To the Greeks the starry heavens were an illustrated mythological poem.
Every constellation was a picture, connected with some old fable of gods
or heroes.
The two Bears have one story. Callisto was a nymph beloved by Jupiter,
who changed her into a she-bear to save her from the jealous wrath of
Juno. But Juno learned the truth, and induced Diana to kill the bear in
the chase. Jupiter then placed her among the stars as Ursa Major, and
her son Arcas afterwards became Ursa Minor. Juno, indignant at the honor
thus shown the objects of her hatred, persuaded Tethys and Oceanus to
forbid the Bears to descend, like the other stars, into the sea.
According to Ovid, Juno changed Callisto into a bear; and when Arcas, in
hunting, was about to kill his mother, Jupiter placed both among the
stars.
Ursa Minor was also called Phœnice, because the Phœnicians made it their
guide in navigation, while the Greeks preferred the Great Bear for that
purpose. It was also known as Cynosura (dog’s tail) from its resemblance
to the upturned curl of a dog’s tail. The Great Bear was sometimes
called Helice (winding), either from its shape or its curved path.
Boötes (the Herdsman) was also called Arctophylax and Arcturus, both of
which names mean the guard or keeper of the bear. According to some of
the stories, Boötes was Arcas; according to others, he was Icarus, the
unfortunate son of Dædalus. The name Arcturus was afterwards given to
the chief star of the constellation.
Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Perseus, and Pegasus are a group of
star-pictures illustrating a single story.
Cepheus and Cassiopeia were the king and queen of Ethiopia, and had a
very beautiful daughter, Andromeda. Her mother boasted that the maiden
was fairer than the Nereids, who in their anger persuaded Neptune to
send a sea-monster to ravage the shores of Ethiopia. To appease the
offended deities Andromeda, by the command of an oracle, was exposed to
this monster. The hero Perseus rescued her and married her.
Pegasus, the winged horse, sprang from the blood of the frightful
Gorgon, Medusa, whom Perseus had slain not long before he rescued
Andromeda from the sea-monster. According to the most ancient account,
Pegasus became the horse of Jupiter, for whom he carried the thunder and
lightning; but he afterward came to be considered the horse of Aurora,
and finally of the Muses. Modern poets rarely speak of him except as
connected with the Muses.
The Dragon, according to some of the poets, was the one that guarded the
golden apples of the Hesperides; according to others, the monster sacred
to Mars which Cadmus killed in Bœotia.
The Lyre is said to be the one which Apollo gave to Orpheus. After the
death of Orpheus, Jupiter placed it among the stars at the intercession
of Apollo and the Muses.
The Crown was the bridal gift of Bacchus to Ariadne, transferred to the
heavens after her death.
Aquila is probably the eagle into which Merops was changed. It was
placed among the stars by Juno. Some, however, make it the Eagle of
Jupiter.
Cygnus or Cycnus, according to Ovid, was a relative of Phaëthon. While
lamenting the unhappy fate of his kinsman on the banks of the Eridanus,
he was changed by Apollo into a swan, and placed among the stars.
Sagittarius was said by the Greeks to be the Centaur Cheiron, the
instructor of Peleus, Achilles and Diomed. It is pretty certain,
however, that all the zodiacal constellations are of Egyptian origin,
and represent twelve Egyptian deities who presided over the months of
the year. Thus Aries was Jupiter Ammon; Taurus, the bull Apis; Gemini,
the inseparable gods Horus and Harpocrates; and so on. The Greeks
adopted the figures, and invented stories of their own to explain them.
Scorpio, in the Egyptian zodiac, represented the monster Typhon.
Originally this constellation extended also over the space now filled by
Libra.
Ophiuchus represents Æsculpius, the god of medicine. Serpents were
sacred to him, probably because they were a symbol of prudence and
renovation, and were believed to have the power of discovering herbs of
wondrous powers.
Aquarius, in Greek fable, was Ganymede, the Phrygian boy who became the
cup-bearer of the gods in place of Hebe.
Taurus, as has been stated above, was the Egyptian Apis. The Greeks made
it the bull which carried off Europa. The Pleiades are usually called
the daughters of Atlas, whence their name Atlantides. Milton speaks of
them as “the seven Atlantic Sisters.”
According to one legend the seventh was Sterope, who became invisible
because she had loved a mortal; according to another, her name was
Electra, and she left her place that she might not witness the downfall
of Troy, which was founded by her son, Dardanus.
The Hyades, according to one of several stories, were sisters of the
Pleiades. The name probably means “the Rainy,” since their rising
announced wet weather.
Cetus is said by most writers to be the sea-monster from which Perseus
rescued Andromeda.
Orion was a famous giant and hunter, who loved the daughter of Oinopion,
King of Chios. As her father was slow to consent to her marriage, Orion
attempted to carry off the maiden; whereupon Oinopion, with the help of
Bacchus, put out his eyes. But the hero, in obedience to an oracle,
exposed his eye-balls to the rays of the rising sun, and thus regained
his sight. The accounts of his subsequent life, and of his death, are
various and conflicting. According to some, Aurora loved him and carried
him off; but, as the gods were angry at this, Diana killed him with an
arrow. Others say that Diana loved him, and that Apollo, indignant at
his sister’s affection for the hero, once pointed out a distant object
on the surface of the sea, and challenged her to hit it. It was the head
of Orion swimming, and the unerring shot of the goddess pierced it with
a fatal wound. Another fable asserts that Orion boasted that he would
conquer every animal; but the earth sent forth a scorpion which
destroyed him.
Canis Major and Minor are the dogs of Orion, and are pursuing the Hare.
The Twins, Castor and Pollux, the sons of Jupiter and Leda, are the
theme of many a fable. They were especially worshipped as the protectors
of those who sailed the seas, for Neptune had rewarded their brotherly
love by giving them power over winds and waves, that they might assist
the shipwrecked.
Leo, according to the Greek story, was the famous Nemean lion slain by
Hercules. Jupiter placed it in the heavens in honor of the exploit.
The Hydra also commemorates one of the twelve labors of Hercules--the
destruction of the hundred-headed monster of the Lernæan lake.
Virgo represents Astræa, the goddess of innocence and purity, or, as
some say, of justice. She was the last of the gods to withdraw from
earth at the close of “the golden age.”
Libra, or the Balance, is the emblem of justice, and is usually
associated with the fable of Astræa.
Argo Navis is the famous ship in which Jason and his companions sailed
to find the Golden Fleece.
This slight sketch of the leading fables connected with the
constellations will serve to show how completely the Greeks
“nationalized the heavens.”