In Greek mythology, Andromeda (; or ) is the daughter of the king of Aethiopia, Cepheus, and his wife, Cassiopeia. When Cassiopeia boasts that she is more beautiful than the Nereids, Poseidon sends the sea monster Cetus to ravage the coast of Aethiopia as divine punishment. Andromeda is chained to a rock as a sacrifice to sate the monster, but is saved from death by Perseus, who marries her and takes her to Greece to reign as his queen. As a subject, Andromeda has been popular in art since classical times; rescued by a Greek hero, Andromeda's narration is considered the forerunner to the "princess and dragon" motif. From the Renaissance, interest revived in the original story, typically as derived from Ovid's Metamorphoses (4.663ff). The story has appeared many times in such diverse media as plays, poetry, novels, operas, classical and popular music, film, and paintings. The Andromeda constellation is named after her. The Andromeda tradition, from classical times onwards, has incorporated elements of other stories, including Saint George and the Dragon, introducing a horse for the hero, and the tale of Pegasus, Bellerophon's winged horse. Ludovico Ariosto's epic poem , which tells a similar story, has introduced further confusion. The tradition has been criticized for depicting the princess of Aethiopia as white; few artists have chosen to portray her as dark-skinned, despite Ovid's account of her. Others have noted that Perseus's liberation of Andromeda was a popular choice of subject among male artists, reinforcing a narrative of male superiority with its powerful male hero and its submissive female in bondage. Classical mythology The name Andromeda is from the Greek , perhaps meaning 'mindful of her husband'. The name is from the noun meaning 'man, husband, human being', and a verb, whether , , or , all related to , the likely origin of the name of Medea, the sorceress. Central story In Greek mythology, Andromeda is the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, king and queen of ancient Aethiopia. Her mother Cassiopeia foolishly boasts that she is more beautiful than the Nereids, a display of hubris by a human that is unacceptable to the gods. To punish the queen for her arrogance, Poseidon floods the Ethiopian coast and sends a sea monster named Cetus to ravage the kingdom's inhabitants. In desperation, King Cepheus consults the oracle of Ammon, who announces that no respite can be found until the king sacrifices