One more time...

More constellations! (There’s so many!)

6) Hercules: Hercules, originally Heracles or Herakles, was ironically most greatly threatened in mythology by the wife of Jupiter, Juno (ironically because ‘Heracles’ can literally be translated as the ‘glory of Hera’, Juno’s Greek name). At birth, Heracles was beset upon by snakes sent by Juno into his crib as an act of vengeance for her husband Jupiter’s infidelity with a mortal woman.  Easily strangling the twin snakes, this began Heracles career as a monster killer. He later married Megara who, as it was believed (possibly to retain Heracles’ heroic persona), was put under a spell of madness by Juno and killed Megara along with his own children. As atonement for these sins, however, he completes twelve necessary labours (one of which was of course the slaying of the Nemean lion…Leo!).

The constellation of Hercules is shown with him and his Nemean lion skin and club. An interesting parallel however- Heracles was never thought of as being intelligent, but was always famed for his brute strength. The Hercules constellation is the fifth largest in the sky, yet also one of the dimmest.

7) Cassiopeia: If you’ve read the blogs before this one, you actually know a bit about this myth already! Cassiopeia is the mother of Andromeda- the same mother that bragged how her daughter (or herself, according to different versions) was more beautiful than the sea nymphs. As penance for her pride, she was forced to have her daughter strung up and fed to the sea monster sent by a vengeful Neptune, God of the Seas and of the sea Nymphs themselves. Enter Perseus, the saviour and future husband to the daughter of Cassiopeia. He saves Cassiopeia’s daughter and runs off with her to be married.

In the constellation, Cassiopeia is assumed to be sitting on her throne in all her vanity. 

And there we have it. Two more to add to your mounting repetoir of constellation/mythological knowledge. 

-StarKid

More Constellations!!

I thought I’d give a bit more background on some more of the constellations drifting around the night sky:

4) Leo: Leo, the lion, is typically associated with the story of the Nemean lion faced by Heracles as one of his twelve labours. It was said that the skin of the Lion was perfectly impenetrable; therefore Heracles strangled the cat to death and subsequently used the creature’s own claws to skin the beast. Heracles is constantly depicted as having worn the skin of the Nemean lion on all of his adventures and seems to have been his key symbol apart from the club he bore as well.  Leo is most recognizable in the night sky by the bright star Regulus, representing the supposed heart of the lion. The curved “sickle” makes up the Lion’s head, and the triangle towards his flank makes up the back portion of Leo.

5)Draco: Draco, the snake (or dragon as it is sometimes depicted) has many originations, each of which is just as likely to be the true myth behind the constellation. Here, I’ll simply tell my favourite; the story of Cadmus and the founding of Thebes. Cadmus was given probably one of the most peculiar tasks of literally following a cow until the cow lay down, and here he was told to found the city of Thebes.  Once reaching the site, however, his men were set upon by the ‘monster of Mars’. Mars being the god of war and perhaps the most violent of the Roman Gods, it’s understandable why the men were killed so quickly. Cadmus took up arms however and slew the dragon, planting its teeth in the ground (some of these myths are pretty crazy) from which sprung a legion of warriors to fight for Cadmus. They fought amongst themselves until there were but 5 soldiers left, and they, with Cadmus, became the first people of Thebes.

Draco ‘snakes’ up in between the constellations of Ursa Minor and Ursa Major, distinctively curving in on itself. 

Hope that was enjoyable!!

-StarKid

The Classic Constellations

Have a look at the big ol’ sky outside your window right now. Assuming its night-time, you’re looking at a whole bunch of funky patterns that seems to make equally funky shapes; constellations. “But StarKid, where do the myths behind these constellations come from?” you ask.  Well, astute observer, the myths come from Classics!

Let’s have a look at some of the more amazing myths behind these constellations we see in the sky.

1) Perseus: Slayer of the Gorgon Medusa, this character was born out of wedlock between his mother and the almighty God, Zeus (as were most heroes…and Gods…and Demi-Gods…and just about everyone).  His mother’s Father seeing that she had been impregnated cast the pair of them out to sea in a wooden chest where they were rescued by a kind fisherman.  Raised with the fisherman and his mother, the fisherman’s brother soon become attracted to the oh-so-handsome mother of Perseus. Perseus attempts to defend his mother, but is told the only way to save her from rape is to complete a series of impossible tasks to win her back. These include speaking with the Fates to learn of the location of the Gorgon Medusa, chopping off her head by use of a reflective shield, meeting up with the hearty Atlas, rescuing Andromeda from a sea monster sent by Poseidon and eventually returning to gain freedom for his Mother. he then fulfilled an old prophecy that he would kill his Grandfather, completely by accident, when he bopped him in the head with a discus.

Although pictures that make sense of the constellation may vary, typically Perseus is seen as carrying his sword and Medusa’s head beside his beloved, Andromeda as seen here. 

2) Pegasus: Alternatively, one might view the constellations as having this shape, where Pegasus is included. Pegasus was the winged horse, which is rumoured to have sprouted from the severed neck of the Gorgon once slain by Perseus.  Pegasus was said to have one rider to whom he had an affinity; Bellerophon. Bellerophon was said to have been the first to tame and ride the first flying horse, and therefore he is often represented as being the ‘rider of Pegasus’. Other myths use a liberal amount of flying steeds however. 

3)Taurus: Taurus has many myths associated with him. The most famous, perhaps is the myth in which Zeus, enthralled by the beauty of a maiden, Europa, disguised himself as a bull (ie. Taurus) and bore her across the sea to an island, where he made her his mistress. He then told her that all the land she could see was now hers, which gives the land its name: Europe (yes, as in the continent). She then bore Zeus three sons (I told you everyone was born from Zeus), each of which became great and controlled their own poleis. The most famous of these perhaps being Minos. 

I suppose I’ll leave you with that for now, and I may expand and explain some of the other many constellations we see in the sky in subsequent blogs.

Adios!

-StarKid