Andromeda (and Perseus)
By Signa Gillysdottir
“You know…” Andromeda said to herself, “It’s not the worst punishment in the world. The sun is shining, there’s a gentle breeze, there’s no one around to say anything stupid. I won’t have to marry Phineus, and Cetus will no doubt bite me in half, so it’ll be a quick de-”
A dull thud.
Andromeda raised one brow in curiosity as a bronze shield rolled past her, then crashed to the ground. The sound echoed like thunder off the cliffs. The shield was quickly followed by a young Argive man who dropped a bag at her feet.
“Be a lamb and pick that up for me?” He called back over his shoulder. Andromeda gave him a look that said “Are you serious?” but he didn’t notice, too preoccupied with checking the shield for any damage.
“You’ve chosen an odd palace to sunbathe.” He commented as he made his way back to Andromeda, who was now trying to decide whether he was joking or really that oblivious. “Was it too heavy for you? The bag?”
“You’ve not turned to stone, have you?” He asked as he reached out and gently poked Andromeda’s cheek. When she flinched, he smiled, and before she could compose herself enough to reply to this halfwit, he added, “Thank the Gods, I was worried you had actually opened the bag.”
Maybe if I ignore him, he’ll go away. Andromeda thought.
“I’m Perseus, son of Zeus, and you are?”
“Andromeda!” came a call further down the shore. Andromeda turned her head and let out a disgruntled sigh as she recognised her mother and father, King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia.
Cassiopeia stopped in her tracks when she spotted Perseus, clad only in his helmet and sandals. Perseus, however, just grinned and held out his hand to Cepheus as he approached.
Perseus introduced himself and began to boast about his exploits. Andromeda tuned it all out, however, and gazed out to sea, wondering when Cetus would finally appear and put her out of her misery. That is, until she heard the word ‘wife’. Feeling completely overwhelmed with the idea of this being her last moments on earth, she screamed, but her frustrated scream quickly morphed into a joyful cheer as she saw Cetus appear on the horizon.
“Save her, and she will be your wife!” Cepheus shouted over the roar of the waves.
Perseus gripped his sword and, using the sandals Hermes had given him, launched himself into the air towards the sea monster, Cetus. The pair seemed evenly matched, but Perseus finally gained the upper hand and defeated the sea monster.
As he landed back on the shore, he watched Cassiopeia and Cepheus untie Andromeda, who was so shaken by the whole ordeal that she needed her mother's help to walk. Perseus picked up his bag and followed the two women with Cepheus.
“What’s in the bag?” Cepheus asked.
“The head of a Gorgon,” Perseus answered casually.
Being made a sacrifice to pay for her mother’s boastful nature was bad enough, but now she would have to spend the rest of her life with a man who fought a sea monster because he forgot he had the head of Medusa in his bag.
Notes
After reading the story of Andromeda and Perseus in Ovid's Metamorphoses (translated by David Raeburn, I thought a version where Perseus is a kind but oblivious idiot would be funny. In Ovid's version, it seems that Perseus did forget he had Medusa's head with him, which is why I wanted to make that a bit more obvious.
Comments