Cetus, the Whale or Sea Monster

A constellation named for a mythological sea monster. He was sent by Poseidon, god of the sea, to punish Ethiopia for the vanity of its queen, Cassiopeia, who boasted that she was more beautiful than the sea nymphs. The king, Cepheus, ordered his daughter Andromeda chained beside the sea shore as a sacrifice. At the last moment, however, she was rescued by Perseus, the hero, who either beheaded Cetus or turned him to stone by showing him the snake-covered head of Medusa, one of the Gorgons.