Andromeda
1350 BC
King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia of Ethiopia were ordered to feed their daughter Andromeda to a
rampaging sea monster for some deeply mythological reason. They chained
her naked to a seaside cliff and rang to dinner bell. Luckily at that exact
moment Perseus flew by on his way home after killing Medusa. He killed
the monster and freed the princess, and everyone lived happily ever
after.
Note on the illustration:
The myths tell us that Andromeda was chained naked, probably for the
same reason you peel an orange or banana before eating it. In any case,
a naked girl in chains is always going to be a popular subject in art.
The myths also say that this happened in Jaffa in Ethiopia, which it
isn't, at least not anymore. Jaffa is an ancient city right next to
where Tel Aviv is now. Aethiopia, meaning Burnt-Face, was the generic Greeks term
for any place inhabitted by people darker than Greeks. It's not just
the county in the Horn of Africa that we call Ethiopia today.
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