Andromeda (play)

Andromeda is a rarely performed classical tragedy, fragments of which survive, attributed to the Greek playwright Euripides. The play tells the story of the mythical princess Andromeda, daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia of Aethiopia. Cassiopeia boasted that her beauty, or that of her daughter, exceeded that of the Nereids, sea nymphs. This angered Poseidon, who sent a sea monster to ravage the kingdom. An oracle of Ammon declared that the only way to appease Poseidon was to sacrifice Andromeda to the monster.

The fragments suggest that the play depicted Andromeda chained to a rock as sacrifice. Perseus, the hero famous for slaying Medusa, arrives and falls in love with Andromeda. He bargains with Cepheus and Cassiopeia to save her from the monster in exchange for her hand in marriage. Perseus slays the monster, fulfilling his promise, and freeing Andromeda.

The play likely explored themes of piety, hubris, sacrifice, and the transformative power of love. While the full plot and details are lost to time, the surviving fragments offer valuable insight into Euripides' dramatic style and the enduring appeal of the Andromeda myth in ancient Greek culture. Other treatments of the Andromeda myth, notably by Sophocles (also lost) and later authors, attest to its continued influence. The lack of complete text makes a comprehensive understanding of Euripides' Andromeda challenging but scholarly work continues to piece together its possible structure and meaning.