Etymology – “Ruler of Men”

Pronunciation: {an-drahm’-uh-duh}

As found in Greek legends, the story of Andromeda begins with King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia, the rulers of ancient Aethiopia. Cassiopeia in her arrogance boasted how her daughter, Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids. This kind of attitude of extreme arrogance and pride, especially when a person claims to be better than the gods, creates what’s known as hubris.

Offended by Cassiopeia’s remarks, the Nereids approached Poseidon and complained, asking him to punish this mortal woman. Poseidon agreed and he sent a flood as well as the sea monster Cetus to destroy the coastline of Aethiopia.

After consulting with the oracle of Ammon, Cepheus was told that he would be able to end the destruction of his country by giving up his daughter Andromeda in sacrifice to Cetus. At the urging of his people, Cepheus had Andromeda chained to a rock by the sea to await her fate.

Luckily for innocent Andromeda, the hero Perseus was flying overhead on his way home from his recent quest to slay the gorgon Medusa, when he spotted her. When Perseus learned of the situation, he waited at the rock with Andromeda until Cetus arrived to claim her. With the aid of Hades’ helmet of invisibility, Perseus stayed hidden and used Medusa’s Head to slay the sea monster when it came in close, turning it to stone.

The monster slain, Perseus then claimed his right to marry Andromeda. Given how he had rescued her, both Cepheus and Cassiopeia readily agreed to this as not only was their daughter saved but so was their kingdom.

The story doesn’t completely end there as it seems Andromeda had also been promised to her uncle Phineus to marry. This wouldn’t have been disputed or contested if Phineus had actually been the one to save Andromeda and slay Cetus himself. So Phineus picked a fight with Perseus about his right to marry Andromeda at the wedding.

After slaying a Gorgon and a Sea Monster, a mere mortal man is no challenge for Perseus who once again pulls out Medusa’s head and turns Phineus to stone. With that final problem solved, Andromeda accompanies Perseus back to his home Tiryns in Argos where they eventually founded the Perseid dynasty.

Some accounts give that Perseus and Andromeda had seven sons and two daughters. Others place this count a little differently saying it’s seven children altogether, six sons and one daughter. Most accounts agree that the eldest son, Perses founded his own kingdom and becomes the ancestor of the kings of Persia.

Years later, when Andromeda dies, the goddess Athena places her in the heavens to become a constellation next to Perseus. Other constellations of Cassiopeia, Cepheus, and Cetus also immortalize and commemorate this story.

Aethiopia or Ethiopia?

The accounts can vary and much of this owes to some lack of clarity among ancient Greek Scholars and Historians. Homer is the first to have used the term Aethiopia in his Iliad and Odyssey. Greek historian Herodotus uses the name Aethiopia to describe all of the inhabited lands south of Egypt. The name also features in Greek mythology, where it is sometimes associated with a kingdom said to be seated at Joppa, (what would be modern-day Tel-Aviv) or it is placed elsewhere in Asia Minor such as Lybia, Lydia, the Zagros Mountains, and even India.

Modern-day Ethiopia is located on the horn of Africa and has some tentative ties to the legend of Andromeda. The Egyptian priest Manetho, who lived around 300 BCE called Egypt’s Kushite dynasty the “Aethiopian dynasty.” And with the translation of the Hebrew Bible or Torah into Greek around 200 BCE, the Hebrew usage of “Kush” and Kushite” became the Greek “Aethiopia” and “Aethiopians.” This again changes later to the modern English use of “Ethiopia” and “Ethiopians” with the arrival of the King James Bible.

Given the way that Countries, Empires, Kingdoms, and Nations rise and fall, expand and shrink, it’s very well possible that both Aethiopia and Ethiopia are one and the same and that modern-day Tel-Aviv once known as Joppa (Jaffa) may have once been part of Ethiopia. There is a lot of history that has been lost to the sands of time that can only be guessed at and speculated upon.

Western Astronomy

The constellation known as Andromeda is one of 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy in his book, Almagest. Today it remains as one of the 88 current or modern constellations. Arab astronomers were aware of Ptolemy’s constellations, but they included a second constellation representing a fish at Andromeda’s feet. An Arab constellation called “al-Hut,” the fish is composed of several stars in Andromeda and several stars in Pisces.

The Andromeda constellation is found in the northern hemisphere where it can most likely be seen during autumn evenings, along with several other constellations named after characters in the myth of Perseus. Because of its northern location, Andromeda is only visible north of the 40° south latitude line, and for observers farther south it lies below the horizon. It is one of the largest constellations found in the night sky.

In English, Andromeda is known as the “Lady in Chains” or “the Chained Woman.” It is known as Mulier Catenata in Latin and al-Mar’at al Musalsalah in Arabic. This constellation has also been called Persea, meaning “Perseus’s wife” or Cepheis, meaning “Cepheus’s daughter,” all names that relate this constellation back to the Greek legend of Perseus.

Chinese Astronomy

In traditional Chinese astronomy, nine stars from Andromeda along with seven stars from Pisces, form an elliptical constellation called Kui or “Legs.” This constellation is either represented as the foot of a walking person or a wild boar. The star called Gamma Andromedae and ten neighboring stars were called “Tianda jiangjun.” They represented a great general of the heavens and his ten subordinate officers. The ten stars in the north and center of Andromeda formed Tianjiu, a stable from which horses were dispatched for riders. Lastly, other stars in the western part of Andromeda form a constellation known as Tengshe, a flying snake.

The name of the Andromeda constellation in modern Chinese is xiān nǚ zuò, meaning “the immortal woman/fairy constellation”. This constellation lies across two cardinal points or directions which are symbolized by the Black Tortoise of the North and the White Tiger of the West of Chinese astrology.

Hindu Mythology

Interestingly enough too, there is a very similar figure in ancient Sanskrit texts that depict an Antarmada chained to a rock, as in the Greek myth. Scholars believe that the Hindu and Greek astrological myths were closely linked; one piece of evidence cited is the similarity between the names “Antarmada” and “Andromeda”.

Mesopotamian Mythology

Many people are familiar with the story of Andromeda and her strong connection with Greek traditions. The story and constellation probably go back even further as there is also a similar female figure in Babylonian astronomy. The stars that make up the constellation of Pisces and the middle portion of Andromeda formed a constellation representing a fertility goddess, sometimes called Anunitum or the Lady of the Heavens.

Andromeda is also associated with the Mesopotamian creation story of Tiamat, the goddess of Chaos. She bore many demons for her husband, Apsu, but eventually decided to destroy them in a war that ended when Marduk killed her. He used her body to create the constellations as markers of time for humans.

Micronesian Mythology

In the Marshall Islands, the constellations of Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Triangulum, and Aries are all part of the same greater constellation representing a porpoise. Andromeda’s bright stars form the body of the porpoise; Cassiopeia represents its tail and Aries its head.

Polynesian Mythology

In the Tuamotu islands, Andromeda’s stars, Alpha Andromedae are called Takurua-tuki-hanga-ruki, and Beta Andromedae was called Piringa-o-Tautu.

Perseus Family

The constellation of Andromeda, along with eight other constellations of: Auriga, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Cetus, Lacerta, Pegasus, Perseus, and Triangulum form this family of constellations.

All of these constellations have some connection to the overall legend and myth of the Grecian hero Perseus.

The Andromeda Galaxy

The Andromeda Galaxy, which naturally enough gets its name from the Andromeda Constellation, is also found here. The Persian astronomer, Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi first wrote about the Andromeda Galaxy in his “Book of Fixed Stars” around 964. Star charts of this period labeled it as the Little Cloud. The first telescopic observations were done by German astronomer Simon Marius on December 15, 1612. And the first photographs were taken in 1887 by Isaac Roberts from his private observatory in Sussex, England.

The Andromeda Galaxy is approaching the Milky Way at a rate of about 100 to 140 kilometers per second. That is roughly 400 light-years every million years. At that rate, the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxies are expected to collide in about 4.5 billion years. What’s likely to happen? No one knows for sure, though there is speculation among the Science-Minded that the two galaxies will merge together to form a giant elliptical galaxy. But not to worry, such collisions and merging of galaxies are fairly common in the universe.

Andromedids

Every November there is a meteor shower that has come to be known as the Andromedids due to where it appears to originate from, the Andromeda constellation. This is a weak meteor shower in that they are slow, averaging fewer than two meteors per hour. Observers of the Andromedids have noted meteors also coming in from other constellations. The last and biggest Andromedid meteor shower was in December 2011. Astronomers have predicted based on this and past observed history, that there will be another outburst or large meteor showers in 2018, 2023, and 2036.