Unchanged by any teller — how the centuries since have seen Phineus.
The gallery
Perseus Turning Phineus and His Followers to Stone
Unknown (after Luca Giordano / Baroque tradition), 17th–18th century
The wedding feast freezes mid-riot: Perseus raises Medusa's head while Phineus and his armed followers stiffen into stone — Ovid's climax for the Ethiopian rival who claimed Andromeda first. The canvas tradition makes Phineus the antagonist of the Gorgon-slayer's marriage, not the Thracian seer of the Argonauts.
Phineus Attacking Perseus at the Wedding
Unknown (after the antique / LACMA collection print), 18th–19th century
This LACMA print stages Phineus' assault on the bridal feast — Cepheus' brother (or betrothed rival) interrupting Perseus and Andromeda before the Gorgon's head ends the fight. It is the visual type that separates Ethiopian Phineus from the Harpy-plagued king of Salmydessus.
Phineus Interrupts the Wedding of Perseus and Andromeda
Unknown (Dutch Ovid cycle), 17th century
A Dutch Metamorphoses plate titles the interruption: Phineus storms the banquet of Perseus and Andromeda. Print series carried Ovid's Ethiopian wedding war into countless Northern editions.
Phineus Interrupting the Wedding of Perseus and Andromeda
Dominicus van Wijnen, c. 1680–1690
Van Wijnen's Baroque oil packs the feast with chaos as Phineus leads the attack — the rejected suitor whose petrifaction closes Andromeda's bridal night in Ovid's telling.
In play
Metamorphoses
Ovid
Books 4–5 make Ethiopian Phineus the armed rival at Andromeda's wedding — turned to stone by Medusa's head, forever distinct from the Thracian seer of the same name.
Phineus (son of Belus)
Brother or betrothed of Andromeda in the Perseus cycle — the wedding antagonist whose name English readers must not confuse with Phineus of Salmydessus.