A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

Smith, William

A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. William Smith, LLD, ed. 1890

or CASSIOPEIA (Κασσιέπεια or Κασσιόπεια), the wife of Cepheus in Acthiopia, and mother of Andromeda, whose beauty she extolled above that of the Nereids. This pride became the cause of her misfortunes, for Poseidon sent a monster into the country which ravaged the land, and to which Andromeda was to be sacrificed. But Perseus saved her life. (Hyg. Fab. 64; comp. ANDROMEDA.) According to other accounts Cassiepeia boasted that she herself surpassed the Nereids in beauty, and for this reason she was represented, when placed among the stars, as turning backwards. (Arat. Phaen. 187, &c.; Manil. Astron. 1.355.)

[L.S]