Relief depicting Perseus and Andromeda

This marble relief depicts the scene in which Andromeda as rescued by Perseus, identifyable through the corpse of the sea-monster Cetus crumpled beneath Andromeda and Perseus holding the decapitated head of Medusa. In Greek mythology Andromeda, the daughter of king Cepheus, is punished to death by Poseidon after her father boasts that she is more beautiful than the Nereids. Chained to a rock and left to die by the sea-monster, Perseus saves her through killing it with the decapitated head of Medusa. A famous Roman fresco from Pompeii (see attached image in thumbnail) depicts a similar part of the narrative as seen in this relief.这件大理石浮雕描绘了珀尔修斯营救安德洛墨达的场景：海怪刻托的尸身倒伏于安德洛墨达与手持美杜莎首级的珀尔修斯脚下，可作为该场景的辨识依据。在希腊神话中，塞甫斯国王之女安德洛墨达因其父夸口其容貌胜过涅瑞伊得斯（海仙女），而触怒波塞冬，被判处死刑。她被锁链缚于岩石之上，留待海怪吞食致死，珀尔修斯以美杜莎的首级斩杀海怪，成功救下安德洛墨达。一幅出自庞贝古城的著名罗马壁画（详见缩略图附件），描绘了与该浮雕相近的叙事片段。