The King
Stands like one spreading both his arms abroad.
Aratos.
Although one of the most inconspicuous constellations, Cepheus has attracted attention from the beginning of recorded history. It seems in a measure appropriate that Cepheus should be a dim constellation, for in the thrilling story of the rescue of Andromeda by the champion Perseus, Cepheus, the King, played but a subordinate part.
Plunket gives 3500 b.c. and 23 degrees north latitude as the approximate date and location of the people who invented this constellation. Allen says that Achilles Tatios, probably of our 5th century, claimed that Cepheus was known in Chaldea twenty-three centuries before our era, while according to Brown all of the circumpolar constellations originated on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean.
Cepheus is generally conceded to have been King of Æthiopia, the Euphratean "Cush," the husband of Cassiopeia, and the father of Andromeda. There is a difference of opinion as to what language the names Cepheus and Cassiopeia are derived from. Some writers have suggested for their, origin the Sanscrit names "Capuja," which was the later Hindu name for Cepheus, and "Cassyape." Cepheus has also been identified with Cheops or Khufu the builder of the Great Pyramid in Egypt, and, again, was supposed to be descended from Iasion, the son of Zeus and Electra.
Cepheus and the constellations of the group with
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