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The Mythology of Perseus

Perseus was a demi-god, the son of Zeus and a mortal named Danae. Perseus killed the famed monster
Medusa, the hideous gorgon with snakes for hair who turned anyone with the misfortune of looking into her
eyes into stone. Cepheus and Cassiopeia were king and queen, and had a beautiful daughter, Andromeda.
She was so beautiful that her mother claimed her to be more beautiful than the sea nymphs of Poseidon, god
of the ocean. This outraged Poseidon, who had Andromeda chained to a rock to be eaten by the fearsome
sea monster, Cetus. Perseus killed Cetus and saved the princess Andromeda, whom he then took to be his
wife. Because he was so brave in fighting a fearsome monster to save the life of someone else, he was given
a place in the stars forever.

Practice finding Perseus or review the Magnitude Charts for Perseus.

Explore the Mythologies of other Globe at Night Constellations

Orion Taurus Gemini Crux Leo Canis Major Bootes Hercules

Cygnus Scorpius Sagittarius Pegasus Perseus Grus

Globe at Night is a program of NSF’s NOIRLab, the preeminent US national center for ground-
based, nighttime optical and infrared astronomy, which is managed by the Association of

Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.