter to a rock by the sea. Perseus arrived just as the monster approached, slew it, and claimed Andromeda as his bride. At the wedding feast, Phineus — a former suitor of Andromeda — led an armed attack, but Perseus turned him and his followers to stone with the head of Medusa. Cepheus and his entire family were placed among the stars after death.
Parents
Belus
Children
Andromeda
Symbols
Fun Fact
His entire family became constellations — Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, and even the monster Cetus
Explore Further
Cepheus
🗡 herotragedy
Ethiopian king who chained his own daughter Andromeda to a rock to appease Poseidon's sea monster.
Peleus
🗡 heroMortal who married a goddess
The king of Phthia who wrestled and won the sea-nymph Thetis, fathering Achilles — the greatest warrior of the Trojan War.
Cassiopeia
🗡 heroNone recorded
Vain queen of Aethiopia whose boast brought a sea monster upon her kingdom
Andromeda
🗡 herorescue
Ethiopian princess chained to a rock as sacrifice to a sea monster, rescued by Perseus, and placed among the stars.
Andromeda
🗡 heroPrincess chained to a rock, saved by Perseus
Andromeda was an Ethiopian princess chained to a sea cliff as sacrifice to a monster — rescued by Perseus, who petrified the beast with Medusa's head.
Cassiopeia
🗡 heroQueen whose vanity endangered her daughter
Cassiopeia was the queen who boasted her beauty exceeded the sea nymphs — provoking Poseidon to demand her daughter Andromeda as sacrifice.
Peleus
🗡 heroheroism
King of Phthia, Argonaut, and father of Achilles who wrestled the shape-shifting sea goddess Thetis to win her as his bride.
Perseus
🗡 heroHero who slew Medusa
The son of Zeus and Danae who beheaded Medusa, rescued Andromeda, and founded the Perseid dynasty of Mycenae.
Icarius
🗡 heroNone recorded
A legendary king of Sparta and father of Penelope who tried to prevent his daughter from leaving with Odysseus after her marriage
Telegonus
🗡 herotragedy
Son of Odysseus and Circe who unknowingly killed his own father, fulfilling a prophecy that death would come to Odysseus from the sea.
Theseus
🗡 heroheroism
Athenian prince who entered the Cretan Labyrinth, killed the Minotaur with Ariadne's help, then abandoned her on Naxos.
Aerope
🗡 heroAdultery, royalty
Queen of Mycenae whose adultery with Thyestes caused the devastating curse upon the House of Atreus