Perseus Freeing Andromeda

The Roman poet Ovid popularised the myth of Perseus and Andromeda in the Metamorphoses. Tied to a rock, Andromeda, the daughter of the Ethiopian king Cepheus, is to be sacrificed to a sea monster. This punishment was ordered by Poseidon in retribution for the boastful utterances of the king’s wife, Cassiopeia, who bragged that she and her daughter were more beautiful than the Nereids. Perseus, who was travelling home on the winged horse Pegasus after having defeated and killed the dreaded gorgon Medusa, spotted the princess tied to a rocky cliff.