I've always had a particular liking of the constellation Cassiopeia, mainly because it was the first constellation after the two Ursas that I could recognize in the night sky.
Cassiopeia was the wife of Cepheus, the Ethiopian King, and the mother of Andromeda. The queen was beautiful, yet had great vanity. She made the mistake of considering herself more beautiful than the Nereids or even Juno herself. The goddesses were quite insulted and complained to Neptune, god of the sea. He sent a sea monster to terrorize the people. As an order, the king and queen were to sacrifice their daughter, Andromeda. Had it not been for Perseus who killed the monster, they would have sacrificed her. As a reward Perseus was given Andromeda's hand in marriage.
Neptune placed Cassiopeia in the heavens, and as a final humiliation (due to her vanity) he put her in a throne which revolves around Polaris, so half the time she sits upside-down.
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