Post by ~*~Kit_The_Kat~*~ on Nov 18, 2003 16:49:12 GMT -5
Altar (Ara). This constellation, some say, was constructed by the CYCLOPES, and it marked the place where the gods made offerings before waging war against the TITANS. Others say, however, that The Altar commemorates the victory against the GIANTS, and that it was set up by Zeus.
Andromeda, the Ethiopian princess daughter of Cepheus 1, was placed as a constellation among the stars by the favor of Athena on account of the courage of Perseus 1, who saved her.
Andromeda
Aquarius or Water Bearer (Aquarius). This constellation, said to be protected by Hera, represents either Ganymedes, who is cupbearer in Heaven, or Deucalion 1, who survived the Flood during which much water poured from the sky, or King Cecrops 1 of Athens, who reigned before wine was discovered.
Aquarius or Water Bearer (Aquarius)
Archer (Sagittarius). This constellation, which is protected by Artemis, represents Crotus, a companion of the MUSES that was put by Zeus among the stars.
Arcturus (in constellation Bootes). This particularly bright star (Alpha Bootis) is Icarius 2, the man who received from Dionysus 2 a branch of a vine and learned from him the process of making wine. He was killed by some shepherds who having drunk his wine imagined they were bewitched. He had a daughter Erigone 2, who hanged herself when she discovered her father's body.
Argo (Puppis). This constellation commemorates the "Argo", vessel of the ARGONAUTS. Puppis was in the 1750s subdivided into four constellations: Carina, Puppis, Pyxis and Vela (keel, poop, compass and sails).
Arrow (Sagitta). About the Arrow it has been said that it represents either the weapon with wich Heracles 1 killed the eagle that devoured the liver of Prometheus 1, or the arrow with which Apollo killed the CYCLOPES, after the death of his son Asclepius.
Asses (Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australis in the constellation of Cancer). The Northern Donkey (Delta Cancri) and the Southern Donkey (Gamma Cancri) could be either the asses who carried Dionysus 2 and helped him to reach a temple, or the asses who assisted Zeus in his war against the GIANTS.
Balance (Libra). The constellation of Balance was wrought by Hephaestus, who is its protector.
Bear-Watcher (Bootes). This constellation, also called the Herdsman, is Arcas 1, whom impious Lycaon 2 served to Zeus at a banquet as a meal. Otherwise Arcas 1, after whom Arcadia was named, is known for being the child of Zeus and Callisto, the woman who was turned into a bear. Arcas 1 is called Arctophylax; for he guards Arctos (the Great Bear). It is said that when Arcas 1 was grown up and was hunting in the woods, he saw his mother Callisto turned into a bear and, not recognizing her, tried to kill her. He then chased her into the temple of love Lycaeus, where the penalty for entering is death, according to Arcadian law. Since both would have to die, Zeus, they say, snatched them up and made them immortal putting them among the stars. This is why Arcas 1 is seen in the sky following the Bear, which is his mother Callisto.
Others have said that Bootes represents Icarius 2 [see also Arcturus above], who was called Bootes because he put his full wineskins on a wagon (the Bear looking as a wagon), after receiving the wine, the vine and the grape from Dionysus 2, so that he could teach men how to plant and how to use what was produced.When Icarius 2, they say, had planted the vine and had made it flourish, a goat broke into the vineyard nibbling the tenderest leaves. So Icarius 2 killed the goat, made a sack from the skin and, blowing it up, cast it among his friends, instructing them to dance around it. Others have said that when Icarius 2 showed his wagon full of wine to some shepherds, they, having drunk the wine in large quantities, were intoxicated. Other shepherds then, witnessing the unseemly behaviour that the excess of wine caused in their comrades, thought that Icarius 2 had given them poison. Because of this suspicion they killed him and threw his body into a well, although some say that they buried near a certain tree. However when the drunken party woke up, they said that they never had rested better and asked for Icarius 2, wishing to offer him a reward; but the murderers, having understood their mistake, at once took to flight. Later, when Icarius 2's daughter Erigone 2 was longing for her father, the dog of Icarius 2, called Maera 2, having come to her with howls and lamentations, took hold of her dress with its teeth and led her to her father's body. Having thus discovered what had happened to her father, Erigone 2, overcome with loneliness and poverty, hanged herself from the tree beneath which her father was buried. And after her even the dog left this life, casting itself into a well. They say that Zeus or Dionysus 2, moved by their fates, put them all among the stars: Icarius 2 in Bootes, Erigone 2 in the Virgin, and the dog in Procyon.
Bowl (Crater). This constellation, also called The Cup, shows, some say, the Bowl in which Mastusius mixed with wine the blood of the daughters of Demophon 3. The latter, who was King of Elaeusa near Troy, had to sacrifice one girl every year because of a plague which had fallen over the country. That was the remedy recommended by an oracle. However he would always pass over his own daughters, choosing by lot, on every occasion, one of the daughters of the nobles. This unfair scheme offended Mastusius, a man of the highest rank, who said that he would not allow his daughter to participate in the drawing unless the king's daughters were included. Some rulers, however, deeply disliking to be called unjust, find such occasions adequate to give lessons and warnings to others on the subject of authority. This is why he decided to kill Mastusius' daughter without drawing lots at all. At first Mastusius pretended not to resent the outrage, seeming to believe that his daughter might have perished anyway if the lots had been taken. And as it is easy to induce him, who has committed a evil deed, to forget it, the king, seeing that Mastusius was in friendly terms with him, left the whole story behind. One day Mastusius invited Demophon 3 and his daughters for a celebration at his house, and as the king was busy with a state affair, he sent his daughters ahead, saying that he would come later. When the king's daughters arrived Mastusius killed them and, mixing their blood with wine in a bowl, bade it be given as a drink to the king on his arrival. When Demophon 3 learned what had happened, he ordered Mastusius and the bowl to be thrown into the sea, but ancient Astronomers pictured it in stars, so that men might bear in mind that no one can profit from an evil deed with impunity, nor can hostilities be easy forgotten.
Others say that this is the Bowl that a certain crow had to fill with water at Apollo's request and, instead of performing his task, he stayed away eating figs. It is told that when Apollo was preparing a celebration, he sent a crow with a bowl in his hooked claws to fetch water from running springs. The crow, however, found first a fig-tree loaded with fruit, but as the figs were still unripe he perched under the tree, waiting for them to sweeten. When at last the crow had eaten his fill, he snatched a water-snake and, returning to his master, he told him that the creeping beast, having kept the spring from flowing, was the cause of his delay. This is how the crow attempted to cheat the god of prophecy, and this is the reason why, some say, the three constellations (the Crow, the Serpent and the Bowl) are seen together.
Andromeda, the Ethiopian princess daughter of Cepheus 1, was placed as a constellation among the stars by the favor of Athena on account of the courage of Perseus 1, who saved her.
Andromeda
Aquarius or Water Bearer (Aquarius). This constellation, said to be protected by Hera, represents either Ganymedes, who is cupbearer in Heaven, or Deucalion 1, who survived the Flood during which much water poured from the sky, or King Cecrops 1 of Athens, who reigned before wine was discovered.
Aquarius or Water Bearer (Aquarius)
Archer (Sagittarius). This constellation, which is protected by Artemis, represents Crotus, a companion of the MUSES that was put by Zeus among the stars.
Arcturus (in constellation Bootes). This particularly bright star (Alpha Bootis) is Icarius 2, the man who received from Dionysus 2 a branch of a vine and learned from him the process of making wine. He was killed by some shepherds who having drunk his wine imagined they were bewitched. He had a daughter Erigone 2, who hanged herself when she discovered her father's body.
Argo (Puppis). This constellation commemorates the "Argo", vessel of the ARGONAUTS. Puppis was in the 1750s subdivided into four constellations: Carina, Puppis, Pyxis and Vela (keel, poop, compass and sails).
Arrow (Sagitta). About the Arrow it has been said that it represents either the weapon with wich Heracles 1 killed the eagle that devoured the liver of Prometheus 1, or the arrow with which Apollo killed the CYCLOPES, after the death of his son Asclepius.
Asses (Asellus Borealis and Asellus Australis in the constellation of Cancer). The Northern Donkey (Delta Cancri) and the Southern Donkey (Gamma Cancri) could be either the asses who carried Dionysus 2 and helped him to reach a temple, or the asses who assisted Zeus in his war against the GIANTS.
Balance (Libra). The constellation of Balance was wrought by Hephaestus, who is its protector.
Bear-Watcher (Bootes). This constellation, also called the Herdsman, is Arcas 1, whom impious Lycaon 2 served to Zeus at a banquet as a meal. Otherwise Arcas 1, after whom Arcadia was named, is known for being the child of Zeus and Callisto, the woman who was turned into a bear. Arcas 1 is called Arctophylax; for he guards Arctos (the Great Bear). It is said that when Arcas 1 was grown up and was hunting in the woods, he saw his mother Callisto turned into a bear and, not recognizing her, tried to kill her. He then chased her into the temple of love Lycaeus, where the penalty for entering is death, according to Arcadian law. Since both would have to die, Zeus, they say, snatched them up and made them immortal putting them among the stars. This is why Arcas 1 is seen in the sky following the Bear, which is his mother Callisto.
Others have said that Bootes represents Icarius 2 [see also Arcturus above], who was called Bootes because he put his full wineskins on a wagon (the Bear looking as a wagon), after receiving the wine, the vine and the grape from Dionysus 2, so that he could teach men how to plant and how to use what was produced.When Icarius 2, they say, had planted the vine and had made it flourish, a goat broke into the vineyard nibbling the tenderest leaves. So Icarius 2 killed the goat, made a sack from the skin and, blowing it up, cast it among his friends, instructing them to dance around it. Others have said that when Icarius 2 showed his wagon full of wine to some shepherds, they, having drunk the wine in large quantities, were intoxicated. Other shepherds then, witnessing the unseemly behaviour that the excess of wine caused in their comrades, thought that Icarius 2 had given them poison. Because of this suspicion they killed him and threw his body into a well, although some say that they buried near a certain tree. However when the drunken party woke up, they said that they never had rested better and asked for Icarius 2, wishing to offer him a reward; but the murderers, having understood their mistake, at once took to flight. Later, when Icarius 2's daughter Erigone 2 was longing for her father, the dog of Icarius 2, called Maera 2, having come to her with howls and lamentations, took hold of her dress with its teeth and led her to her father's body. Having thus discovered what had happened to her father, Erigone 2, overcome with loneliness and poverty, hanged herself from the tree beneath which her father was buried. And after her even the dog left this life, casting itself into a well. They say that Zeus or Dionysus 2, moved by their fates, put them all among the stars: Icarius 2 in Bootes, Erigone 2 in the Virgin, and the dog in Procyon.
Bowl (Crater). This constellation, also called The Cup, shows, some say, the Bowl in which Mastusius mixed with wine the blood of the daughters of Demophon 3. The latter, who was King of Elaeusa near Troy, had to sacrifice one girl every year because of a plague which had fallen over the country. That was the remedy recommended by an oracle. However he would always pass over his own daughters, choosing by lot, on every occasion, one of the daughters of the nobles. This unfair scheme offended Mastusius, a man of the highest rank, who said that he would not allow his daughter to participate in the drawing unless the king's daughters were included. Some rulers, however, deeply disliking to be called unjust, find such occasions adequate to give lessons and warnings to others on the subject of authority. This is why he decided to kill Mastusius' daughter without drawing lots at all. At first Mastusius pretended not to resent the outrage, seeming to believe that his daughter might have perished anyway if the lots had been taken. And as it is easy to induce him, who has committed a evil deed, to forget it, the king, seeing that Mastusius was in friendly terms with him, left the whole story behind. One day Mastusius invited Demophon 3 and his daughters for a celebration at his house, and as the king was busy with a state affair, he sent his daughters ahead, saying that he would come later. When the king's daughters arrived Mastusius killed them and, mixing their blood with wine in a bowl, bade it be given as a drink to the king on his arrival. When Demophon 3 learned what had happened, he ordered Mastusius and the bowl to be thrown into the sea, but ancient Astronomers pictured it in stars, so that men might bear in mind that no one can profit from an evil deed with impunity, nor can hostilities be easy forgotten.
Others say that this is the Bowl that a certain crow had to fill with water at Apollo's request and, instead of performing his task, he stayed away eating figs. It is told that when Apollo was preparing a celebration, he sent a crow with a bowl in his hooked claws to fetch water from running springs. The crow, however, found first a fig-tree loaded with fruit, but as the figs were still unripe he perched under the tree, waiting for them to sweeten. When at last the crow had eaten his fill, he snatched a water-snake and, returning to his master, he told him that the creeping beast, having kept the spring from flowing, was the cause of his delay. This is how the crow attempted to cheat the god of prophecy, and this is the reason why, some say, the three constellations (the Crow, the Serpent and the Bowl) are seen together.
