164 
HAROLD’S DlSCtJSSIONS. 
one each of the second, third, and fourth magnitudes 
mark the girdle, and one of the third on the left breast; 
this and two smaller ones on either side of it form a 
small triangle. She is represented with her arm ex¬ 
tended and chained to a rock. In her head is one of 
the four bright stars that form the “ Square of Peg¬ 
asus,” the flying horse. The fable has her chained 
to a rock at the seashore by Neptune. Her mother 
had boasted that her daughter was more beautiful 
than the sea-nymphs. This enraged the sea-god so 
that he ordered her to be chained on the rock and 
sent a monster to devour her; or, as Milton says: 
“ That starred Ethiop queen that strove 
To set her beauty’s praise above 
The sea-nymphs, and their powers offended.” 
But Perseus, passing by, was so impressed with her 
tears and beauty that he promised to slay the mon¬ 
ster if her father would give her to him as his wdfe. 
The promise was given, and he slew the devourer. 
All the actors in this scene were honored with a seat 
in the heavens, but because of Cassiopeia’s boasting 
they are obliged to pass half the time head down¬ 
ward. The constellation of Andromeda is between 
twenty and flfty degrees from the pole, and hence 
many of the stars dip below the horizon. 
Perseus, her husband, is represented leaping at her 
feet with a sword in his right hand, and in his left the 
head of Medusa, by means of which he destroyed the 
devastating monster. The most important stars sug¬ 
gest the flgure of a crutch; the crosspiece is an arc 
open toward the Great Bear. 
