Cetus the Constellation

Cetus the Great creature of the Sea

This beautiful creature is more known as a monster like thing, than what it really is, namely a unknown giant, a power force of the sea. When we don't know something (or someone) we as humans, tend to begin speculating, often letting our imagination get in the way and colorizing the picture a little bit. This is probably also what happened with the mythology behind Cetus, who very often became the villain of the old Greek history.

In our modern days we have come to know Cetus as the whale, the giant of the sea. In ancient Greek mythology, the story about Cetus is entangled with the story of Andromeda and Perseus, two other constellations.

The more modern version of this myth is illustrated in many books, such as Greek Gods and Heroes by Leo Hjortsø and Gods and heroes in the old Greece by David Bellingham.
Very short: Andromeda was punished for her mothers sins, and she was chained to a cliff where she was supposed to be eaten by the great sea monster Cetus (also known as Ketos).
As I have said in earlier post's the ancient Greek mythology is entangled in, should we say elevating ways.

From a Book from 1888 (Old Greek/German manuscripts with ancient Greek mythology).
Fare, fare away over the mountains, Perseus flew. Finally he reached the land of Ethiopian. There he saw a beautiful girl, so beautiful that he had never seen an equal. She was chained to a cliff in the ocean, and around her stood men and women, crying and complaining about the girl and the ocean.
Perseus flew from heaven down to earth and asked, what would happen to her? "The girl is called Andromeda" a man said; "She is the daughter of the Ethiopian king Cepheus and his wife, the beautiful Cassiopeia. The mother praised herself an her daughters as the most beautiful, even more beautiful than the sea gods Nereus daughters. The sea god Nereus became so angered by what she said, that he has sent forth a sea monster, that each day raises from the sea, and eats as many people as it can. Nereus commanded that Andromeda be offered to the Sea monster."

Perseus was intrigued by what he was told, and his empathy made him offer to slay the sea monster, if the king would let him marriage his daughter. Cepheus gladly accepted. Perseus eagerly fought the sea monster, and it would not take long before Perseus was confronted by a splashing and aggressive wares, the whale was coming at him with its mouth wide open. Perseus delivered many blows with his sword, but the monsters skin could not be penetrated, and Perseus could feel he was getting tired to quickly. Suddenly he remembered that he had the head of Medusa. He quickly took the head and the sea monster looked into Medusa's eyes and it was turned to stone.

What happens next is more about the promises made between the king and Perseus, but the story for Cetus ends here.

It is thought that this story comes from a poem written in the 6 century B.C.