The more I think about it, the more I realize that Andromeda’s sacrifice is kinda a metaphor for forced marriage, or at least sexual violence/ servitude in general. I mean this is a story about a young woman who’s forced by her parents to satisfy the hunger of a male entity, sometimes she’s depicted dressed up as a bride while other times she’s fully naked, both humiliating in their own way bc Andromeda doesn’t want to be there. The chorus in Euripides play are young unmarried maidens just like her and they’re there to provide emotional support and sort of “prepare” her for her “wedding”. It’s only when someone Andromeda’s age falls in love with her and she falls in love with him that she’s saved.
So it makes sense that some artists in more recent centuries depict Cetus as a creepy old man trying prey on a young Andromeda as a younger Perseus kills him. Which makes portraying Cetus as a young woman even more absurd.