Andromeda and Jaffa

Mythology in Jaffa comes to life with the story of Andromeda. The great Greek mythological legend is thought to have originated here in Jaffa (others say off the Ethiopian coast in the Red Sea). The action packed tale can be compared to a medieval handsome knight saving a beautiful princess.

Our story starts here in the ancient port of Joppa as the Greeks referred to the city. The queen of Joppa, Cassiopeia, had a beautiful daughter named Andromeda. Cassiopeia would constantly brag that her daughter was the most beautiful of all. Just to set the record straight, my own daughter Jasmine is really the most beautiful. Ah ha. Anyway, Queen Cassiopeia was standing in the port of Joppa near the water. Swimming below were some Nereids (nymph daughters of the sea god or let's say beautiful mermaids). The mermaids overheard Cassiopeia bragging about Andromeda's unrivaled beauty. This was very unsettling to these sea mermaids, that laid claim themselves, to the crown of beauty. Upset the mermaids quickly cornered Poseidon the King of the Sea and told him how they had been insulted by Cassiopeia.

Now Poseidon, understanding the severity of the matter, decided to revenge the slanderous remarks of Joppa's Queen. He summoned the sea monster Cetus, to deal with Joppa and its vain Queen. The king of Joppa, Cepheus, decided to consult with the oracle Ammon and get some divine advice. The oracle, Ammon, prescribed that to save the city from destruction, the king and queens daughter Andromeda would need to be chained to a rock in Jaffa's harbor as a sacrifice. This was to appease the sea monster, Cetus, that was now headed for Jaffa. Indeed this sound advice was taken and the beautiful Andromeda was chained to a Jaffa harbor rock.

As fortune and luck would have it Perseus, the son of Zeus and Danae, was flying by on his winged horse Pegasus. Perseus had just finished vanquishing Medusa. Medusa was a Gorgan (Greek mythological female creature) that had hair of snakes and caused those that saw her to turn to stone. Perseus of course was toting her decapitated head. With victorious heroic eyes, that roved over the waters below, he spotted Andromeda chained to Joppa's harbor rock. He was smitten immediately by her beauty and saw Cetus the monster heading at break neck speed for Andromeda and Jaffa.

The die was cast and Perseus on his faithful horse Pegasus swept down from the skies and got ready for battle. Perseus at the exact right moment revealed the stone turning head of slain Medusa to Cetus. Yes, just before Cetus was about to spring on beautiful Andromeda he was stopped in his tracks and transformed into stone. These are the stones that now dress dangerously the entrance to Jaffa's port. Andromeda was set free by Perseus and leaped on to faithful Pegasus. The trio then flew off and lived happily ever after as the sun set in the west casting its last light over the city of Jaffa.