Whereas the stars for Queen Cassiopeia are bright and beautiful, her husband’s constellation is dim and dull. Cepheus the King is a tough constellation to find if you live in a city, but if you look carefully you just may discover these royal stars.
You can find Cepheus tonight high in the northern sky just to the left of Cassiopeia. His dimmer stars look like an upside-down house.
Once upon a time in ancient Ethiopia… Cepheus the King was enjoying a quiet afternoon nap when the great god of the sea, Poseidon strode in to the castle. In a rage Poseidon said, "King Cepheus! Your wife's vanity has gone too far. She has offended the gods and must be punished."
The King, waking up quickly, stammered, “Wha… what did she do?”
“What did she do?” great Poseidon exclaimed. “Get this. Queen Cassiopeia said, in front of everyone, that she was more beautiful than all the mermaids in the ocean. My mermaids! Hah, don’t make me laugh.” Cepheus laughed nervously. “That old hag can’t hold a candle to my mermaids,” Poseidon continued. “She must be punished.”
Cepheus begged for mercy and even declared that he wouldn’t know what to do with himself if anything happened to Cassiopeia. “I would miss her sweet voice,” the King said. This was a total lie since the Queen, although beautiful, had a voice like a ban-saw.
And there the couple spins. High in the sky the King is not far from his Queen and he forever hears her sweet voice say, “Oh no, I’m going upside down again. Aaaaah, Cepheus, you stupid, little stickin’…!”
