Star lore

This ancient culture saw a very startling pattern of bright stars in the winter sky that, from their point of view, resembled a mighty hunter, which they named Orion.

The ancient Greeks felt compelled to explain this phenomenon by composing a story or myth based on the two constellations[citation needed].

The story goes that because Cassiopeia bragged so much of Andromeda's beauty to the Nereids, daughters of Poseidon, that they complained to their father, who sent a sea monster to destroy the coast of Ethiopia.

Cepheus consulted an oracle for assistance and learned that the only way to save his lands was to sacrifice his daughter to Poseidon's monster.

Perseus, the hero of the story who had just killed the Gorgon Medusa found Andromeda in her distress and immediately, the two fell in love.

In Roman mythology, the constellation is representative of Ladon, the dragon that guarded the golden apples inside the garden, Hesperides.

In other versions of Ladon's story, the number of heads he had is not at all mentioned and he is described as the offspring of Ceto and Phorcys, two sea deities.

[4] Contrastingly, in Roman mythology, Draco was one of the Titans who waged war on the Olympic gods for ten years.