ORIGIN OF THE CONSTELLATIONS.
When we look upon the multitude of heavenly bodies with which the
celestial vault is strewed, our attention is naturally arrested by
certain groupings of brilliant stars, apparently associated together on
account of their great proximity; and also by certain remarkable single
stars which have excessive brilliancy or are completely isolated from
the rest. These natural groups seem to have some obscure connection with
or dependence on each other. They have always been noticed, even by the
most savage races. The languages of several such races contain different
names for the same identical groups, and these names, mostly borrowed
from terrestrial beings, give an imaginary life to the solitude and
silence of the skies. A celestial globe, as we know, presents us with a
singular menagerie, rich in curious monsters placed in inconceivable
positions. How these constellations, as they are called, were first
invented, and by whom, is an interesting question which by the aid of
comparative philology we must endeavour now to answer.
Among these constellations there are twelve which have a more than
ordinary importance, and to which more attention has always been paid.
They are those through which the sun appears to pass in his annual
journey round the ecliptic, entering one region each month. At least,
this is what they were when first invented. They were called the
zodiacal constellations or signs of the zodiac--the name being derived
from their being mostly named after living beasts. In our own days the
zodiacal constellations are no longer the signs of the zodiac. When they
were arranged the sun entered each one on a certain date. He now is no
longer at the same point in the heavens at that date, nevertheless he is
still said to enter the same sign of the zodiac--which therefore no
longer coincides with the zodiacal constellation it was named from--but
merely stands for a certain twelfth part of the ecliptic, which varies
from time to time. It will be of course of great interest to discover
the origin of these particular constellations, the date of their
invention, &c.; and we shall hope to do so after having discussed the
origin of those seen in the Northern hemisphere which may be more
familiar even than those.
We have represented in the frontispiece the two halves of the Grecian
celestial sphere--the Northern and the Southern, with the various
constellations they contain. This sphere was not invented by the Greeks,
but was received by them from more ancient peoples, and corrected and
augmented. It was used by Hipparchus two thousand years ago; and Ptolemy
has given us a description of it. It contained 48 constellations, of
which 21 belonged to the Northern, 15 to the Southern hemisphere, and
the remaining twelve were those of the zodiac, situated along the
ecliptic.
The constellations reckoned by Ptolemy contained altogether 1,026 stars,
whose relative positions were determined by Hipparchus; with reference
to which accomplishment Pliny says, "Hipparchus, with a height of
audacity too great even for a god, has ventured to transmit to posterity
the number of the stars!"
Ptolemy's catalogue contains:--
For the northern constellations 361 stars
For the zodiacal 350 "
For the southern 318 "
or -----
For all the 48 constellations 1,029 "
or, since 3 of these are named twice 1,026 "
Of course this number is not to be supposed to represent the whole of
the stars visible even to the naked eye; there are twice as many in the
Northern hemisphere alone, while there are about 5,000 in the whole sky.
The number visible in a telescope completely dwarfs this, so that more
than 300,000 are now catalogued; while the number visible in a large
telescope may be reckoned at not less than 77 millions. The principal
northern constellations named by Ptolemy are contained in the following
list, with the stars of the first magnitude that occur in each:--
The Great Bear, or David's Chariot, near the centre.
The Little Bear, with the Pole Star at the end of the tail.
The Dragon.
Cepheus, situated to the right of the Pole.
The Herdsman, or the Keeper of the Bear, with the star Arcturus.
The Northern Crown to the right.
Hercules, or the Man who Kneels.
The Lyre, or Falling Vulture, with the beautiful star Vega.
The Swan, or Bird, or Cross.
Cassiopeia, or the Chair, or the Throne.
Perseus.
The Carter, or the Charioteer, with Capella Ophiuchus, or Serpentarius,
or Esculapius.
The Serpent.
The Bow and Arrow, or the Dart.
The Eagle, or the Flying Vulture, with Altair.
The Dolphin.
The Little Horse, or the Bust of the Horse.
Pegasus, or the Winged Horse, or the Great Cross.
Andromeda, or the Woman with the Girdle.
The Northern Triangle, or the Delta.
The fifteen constellations on the south of the ecliptic were:--
The Whale.
Orion, with the beautiful stars Rigel and Betelgeuse.
The River Endanus, or the River Orion, with the brilliant Achernar.
The Hare.
The Great Dog, with the magnificent Sirius.
The Little Dog, or the Dog which runs before, with Procyon.
The ship Argo, with its fine Alpha (Canopus) and Eta.
The Female Hydra, or the Water Snake.
The Cup, or the Urn, or the Vase.
The Raven.
The Altar, or the Perfuming Pot.
The Centaur, whose star Alpha is the nearest to the earth.
The Wolf, or the Centaur's Lance, or the Panther, or the Beast.
The Southern Crown, or the Wand of Mercury, or Uraniscus.
The Southern Fish, with Fomalhaut.
The twelve zodiacal constellations, which are of more importance than
the rest, are generally named in the order in which the sun passes
through them in its passage along the ecliptic, and both Latins and
English have endeavoured to impress their names on the vulgar by
embodying them in verses. The poet Ausonius thus catalogues them:--
"Sunt: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo,
Libraque, Scorpius, Arcitenens, Caper, Amphora, Pisces."
and the English effusion is as follows:--
"The Ram, the Bull, the Heavenly Twins,
And next the Crab the Lion shines,
The Virgin and the Scales.
The Scorpion, Archer, and He Goat,
The Man that holds the watering-pot,
And Fish with glittering scales."
These twelve have hieroglyphics assigned to them, by which they are
referred to in calendars and astronomical works, some of the marks being
easily traced to their origin. Thus [symbol: aries] refers to the horns
of the Ram; [symbol: taurus] to the head of the Bull; [symbol: scorpion]
to the joints and tail-sting of the Scorpion; [symbol: saggitarius] is
very clearly connected with an archer; [symbol: capricorn] is formed by
the junction of the first two letters [Greek: t] and [Greek: r] in
[Greek: tragos], the Sea-goat, or Capricorn; [symbol: libra] for the
Balance, is suggestive of its shape; [symbol: aquarius] refers to the
water in the Watering-pot; and perhaps [symbol: pisces] to the Two
Fishes; [symbol: gemini] for Twins may denote two sides alike; [symbol:
cancer] for the Crab, has something of its side-walking appearance;
while [symbol: leo] for the Lion, and [symbol: virgo] for the Virgin,
seem to have no reference that is traceable.
These constellations contain the following stars of the first
magnitude--Aldebaran, Antares, and Spica.
To these constellations admitted by the Greeks should be added the Locks
of Berenice, although it is not named by Ptolemy. It was invented indeed
by the astronomer Conon. The story is that Berenice was the spouse and
the sister of Ptolemy Euergetes, and that she made a vow to cut off her
locks and devote them to Venus if her husband returned victorious; to
console the king the astronomer placed her locks among the stars. If
this is a true account Arago must be mistaken in asserting that the
constellation was created by Tycho Brahe in 1603. The one he did add to
the former ones was that of Antinoeus, by collecting into one figure some
unappropriated stars near the Eagle. At about the same time J. Bayer,
from the information of Vespuccius and the sailors, added twelve to the
southern constellations of Ptolemy; among which may be mentioned the
Peacock, the Toucan, the Phoenix, the Crane, the Fly, the Chameleon,
the Bird of Paradise, the Southern Triangle, and the Indian.
Augustus Royer, in 1679, formed five new groups, among which we may name
the Great Cloud, the Fleur-de-Lis, and the Southern Cross.
Hevelius, in 1690, added 16; the most important being the Giraffe, the
Unicorn, the Little Lion, the Lynx, the Little Triangle.
Among these newer-named constellations none is more interesting than the
Southern Cross, which is by some considered as the most brilliant of all
that are known. Some account of it, possibly from the Arabs, seems to
have reached Dante, who evidently refers to it, before it had been named
by Royer, in a celebrated passage in his "Purgatory." Some have thought
that his reference to such stars was only accidental, and that he really
referred only to the four cardinal virtues of theology, chiefly on
account of the difficulty of knowing how he could have heard of them;
but as the Arabs had establishments along the entire coast of Africa,
there is no difficulty in understanding how the information might reach
Italy.
Americus Vespuccius, who in his third voyage refers to these verses of
Dante, does not mention the name of the Southern Cross. He simply says
that the four stars form a rhomboidal figure. As voyages round the Cape
multiplied, however, the constellation became rapidly more celebrated,
and it is mentioned as forming a brilliant cross by the Florentine
Andrea Corsali, in 1517, and a little later by Pigafetta, in 1520.
All these constellations have not been considered sufficient, and many
subsequent additions have been made. Thus Lacaille, in 1752, created
fourteen new ones, mostly characterized by modern names--as the
Sculptor's Studio, the Chemical Furnace, the Clock, the Compass, the
Telescope, the Microscope, and others.
Lemonnier, in 1766, added the Reindeer, the Solitaire, and the Indian
Bird, and Lalande the Harvestman. Poczobut, in 1777, added one more,
and P. Hell another. Finally, in the charts drawn by Bode, eight more
appear, among which the Aerostat, and the Electrical and Printing
Machines.
We thus arrive at a total of 108 constellations. To which we may add
that the following groups are generally recognized. The Head of Medusa,
near Perseus; the Pleiades, on the back, and the Hyades on the forehead
of the Bull; the Club of Hercules; the Shield of Orion, sometimes called
the Rake; the Three Kings; the Staff of S. James; the Sword of Orion;
the Two Asses in the Crab, having between them the Star Cluster, called
the Stall, or the Manger; and the Kids, near Capella, in the
constellation of the Coachman.
This brings the list of the constellations to 117, which is the total
number now admitted.
A curious episode with respect to these star arrangements may here be
mentioned.
About the eighth century Bede and certain other theologians and
astronomers wished to depose the Olympian gods. They proposed,
therefore, to change the names and arrangements of the constellations;
they put S. Peter in the place of the Ram; S. Andrew instead of the
Bull; and so on. In more recent calendars David, Solomon, the Magi, and
other New and Old Testament characters were placed in the heavens
instead of the former constellations; but these changes of name were not
generally adopted.
As an example of these celestial spheres we figure a portion of one
named _Coeli stellati Christiani hemisphericum prius_. We here see the
Great Bear replaced by the Barque of S. Peter, the Little Bear by S.
Michael, the Dragon by the Innocents, the Coachman by S. Jerome, Perseus
by S. Paul, Cassiopeia by the Magdalene, Andromache by S. Sepulchre, and
the Triangle by S. Peter's mitre; while for the zodiac were substituted
the Twelve Apostles.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
In the seventeenth century a proposal was made by Weigel, a professor
in the University of Jena, to form a series of heraldic constellations,
and to use for the zodiac the arms of the twelve most illustrious
families in Europe; but these attempts at change have been in vain, the
old names are still kept.
Having now explained the origin in modern times of 69 out of the 117
constellations, there remain the 48 which were acknowledged by the
Greeks, whose origin is involved in more obscurity.
One of the first to be noticed and named, as it is now the most easily
recognized and most widely known, is the _Great Bear_, which attracts
all the more attention that it is one of those that never sets, being at
a less distance from the pole than the latter is from the horizon.
Every one knows the seven brilliant stars that form this constellation.
The four in the rectangle and the three in a curved line at once call to
mind the form of a chariot, especially one of antique build. It is this
resemblance, no doubt, that has obtained for the constellation the name
of "the Chariot" that it bears among many people. Among the ancient
Gauls it was "Arthur's Chariot." In France it is "David's Chariot," and
in England it goes by the name of "King Charles' Wain," and by that of
the "Plough." The latter name was in vogue, too, among the Latins
(_Plaustrum_), and the three stars were three oxen, from whence it would
appear that they extended the idea to all the seven stars, and at last
called them the _seven_ oxen, _septem-triones_, from whence the name
sometimes used for the north--septentrional. The Greeks also called it
the Chariot ([Greek: Hamaxa]), and the same word seems to have stood
sometimes for a plough. It certainly has some resemblance to this
instrument.
If we take the seven stars as representing the characteristic points of
a chariot, the four stars of the quadrilateral will represent the four
wheels, and the three others will represent the three horses. Above the
centre of the three horses any one with clear sight may perceive a small
star of the fifth or sixth magnitude, called the Cavalier. Each of these
several stars is indicated, as is usual with all the constellations, by
a Greek letter, the largest being denoted by the first letter. Thus the
4 stars in the quadrilateral are [Greek: a], [Greek: b], [Greek: g],
[Greek: d], and the 3 tail stars [Greek: e], [Greek: x], [Greek: e]. The
Arabs give to each star its special name, which in this case are as
follows:--Dubhe and Merak are the stars at the back; Phegda and Megrez
those of the front; Alioth, Mizat, and Ackiar the other three, while the
little one over Mizat is Alcor. Another name for it is Saidak, or the
Tester, the being able to see it being a mark of clear vision.
There is some little interest in the Great Bear on account of the
possibility of its being used as a kind of celestial time-keeper, and
its easy recognition makes it all the more available. The line through
[Greek: a] and [Greek: b] passes almost exactly through the pole. Now
this line revolves of course with the constellation round the pole in 24
hours; in every such interval being once, vertical above the pole, and
once vertical below, taking the intermediate positions to right and left
between these times. The instant at which this line is vertical over the
pole is not the same on any two consecutive nights, since the stars
advance each day 4 minutes on the sun. On the 21st of March the superior
passage takes place at 5 minutes to 11 at night; on the following night
four minutes earlier, or at 9 minutes to 11. In three months the
culmination takes place 6 hours earlier, or at 5 minutes to 5. In six
months, _i.e._ on Sept. 22, it culminates at 10.55 in the morning, being
vertically below the pole at the same hour in the evening. The following
woodcut exhibits the positions of the Great Bear at the various hours of
September 4th. It is plain from this that, knowing the day of the month,
the hour of the night may be told by observing what angle the line
joining [Greek: a] and [Greek: b] of this constellation makes with the
vertical.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.]
We have used the name _Great Bear_, by which the constellation is best
known. It is one of the oldest names also, being derived from the
Greeks, who called it Arctos megale ([Greek: Arktos megale]), whence the
name Arctic; and singularly enough the Iroquois, when America was
discovered, called it Okouari, their name for a bear. The explanation of
this name is certainly not to be found in the resemblance of the
constellation to the animal. The three stars are indeed in the tail, but
the four are in the middle of the back; and even if we take in the
smaller stars that stand in the feet and head, no ingenuity can make it
in this or any other way resemble a bear. It would appear, as Aristotle
observes, that the name is derived from the fact, that of all known
animals the bear was thought to be the only one that dared to venture
into the frozen regions of the north and tempt the solitude and cold.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
Other origins of the name, and other names, have been suggested, of
which we may mention a few. For example, "Ursa" is said to be derived
from _versus_, because the constellation is seen to _turn_ about the
pole. It has been called the Screw ([Greek: Elike]), or Helix, which has
plainly reference to its turning. Another name is Callisto, in reference
to its beauty; and lastly, among the Arabs the Great and Little Bears
were known as the Great and Little Coffins in reference to their slow
and solemn motion. These names referred to the four stars of each
constellation, the other three being the mourners following the bearers.
The Christian Arabs made it into the grave of Lazarus and the three
weepers, Mary, Martha, and their maid.
Next as to the Little Bear. This constellation has evidently received
its name from the similarity of its form to that of the Great Bear. In
fact, it is composed of seven stars arranged in the same way, only in an
inverse order. If we follow the line from [Greek: b] to [Greek: a] of
the Great Bear to a distance of five times as great as that between
these stars we reach the brightest star of the Little Bear, called the
Pole Star. All the names of the one constellation have been applied to
the other, only at a later date.
The new constellations were added one by one to the celestial sphere by
the Greeks before they arranged certain of them as parts of the zodiac.
The successive introduction of the constellations is proved completely
by a long passage of Strabo, which has been often misunderstood. "It is
wrong," he says, "to accuse Homer of ignorance because he speaks only of
one of the two Celestial Bears. The second was probably not formed at
that time. The Phenicians were the first to form them and to use them
for navigation. They came later to the Greeks."
[Illustration: THE CONSTELLATIONS FROM THE SEA-SHORE.
The Swan--The Lyre--Hercules--The Crown--The Herdsman--The Eagle--The
Serpent--The Balance--The Scorpion--Sagittarius.]
All the commentators on Homer, Hygin and Diogenes Laertes, attribute to
Thales the introduction of this constellation. Pseudo-Eratosthenes
called the Little Bear [Greek: Phoinike], to indicate that it was a
guide to the Phenicians. A century later, about the seventeenth
Olympiad, Cleostrates of Tenedos enriched the sphere with the Archer
([Greek: Toxotes], Sagittarius) and the Ram ([Greek: Krios], Aries), and
about the same time the zodiac was introduced into the Grecian sphere.
With regard to the Little Bear there is another passage of Strabo which
it will be interesting to quote. He says--"The position of the people
under the parallel of Cinnamomophore, _i.e._ 3,000 stadia south of Meroe
and 8,800 stadia north of the equator, represents about the middle of
the interval between the equator and the tropic, which passes by Syene,
which is 5,000 stadia north of Meroe. These same people are the first
for whom the Little Bear is comprised entirely in the Arctic circle and
remains always visible; the most southern star of the constellation, the
brilliant one that ends the tail being placed on the circumference of
the Arctic circle, so as just to touch the horizon." The remarkable
thing in this passage is that it refers to an epoch anterior to Strabo,
when the star [Greek: a] of the Little Bear, which now appears almost
immovable, owing to its extreme proximity to the pole, was then more to
the south than the other stars of the constellation, and moved in the
Arctic circle so as to touch the horizon of places of certain latitudes,
and to set for latitudes nearer the equator.
In those days it was not the _Pole_ Star--if that word has any relation
to [Greek: poleo], I turn--for the heavens did not turn about it then as
they do now.
The Grecian geographer speaks in this passage of a period when the most
brilliant star in the neighbourhood of the pole was [Greek: a] of the
Dragon. This was more than three thousand years ago. At that time the
Little Bear was nearer to the pole than what we now call the Polar Star,
for this latter was "the most southern star in the constellation." If we
could alight upon documents dating back fourteen thousand years, we
should find the star Vega ([Greek: a] Lyra) referred to as occupying the
pole of the world, although it now is at a distance of 51 degrees from
it, the whole cycle of changes occupying a period of about twenty-six
thousand years.
Before leaving these two constellations we may notice the origin of the
names according to Plutarch. He would have it that the names are derived
from the use that they were put to in navigation. He says that the
Phenicians called that constellation that guided them in their route the
_Dobebe_, or _Doube_, that is, the speaking constellation, and that this
same word happens to mean also in that language a bear; and so the name
was confounded. Certainly there is still a word _dubbeh_ in Arabic
having this signification.
Next as to the Herdsman. The name of its characteristic star and of
itself, Arcturus ([Greek: Arktos], bear; [Greek: Ouros], guardian), is
explained without difficulty by its position near the Bears. There are
six small stars of the third magnitude in the constellation round its
chief one--three of its stars forming an equilateral triangle. Arcturus
is in the continuation of the curved line through the three tail stars
of the Great Bear. The constellation has also been called Atlas, from
its nearness to the pole--as if it held up the heavens, as the fable
goes.
Beyond this triangle, in the direction of the line continued straight
from the Great Bear, is the Northern Crown, whose form immediately
suggests its name. Among the stars that compose it one, of the second
magnitude, is called the Pearl of the Crown. It was in this point of the
heavens that a temporary star appeared in May, 1866, and disappeared
again in the course of a few weeks.
Among the circumpolar constellations we must now speak of Cassiopeia, or
the Chair--or Throne--which is situated on the opposite side of the Pole
from the Great Bear; and which is easily found by joining its star
[Greek: d] to the Pole and continuing it. The Chair is composed
principally of five stars, of the third magnitude, arranged in the form
of an M. A smaller star of the fourth magnitude completes the square
formed by the three [Greek: b], [Greek: a], and [Greek: g]. The figure
thus formed has a fair resemblance to a chair or throne, [Greek: d] and
[Greek: e] forming the back; and hence the justification for its popular
name. The other name Cassiopeia has its connection and meaning unknown.
We may suitably remark in this place, with Arago, that no precise
drawing of the ancient constellations has come down to us. We only know
their forms by written descriptions, and these often very short and
meagre. A verbal description can never take the place of a drawing,
especially if it is a complex figure, so that there is a certain amount
of doubt as to the true form, position, and arrangement of the figures
of men, beasts, and inanimate objects which composed the star-groups of
the Grecian astronomers--so that unexpected difficulties attend the
attempt to reproduce them on our modern spheres. Add to this that
alterations have been avowedly introduced by the ancient astronomers
themselves, among others by Ptolemy, especially in those given by
Hipparchus. Ptolemy says he determined to make these changes because it
was necessary to give a better proportion to the figures, and to adapt
them better to the real positions of the stars. Thus in the
constellation of the Virgin, as drawn by Hipparchus, certain stars
corresponded to the shoulders; but Ptolemy placed them in the sides, so
as to make the figure a more beautiful one. The result is that modern
designers give scope to their imagination rather than consult the
descriptions of the Greeks. _Cassiopeia_, _Cepheus_, _Andromeda_, and
_Perseus_ holding in his hand the _Head of Medusa_, appear to have been
established at the same epoch, no doubt subsequently to the Great Bear.
They form one family, placed together in one part of the heavens, and
associated in one drama; the ardent Perseus delivering the unfortunate
Andromeda, daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia. We can never be sure,
however, whether the constellations suggested the fable, or the fable
the constellations: the former may only mean that Perseus, rising before
Andromeda, seems to deliver it from the Night and from the constellation
of the Whale. The Head of Medusa, a celebrated woman, that Perseus cut
off and holds in his hand, is said by Volney to be only the head of the
constellation Virgo, which passes beneath the horizon precisely as the
Perseus rises, and the serpents which surround it are Ophiucus and the
polar Dragon, which then occupies the zenith.
Either way, we have no account of the origin of the _names_, and it is
possible that we may have to seek it, if ever we find it, from other
sources--for it would appear that similar names were used for the same
constellations by the Indians. This seems inevitably proved by what is
related by Wilford (_Asiatic Researches_, III.) of his conversation with
his pundit, an astronomer, on the names of the Indian constellations.
"Asking him," he says, "to show me in the heavens the constellation of
Antarmada, he immediately pointed to Andromeda, though I had not given
him any information about it beforehand. He afterwards brought me a very
rare and curious work in Sanscrit, which contained a chapter devoted to
_Upanacchatras_, or extra-zodiacal constellations, with drawings of
_Capuja_ (Cepheus), and of _Casyapi_ (Cassiopeia) seated and holding a
lotus flower in her hand, of _Antarmada_ charmed with the fish beside
her, and last of _Parasiea_ (Perseus) who, according to the explanation
of the book, held the head of a monster which he had slain in combat;
blood was dropping from it, and for hair it had snakes." As the stars
composing a constellation have often very little connection with the
figure they are supposed to form, when we find the same set of stars
called by the same name by two different nations, as was the case, for
instance, in some of the Indian names of constellations among the
Americans, it is a proof that one of the nations copied it from the
other, or that both have copied from a common source. So in the case
before us, we cannot think these similar names have arisen
independently, but must conclude that the Grecian was borrowed from the
Indian.
Another well-known constellation in this neighbourhood, forming an
isosceles triangle with Arcturus and the Pole Star, is the Lyre. Lucian
of Samosatus says that the Greeks gave this name to the constellation to
do honour to the Lyre of Orpheus. Another possible explanation is this.
The word for lyre in Greek [Greek: chelys] and in Latin (_testudo_)
means also a tortoise. Now at the time when this name was imposed the
chief star in the Lyre may have been very near to the pole of the
heavens and therefore have had a very slow motion, and hence it might
have been named the tortoise, and this in Greek would easily be
interpreted into lyre instead. Indeed this double meaning of the word
seems certainly to have given rise to the fable of Mercury having
constructed a lyre out of the back of a tortoise. Circling round the
pole of the ecliptic, and formed by a sinuous line of stars passing
round from the Great Bear to the Lyre, is the Dragon, which owes its
name to its form. Its importance is derived from its relation to the
ecliptic, the pole of which is determined by reference to the stars of
the first coil of the body. The centre of the zodiacal circle is a very
important point, that circle being traced on the most ancient spheres,
and probably being noticed even before the pole of the heavens.
Closely associated with the Dragon both in mythology and in the
celestial sphere is Hercules. He is always drawn kneeling; in fact, the
constellation is rather a man in a kneeling posture than any particular
man. The poets called it Engonasis with reference to this, which is too
melancholy or lowly a position than would agree well with the valiant
hero of mythology. There is a story related by AEschylus about the stones
in the Champ des Cailloux, between Marseilles and the embouchure of the
Rhone, to the effect that Hercules, being amongst the Ligurians, found
it necessary to fight with them; but he had no more missiles to throw;
when Jupiter, touched by the danger of his son, sent a rain of round
stones, with which Hercules repulsed his enemies. The Engonasis is thus
considered by some to represent him bending down to pick up the stones.
Posidonius remarks that it was a pity Jupiter did not rain the stones on
the Ligurians at once, without giving Hercules the trouble to pick them
up.
Ophiucus, which comes close by, simply means the man that holds the
serpent [Greek: ophi-ouchos].
It is obviously impossible to know the origins of all the names, as
those we now use are only the surviving ones of several that from time
to time have been applied to the various constellations according to
their temporary association with the local legends. The prominent ones
are favoured with quite a crowd of names. We need only cite a few.
Hercules, for instance, has been called [Greek: Okalzon Korynetes],
Engonasis, Ingeniculus, Nessus, Thamyris, Desanes, Maceris, Almannus,
Al-chete, &c. The Swan has the names of [Greek: Kyknos], [Greek: Iktin],
[Greek: Ornis], Olar, Helenae genitor, Ales Jovis, Ledaeus, Milvus,
Gallina, The Cross, while the Coachman has been [Greek: Ippilates],
[Greek: Elastippos], [Greek: Airoelates], [Greek: Eniochos], Auriga,
Acator, Hemochus, Erichthonus, Mamsek, Alanat, Athaiot, Alatod, &c. With
respect to the Coachman, in some old maps he is drawn with a whip in his
left hand turned towards the chariot, and is called the charioteer. No
doubt its proximity to the former constellation has acquired for it its
name. The last we need mention, as of any celebrity, is that of Orion,
which is situated on the equator, which runs exactly through its midst.
Regel forms its left foot, and the Hare serves for a footstool to the
right foot of the hero. Three magnificent stars in the centre of the
quadrilateral, which lie in one straight line are called the Rake, or
the Three Kings, or the Staff of Jacob, or the Belt. These names have
an obvious origin; but the meaning of Orion itself is more doubtful. In
the Grecian sphere it is written [Greek: Orion], which also means a kind
of bird. The allied word [Greek: oros] has very numerous meanings, the
only one of which that could be conjectured to be connected with the
constellations is a "guardian." The word [Greek: horion], on the
contrary, the diminutive of [Greek: horos], means a limit, and has been
assigned to Jupiter; and in this case may have reference to the
constellation being situated on the confines of the two hemispheres. In
mythology Orion was an intrepid hunter of enormous size. He was the same
personage as Orus, Arion, the Minotaur, and Nimrod, and afterwards
became Saturn. Orion is called _Tsan_ in Chinese, which signifies three,
and corresponds to the three kings.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
The Asiatics used not to trace the images of their constellations, but
simply joined the component stars by straight lines, and placed at the
side the hieroglyphic characters that represented the object they wished
to name. Thus joining by five lines the principal stars in Orion, they
placed at the side the hieroglyphics representing a man and a sword,
from whence the Greeks derived the figure they afterwards drew of a
giant armed with a sword.
We must include in this series that brightest of all stars, Sirius. It
forms part of the constellation of the Great Dog, and lies to the south
of Orion near the extreme limit of our vision into the Southern
hemisphere in our latitudes. This star seems to have been intimately
connected with Egypt, and to have derived its name--as well as the name
of the otherwise unimportant constellation it forms part of--from that
country, and in this way:--
The overflowing of the Nile was always preceded by an Etesian wind,
which, blowing from north to south about the time of the passage of the
sun beneath the stars of the Crab, drove the mists to the south, and
accumulated them over the country whence the Nile takes its source,
causing abundant rains, and hence the flood. The greatest importance
attached to the foretelling the time of this event, so that people might
be ready with their provisions and their places of security. The moon
was no use for this purpose, but the stars were, for the inundation
commenced when the sun was in the stars of the Lion. At this time the
stars of the Crab just appeared in the morning, but with them, at some
distance from the ecliptic, the bright star Sirius also rose. The
morning rising of this star was a sure precursor of the inundation. It
seemed to them to be the warning star, by whose first appearance they
were to be ready to move to safer spots, and thus acted for each family
the part of a faithful dog. Whence they gave it the name of the Dog, or
Monitor, in Egyptian _Anubis_, in Phenician _Hannobeach_, and it is
still the Dog-Star--_Caniculus_, and its rising commences our
_dog-days_. The intimate connection between the rising of this star and
the rising of the Nile led people to call it also the Nile star, or
simply the Nile; in Egyptian and Hebrew, _Sihor_; in Greek, [Greek:
Sothis]; in Latin, _Sirius_.
In the same way the Egyptians and others characterised the different
days of the year by the stars which first appeared in the evening--as we
shall see more particularly with reference to the Pleiades--and in this
way certain stars came to be associated in their calendar with
variations of temperature and operations of agriculture. They soon took
for the cause what was originally but the sign, and thus they came to
talk of moist stars, whose rising brought rain, and arid stars, which
brought drought. Some made certain plants to grow, and others had
influence over animals.
In the case of Egypt, no other so great event could occur as that which
the Dog-Star foretold, and its appearance was consequently made the
commencement of the year. Instead, therefore, of painting it as a simple
star, in which case it would be indistinguishable from others, they gave
it shape according to its function and name. When they wished to signify
that it opened the year, it was represented as a porter bearing keys, or
else they gave it two heads, one of an old man, to represent the passing
year, the other of a younger, to denote the succeeding year. When they
would represent it as giving warning of the inundation they painted it
as a dog. To illustrate what they were to do when it appeared, Anubis
had in his arms a stew-pot, wings to his feet, a large feather under his
arm, and two reptiles behind him, a tortoise and a duck.
There is also in the celestial sphere a constellation called the Little
Dog and Procyon; the latter name has an obvious meaning, as appearing
_before_ the Dog-Star.
We cannot follow any farther the various constellations of the northern
sphere, nor of the southern. The zodiacal constellations we must
reserve for the present, while we conclude by referring to some of the
changes in form and position that some of the above-mentioned have
undergone in the course of their various representations.
These changes are sometimes very curious, as, for example, in a coloured
chart, printed at Paris in 1650, we have the Charioteer drawn in the
costume of Adam, with his knees on the Milky Way, and turning his back
to the public; the she-goat appears to be climbing over his neck, and
two little she-goats seem to be running towards their mother. Cassiopeia
is more like King Solomon than a woman. Compare this with the _Phenomena
of Aratus_, published 1559, where Cassiopeia is represented sitting on
an oak chair with a ducal back, holding the holy palm in her left hand,
while the Coachman, "Erichthon," is in the costume of a minion of Henry
the Third of France. Now compare the Cassiopeia of the Greeks with that
drawn in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, or the Coachman of the
same periods, and we can easily see the fancies of the painters have
been one of the most fertile sources of change. They seem, too, to have
had the fancy in the middle ages to draw them all hideous and turning
their backs. Compare, for instance, the two pictures of Andromeda and
Hercules, as given below, where those on one side are as heavy and gross
as the others are artistic and pretty. Unfortunately for the truth of
Andromeda's beauty, as depicted in these designs, she was supposed to
be a negress, being the daughter of the Ethiopians, Cepheus and
Cassiopeia. Not one of the drawings indicates this; indeed they all take
after their local beauties.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.]
In Flamsteed's chart, as drawn above, the Coachman is a female; and
instead of the she-goat being on the back, she holds it in her arms. No
one, indeed, from any of the figures of this constellation would ever
dream it was intended to represent a coachman.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.]
One more fundamental cause of changes has been the confusion of names
derived by one nation from another, these having sometimes followed
their signification, but at others being translated phonetically. Thus
the Latins, in deriving names from the Greek [Greek: Arktos], have
partly translated it by Ursa, and partly have copied it in the form
Arcticus. So also with reference to the three stars in the head of the
Bull, called by the Greeks Hyades. The Romans thought it was derived
from [Greek: hyes], sows, so they called them _suculae_, or little sows;
whereas the original name was derived from [Greek: hyein], to rain, and
signified stars whose appearance indicated the approach of the rainy
season.
More curious still is the transformation of the Pearl of the Northern
Crown (Margarita Coronae) in a saint--S. Marguerite.
The names may have had many origins whose signification is lost, owing
to their being misunderstood. Thus figurative language may have been
interpreted as real, as when a conjunction is called a marriage; a
disappearance, death; and a reappearance, a resurrection; and then
stories must be invented to fit these words; or the stars that have in
one country given notice of certain events lose the meaning of their
names when these are used elsewhere; as when a boat painted near the
stars that accompany an inundation, becomes the ship Argo; or when, to
represent the wind, the bird's wing is drawn; or those stars that mark a
season are associated with the bird of passage, the insect or the animal
that appears at that time: such as these would soon lose their original
signification.
The celestial sphere, therefore, as we now possess it, is not simply a
collection of unmeaning names, associated with a group of stars in no
way connected with them, which have been imposed at various epochs by
capricious imagination, but in most instances, if not in all, they
embody a history, which, if we could trace it, would probably lead us to
astronomical facts, indicating the where and the when of their first
introduction; and the story of their changes, so far as we can trace it,
gives us some clue to the mental characteristics or astronomical
progress of the people who introduced the alterations.
We shall find, indeed, in a subsequent chapter, that many of our
conclusions as to the birth and growth of astronomy are derived from
considerations connected with the various constellations, more
especially those of the zodiac.
With regard to the date when and the country where the constellations of
the sphere were invented, we will here give what evidence we possess,
independent of the origin of the zodiac.
In the first place it seems capable of certain proof that they were not
invented by the Greeks, from whom we have received them, but adopted
from an older source, and it is possible to give limits to the date of
introduction among them.
Newton, who attributes its introduction to Musaeus, a contemporary of
Chiron, remarks, that it must have been settled _after_ the expedition
of the Argonauts, and _before_ the destruction of Troy; because the
Greeks gave to the constellation names that were derived from their
history and fables, and devoted several to celebrate the memory of the
famous adventurers known as the Argonauts, and they would certainly have
dedicated some to the heroes of Troy, if the siege of that place had
happened at the time. We remark that at this time astronomy was in too
infant a state in Greece for them to have fixed with so much accuracy
the position of the stars, and that we have in this a proof they must
have borrowed their knowledge from older cultivators of the science.
The various statements we meet with about the invention of the sphere
may be equally well interpreted of its introduction only into Greece.
Such, for instance, as that Eudoxus first constructed it in the
thirteenth or fourteenth century B.C., or that by Clement of Alexandria,
that Chiron was the originator.
The oldest direct account of the names of the constellations and their
component stars is that of Hesiod, who cites by name in his _Works and
Days_ the Pleiades, Arcturus, Orion, and Sirius. He lived, according to
Herodotus, about 884 years before Christ.
The knowledge of all the constellations did not reach the Greeks at the
same time, as we have seen from the omission by Homer of any mention of
the Little Bear, when if he had known it, he could hardly have failed to
speak of it. For in his description of the shield of Achilles, he
mentions the Pleiades, the Hyades, Orion and the Bear, "which alone does
not bathe in the Ocean." He could never have said this last if he had
known of the Dragon and Little Bear.
We may then safely conclude that the Greeks received the idea of the
constellations from some older source, probably the Chaldeans. They
received it doubtless as a sphere, with figured, but nameless
constellations; and the Greeks by slight changes adapted them to
represent the various real or imaginary heroes of their history. It
would be a gracious task, for their countrymen would glory in having
their great men established in the heavens. When they saw a ship
represented, what more suitable than to name it the ship Argo? The Swan
must be Jupiter transformed, the Lyre is that of Orpheus, the Eagle is
that which carried away Ganymede, and so on.
This would be no more than what other nations have done, as, for
example, the Chinese, who made greater changes still, unless we consider
theirs to have had an entirely independent origin.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.]
That the celestial sphere was a conception known to others than the
Greeks is easily proved. The Arabians, for instance, certainly did not
borrow it from them; yet they have the same things represented. Above is
a figure of a portion of an Arabian sphere drawn in the eleventh
century, where we get represented plainly enough the Great and Little
Bears, the Dragon, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Perseus, with the Triple Head
of Medusa; the Triangle, one of the Fishes, Auriga, the Ram, the Bull
obscurely, and the Twins.
There is also the famous so-called zodiac of Denderah, brought from
Egypt to Paris. This in reality contains more constellations than those
of the zodiac. Most of the northern ones can be traced, with certain
modifications. Its construction is supposed to belong to the eighth
century B.C. Most conspicuous on it is the Lion, in a kind of barque,
recalling the shape of the Hydra. Below it is the calf Isis, with
Sirius, or the Dog-Star, on the forehead; above it is the Crab, to the
right the Twins, over these along instrument, the Plough, and above that
a small animal, the Little Bear, and so we may go on:--all the zodiacal
constellations, especially the Balance, the Scorpion, and the Fishes
being very clear. This sphere is indeed of later date than that supposed
for the Grecian, but it certainly appears to be independent. The remains
we possess of older spheres are more particularly connected with the
zodiac, and will be discussed hereafter.
From what people the Greeks received the celestial sphere, is a question
on which more than one opinion has been formed. One is that it was
originated in the tropical latitudes of Egypt. The other, that it came
from the Chaldeans, and a third that it came from more temperate
latitudes further to the east. The arguments for the last of these are
as follow:
There is an empty space of about 90 deg., formed by the last constellations
of the sphere, towards the south pole, that is by the Centaur, the
Altar, the Archer, the Southern Fish, the Whale, and the Ship. Now in a
systematic plan, if the author were situated near the equator there
would be no vacant space left in this way, for in this case the southern
stars, attracting as much attention as the northern, would be inevitably
inserted in the system of constellations which would be extended to the
horizon on all sides. But a country of sufficiently high latitude to be
unable to see at any time the stars about the southern pole must be
north both of Egypt and Chaldea.
This empty space remained unfilled until the discovery of the Cape of
Good Hope, except that the star Canopus was included in the
constellation Argo, and the river Eridan had an arbitrary extension
given to it, instead of terminating in latitude 40 deg..
Another less cogent argument is derived from the interpretation of the
fable of the Phoenix. This is supposed to represent the course of the
sun, which commences its growth at the time of its death. A similar
fable is found among the Swedes. Now a tropical nation would find the
difference of days too little to lead it to invent such a fable to
represent it. It must needs have arisen where the days of winter were
very much shorter than those of summer.
The Book of Zoroaster, in which some of the earliest notices of
astronomy are recorded, states that the length of a summer day is twice
as long as that of winter. This fixes the latitude in which that book
must have been composed, and makes it 49 deg.. Whence it follows, that to
such a place must we look for the origin of these spheres, and not to
Egypt or Chaldea.
[Illustration: PLATE III.--CHALDEAN ASTRONOMERS.]
Diodorus Siculus speaks of a nation in that part of the world, whom he
calls Hyperboreans, who had a tradition that their country is the
nearest to the moon, on which they discovered mountains like those on
the earth, and that Apollo comes there once every nineteen years. This
period being that of the metonic cycle of the moon, shows that if this
could have really been discovered by them, they must have had a long
acquaintance with astronomy.
The Babylonian tablets lead us to the belief that astronomy, and with it
the sphere, and the zodiac were introduced by a nation coming from the
East, from the mountains of Elam, called the Accadians, before 3000
B.C., and these may have been the nation to whom the whole is due.
On the other hand, the arguments for the Egyptians, or Chaldeans being
the originators depend solely on the tradition handed down by many, that
one or other are the oldest people in the world, with the oldest
civilization, and they have long cultivated astronomy. More precise
information, however, seems to render these traditions, to say the
least, doubtful, and certainly incapable of overthrowing the arguments
adduced above.