Her structure and position in the sky greatly matter. In the tribe of Lapps, Cassiopeia forms an elk antler, and the Chukchi in Siberia saw Cassiopeia as 5 reindeer stags.īut Cassiopeia doesn’t hold only divine mythological greatness. Meanwhile, in Chinese astronomy, Cassiopeia was represented as the Purple Forbidden enclosure, the Black Tortoise of the North, or the White Tiger of the West. In Persia, she was a queen holding a staff with a crescent moon, wearing a crown, and having a 2 humped camel. In Arab culture, Cassiopeia and a few stars from Perseus and Andromeda represent the Camel. Her boasting and selfishness come from Greek mythology, as with most north hemisphere constellations. Her story changes according to different cultures. Moreover, she spends half of the time upside down as a punishment for her boasting and selfishness. However, Cassiopeia was condemned to circle the north pole forever. And, Poseidon placed Cepheus and Cassiopeia in the sky. The suitor’s army was turned to stone, and unfortunately, Cepheus and Cassiopeia didn’t look away in time. He pointed to Medusa’s head, the head of a horrible sea creature, which turns anyone looking at it into stone. Naturally, there was a fight, with Perseus greatly outnumbered. However, at the wedding, Andromeda’s suitor showed up and proclaimed that only he had the right to marry Andromeda. Of course, Perseus and Andromeda fell in love and got married. At that moment, Perseus, the strong hero, who was flying on his horse, Pegasus (also a constellation and Perseus), swopped down to save her. Cetus was approaching, readying himself to devour her. They did just so, tying her to a rock in the middle of the sea. Trying to save their kingdom, Cepheus and Cassiopeia consult an oracle, saying they have to sacrifice their daughter to save the kingdom. He set free a sea monster called Cetus (the great whale, also a constellation) to ravage the kingdom. The Nereids were displeased, and they forced the king of the sea, Poseidon, to ravage Cepheuse’s kingdom. Cassiopeia loved to boast about her beauty and excellence and said she was more beautiful than all the sea nymphs called the Nereids. What will the queen tell us? Mythological originsĬassiopeia, or the Queen of Etiopia, was married to Cepheus, the King of Ethiopia, and they had a daughter, Andromeda. Still, it holds so much knowledge and is one of the rarest stars in the galaxy. Such a simple constellation represented as a W. Every time I look up into the night sky in winter, the first constellation that catches my eye is Cassiopeia, the Queen of Ethiopia.
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