It is said to be the eagle that held the thunderbolts of Zeus, king of the gods, until he needed them. Aquila was sometimes sent on other errands by Zeus: It was Aquila that kidnapped the young Ganymede as he tended his flock on the slopes of Mount Ida and brought him to Olympus to serve as cup bearer to the gods.
Aquarius, one of the most ancient constellations in the sky, has been known under various names over the ages. It is located in a region of the sky that was known thousands of years ago as "the water" or "the sea".
The Egyptians of the New Kingdom (which began in the 16th century B.C.) identified this group of stars as a ram, an animal the associated with their principal god, Amon Ra.
Auriga was among the earliest constellations to be named, but its origins are not known. It is seen as a charioteer, usually identified with either Hephaestus (the Roman god Vulcan), or his son, Erechtheus, both of whom were lame. Each of these figures was credited by the Greeks with inventing the chariot to aid in his transportation.
One legend says the Bootes, whose name comes from the Greek word for "ox-driver" or "herdsman", was the son of Demeter (Roman: Ceres), the goddess of agriculture. The constellation of Bootes was once also know as Arcturus. Bootes is credited with inventing the plow and was placed in the sky to honor his invention, of such immense importance to civilization.
Capricornus is one of the oldest constellations in the sky. Depiction’s of a goat, or of a goat-fish, have been found on Babylonian tablets around 3,000 years old. According to some ancient myths, Capricornus was the gate of the Gods, the portal in the sky through which the souls of mortals passed after they died.
Cassiopeia was the beautiful Aethiopian queen of the city of Joppa in Phoenicia. Cepheus was her king husband. Cassiopeia was boastful about her natural beauty and especially the beauty of their daughter Andromeda.
Centaurus is said to be Chiron, the smartest and the wisest of his race, wiser even than the gods. He was skilled in the arts, hunting, and medicine. He was the tutor of such illustrious humans as Jason, Achilles, Hercules, and Asclepius
In Greco-Roman mythology Cancer was a crab sent by Hera to distract Hercules while he was fighting Hydra. Cancer nipped Hercules, who then stepped on Cancer and killed it. Hera placed the crab in the sky, but because it had failed in its task, Hera neglected to give Cancer any bright stars to mark the constellation
About 243 B.C. Ptolemy Euergetes set out on a military expedition against the Assyrians, who had murdered his sister. Berenice, who was proud if her beautiful long golden hair, vowed to sacrifice her "amber tresses" if he returned victorious. When he did, Berenice, cut off her hair, and placed it in the temple of Aphrodite, goddess of beauty. That night the hair disappeared, enraging the king and the queen. To save the situation, and the lives of the temple priests, Conon the court astronomer, announced that Berenice’s gift had received such favor that Aphrodite had taken the hair and placed it in the sky for all to admire.
Corona Australis was one of the original 48 constellations named by 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy. It is said to be the crown worn by the centaur Chiron.
According to myth, one day the god Apollo sent the raven Corvus for a cup of spring water. Near the spring Corvus spied a green fig, so he sat down and waited until it ripened.
Cygnus the swan, was not always a swan. Greek legend tells a tragic story of Apollo’s son, Phaeton, who tried to drive Apollo’s chariot across the sky. Apollo warned him not to drive to close to the Earth lest he set it on fire. Phaeton lost control of the wild horses, and to spare the Earth a fiery destruction, Zeus threw a lightning bolt at the young boy, killing him instantly. The horses climbed higher into the sky, scorching a path that became the Milky Way. Phaeton fell into the river Eridanus. Cygnus dove repeatedly into the river to try to retrieve the body of his friend but failed. Zeus was so impressed with Cygnus’ devotion to his Phaeton that he turned him into a swan, enabling him to dive more easily. Cygnus was eventually rewarded for his gallantry by a prominent place in the summer skies within the cloudy path of the Milky Way.
One story has it that when Poseidon (Neptune) was courting the mermaid Amphitrite, he rode on the back of a dolphin. When she agreed to become his wife, Poseidon placed the dolphin in the sky in gratitude for his help
Draco has stood for all the dragons of mythology, from Tiamat of the Sumerians to the monster slain by Saint George. In all myths the dragon symbolized anarchy and chaos
In classical mythology, these stars represent the twins Castor and Pollux, who were hatched from an egg borne by Leda after she was seduced by Zeus in the guise of a swan. Their sister was Helen of Troy.
In Greco-Roman mythology, Hercules is the half mortal son of Jupiter (Zeus) and the princess Alcmene. Jupiter’s ever jealous wife Juno (Hera) sent serpents to kill the baby Hercules in his crib. The child, with astonishing strength, managed to strangle them, and grew up to become the strongest of men.
Hydra was a many headed monster slain by Hercules as one of the Herculean tasks. This was not an easy task since each time Hercules cut off a head of the Hydra, two more heads grew in the severed head’s place. As a solution to this problem, Hercules used a torch to cauterize each stump after he cut off that head. One head was immortal, so when Hercules cut that one off, he placed it under a huge stone where it could do no harm. After the battle, Jupiter (Zeus) placed the Hydra in the sky. Hydra is the largest constellation in the sky.
The Greeks claimed that the figure was the mythological Nemean Lion, which fell from the moon in the form of a meteor. The lion ravaged the countryside around Corinth until it was slain by Hercules .
Originally part of the constellation of Scorpius, this constellation was recognized as the scales by the Romans. The two brightest stars in this constellation have names that reflect this constellations as part of Scorpius : Alpha Libra is Zubenelgenubi, is Arabic for Southern Claw; and Beta Libra is Zubeneschamali, which is Arabic for Norther Claw.
Leo Minor was named by Johannes Hevelius about the year 1687.
It is thought that these stars represented a gazelle to the ancient Arabs.
In Chinese lore they were somtimes combined with the stars of Leo to make a huge celestial dragon and, in another depiction, a chariot.
Lupus is a constellation that, though known to the ancients, is faint and has no named stars. For centuries it was known as Therion, a wild animal of know specific kind. Some thought it was a wineskin held by Centaurus, which it adjoins.
Very long ago, the first civilizations of the Middle East and India saw these stars as a vulture. Vega, the brightest star in Lyra was know as the Vulture Star. Even though the Greeks saw a harp here, depictions of Lyra even centuries later often showed the harp held in the claws of a vulture.
This constellation was orginally named Apis, the Bee, by Johann Bayer in his 1603 atlas of stars. Later Edmond Halley called it Musca Apis, the Fly Bee, and still later Nicolas-Louis dl Lacaille named it Musca Australis, the Southern Fly. This last name was to distinguish it from the northern fly, depicted on the back of Aries, the Ram. Since the norther fly is no longer recognized as a constellation, the southern fly in now known as Musca, the fly.
Ophiuchus is usually identified as Asclepius, a legendary physician known as the god of medicine. Asclepius was the son of Apollo and Coronis and was educated by Chiron (Centaurus ). It is said that Hippocrates, the famous Greek physician and the father of medicine was his 15th grandson. According to legend, of day Asclepius killed a snake, but to his surprise another snake arrived and revived its companion with herbs. As his medical skills grew, Asclepius even learned how to revive the dead. This knowledge worried Hades, god of the underworld, who feared that his domain would not receive any new souls. Hades persuaded his brother Zeus to kill Asclepius with a thunderbolt and to decree that all mortals must one day die. Zeus did strike Asclepius dead, but to honor his skills as a healer Zeus placed Asclepius in the sky with his serpents.
In Greco-Roman mythology, the character Orion was a famed hunter, but he was boastful and went so far as to claim that no beast could kill him. To teach Orion a lesson, the goddess Hera sent a tiny scorpion to sting him. Orion smashed the scorpion with his club but not before it had stung him fatally. Orion and the scorpion were placed in the heavens on opposite sides of the sky. When Scorpius rises, Orion sets, and vice versa; these enemies are never seen together in the sky
In Greek myth, Perseus was the son of Zeus and the mortal Danae. Danae’s father, having been told by an oracle that his grandson would on day kill him, set Danae and Perseus adrift in a trunk. They were rescued by a fisherman and went to live on his island. The king of that island, Polydectes, wished to court Danae, and to get Perseus out of the way he sent the youth to slay the Gorgons, three sisters so ugly that any mortal who beheld them turned to stone. The night before his departure, Minerva appeared to Perseus in a dream and gave him a shiny magic shield upon which he could look at Medusa’s reflection without being harmed. She also gave him a magic sword with which to sever the neck of Medusa. A man made sword would not do the job. Then Mercury appeared and gave Perseus winged sandals so that he could fly across the ocean to the island where the Gorgon lived in a cave. During his quest, Perseus found the three nymphs of the North, who gave him a magic helmet that would make him invisible and a magic pouch into which to place the severed head. Armed with the magic of the gods, Perseus found the island of the Gorgon Medusa. Her cave was guarded by two sisters who never slept. Perseus donned his helmet and crept quickly past them. Medusa lay asleep on the floor of the cave. Perseus raised his shield high and, watching her reflection in the dim light, he backed up to her. Then, with on mighty blow of the sword, he severed the head of Medusa. He picked up the head and placed it in the pouch. As he left the cave and walked down to the shore, a trail of blood was left behind. From Medusa’s spilled blood, Pegasus was born. Perseus mounted the winged horse and headed back to Greece. Fleeing the other Gorgons, Perseus came upon King Atlas, who refused him aid. Glancing at the head of Medusa, Atlas turned into a mountain of stone and thereafter had to bear the weight of the heavens on his shoulders. Continuing his flight, Perseus came upon the princess Andromeda, the chained maiden, and rescued her from Cetus, the sea monster. Later in his life, Perseus, throwing the discus in an athletic contest, struck and killed a spectator. That unfortunate being turned out to be his grandfather, and the prophecy that he would be killed by his grandson was fulfilled, in spite of all the old man’s efforts.
The constellation Piscis Austrinis has been known since classical Greek and Roman times but probably goes back even further, to an ancient Syrian constellation representing the god Dagon. It has occasionally been shown as two fish, but it is more commonly seen as a single fish, sometimes drinking from a stream of water poured from the jar held by Aquarius .
The Greeks and Romans recognized two fish in these stars. They were said to be Aphrodite and her son Eros, who, fleeing from the giant Typhon, jumped into a stream, turned into fish, and swam away to safety. They tied their tails together so they wouldn’t be separated.
These stars form the stern of poop deck of the great celestial ship Argo. South of Puppis is Carina, the Keel, and just to the east are Pyxis, the Compass, and Vela, the Sail.
This modern constellation was created by Johannes Hevelius in 1690, in honor of King John III Sobieski of Poland, and was supposed to represent his coat of arms.
Serpens is the only constellation that is in two separate parts. Serpens Caput (Head of the Snake) is 429 square degrees. Serpens Cauda (Tail of the Snake) is 208 square degrees. The two parts of this constellation are separated by Ophiuchus .
This constellation does not represent a mariner’s sextant, but the larger astronomical sextant used by Johannes Hevelius to compile one of the first accurate star maps.
Sagitta has been identified with just about every famous arrow in mythology. It has been said to be the arrow that killed the eagle of Zeus, the arrow shot by Hercules at the Stymphalian Birds, and the one with which Apollo slew the Cyclops. It has also been said to represent Cupid’s arrow. Sagitta is the third smallest constellation.
This is a large constellation that was probably first associated with Nergal, the arrow shooting god of war, by Sumerian peoples of the Euphrates Valley. It was known by the Greeks as the archer, and later came to be identified as a satyr, or centaur.
Greek legend has it that this group of stars is Zeus in the disguise of a white bull with golden horns; in this form he seduced and abducted the beautiful Europa. When Europa seated herself on the bull’s back, he swam away with her to Crete, which is why we see only the animal’s forequarters in the constellation.
Taurus is also thought to be charging Orion the hunter, who lies to the east.
This group of stars has been recognized since classical times. The Romans know this constellation as Deltotum. It was in this consetellation that Giuseppe Piazzi, on January 1, 1801, discovered the first asteroid.
Our best known legend about Ursa Major comes from Greek mythology. According to this legend, the king of the gods, Zeus, fell in love with a beautiful woman named Callisto. When Zeus’ wife Hera learned of the affair, she changed Callisto into a bear. This bear roamed the forest until one day she happened upon a young and handsome hunter whom she recognized as her own son, Arcas. Callisto raised up on her hind legs to embrace her child, but Arcas saw only a bear and raised his spear. In the nick of time, Zeus intervened, changing Arcas into a bear. Then he grasped Callisto and her son by their tails and flung them into the sky, to become our constellations of the large and small bears. This explains why the celestial bears have such long tails, in contrast to their earthly counterparts
Vela represents the sail of the ship Argo (Argo Navis), the huge ancient southern constellation that was divided into several smaller constellations by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille in the 1750s.
Virgo is the only female figure amoung the constellations of the zodiac. It is also one of the oldest constellations and has assumed the identity of just about every important female deit since history has been recorded. In particular, Virgo has been identified with goddesses of fertility, of agriculture, and of the earth. Virgo is the second largest constellation in the sky.
Top){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}