Constelation History by Forest Ostrander (good summer reads txt) 📖

mighty man. In his
right hand he holds a spear, and with
his left, two hunting dogs. Since he
appears to be pursuing the Great Bear
(Ursa Major) around the North Pole,
Bootes was called “The Bear Driver.”
The ‘key’ star, Arctures, can be easily
found by following the curved line
formed by the handle of the Big Dipper
outward to the first bright star.
Without doubt, Arctures was one of
the first stars to be named. It was one of the few stars mentioned in the
Bible, where it is referred to in the book of Job, thus giving it the name “Job’s
star.”

Cancer – The Crab

According to Greek mythology,
Hercules, Zeus’ son, was given 12 labors
by Hera, Zeus’ wife, which would each
test his strength and courage. Hera
hoped these 12 labors would prove to
Zeus that Hercules was unworthy of his
love. The second of these 12 labors
was to kill the Lernean Hydra, which
had a long snake or dragon-like body
and nine heads. If anyone succeeded in
cutting off one of its heads, it would
grow another one in its place.

In order to make sure that Hercules failed at this task (Hera was very
jealous of Zeus’ love for Hercules), Hera sent a large crab to grab Hercules by
the heel and distract him while he was fighting the Hydra.

During the fight with the Hydra, Hercules, who took his nephew Iolas
along, would cut off one of the Hydra’s heads and Iolas would sear that neck
with a torch so that no new head could grow back. Fearing that Hercules might
indeed defeat the Hydra, Hera sent in the crab to grab Hercules’ foot.
However, as the crab grabbed his foot, Hercules stomped down with his other
foot and crushed the crab. He then cut the final head of the Hydra off and
Iolas seared it, thus defeating the Hydra, and Hera.

To honor Hercules’ great victory and to remind Hera of her failure, Zeus
placed the constellation of Cancer the Crab in the sky.

Capricorn – The Sea Goat

Capricorn is one of the earliest
constellations and has passed through
the ages virtually unchanged, depicting
the front half of a goat and the tail of
a fish. It is also referred to in Greek
and Roman mythology as the “Gateway
of the Gods” through which the souls of
men released at death would pass to
the life hereafter.

According to ancient Greek legends, Cronus was told by the oracle that
one day one of his sons would grow up to be stronger than he and would
eventually kill him in battle. In order to keep this from happening, Cronus had
every baby boy born to him as a son killed. Some legends say he would swallow
them when they were born.

Knowing of this curse, Zeus’ mother gave him to some sea nymphs with
instructions to take him to a far-away place where Cronus could not find him
and raise him there. However, sea nymphs cannot produce milk, and so they
brought a very special goat, Amalthea, to nurse him.

As Zeus grew older, Amalthea also became his playmate. One day, Zeus
was playing with Amalthea and broke off one of her horns. Zeus took this as a
sign that he was supposed to break off his relationship with Amalthea and the
sea nymphs and go fight his father, Cronus.

Zeus gave the horn to the sea nymphs and Amalthea telling them that as
they had always provided for his needs, so now this horn, which was now a magic
horn, would always provide all the food and drink they would ever need. Zeus
then left them to go and fight Cronus, his cruel father. Zeus defeated Cronus
and, according to one legend, as Cronus fell to the ground, his head split open
and out stepped the brothers of Zeus that Cronus had swallowed.

Zeus was now the king of the gods and one of his first acts was to place
the constellation Capricorn in the heavens in honor of Amalthea and the sea
nymphs who had hidden and taken such good care of him.

Casseopia – Queen of the Night Sky

Queen Casseopia, wife of King
Cephus and mother of Andromeda, was
very beautiful. She boasted that she
was the most beautiful woman in the
kingdom. As time went by, she began to
say that she was the most beautiful
woman in the world. Eventually, her
boasting proclaimed that her beauty
even exceeded that of the gods.
Poseidon, the brother of Zeus and the
god of the sea, took great offense at
this statement, for he created the
most beautiful beings ever in the form
of his sea nymphs.

In his anger, he created a great sea monster, Cetus (also described as a
great fish or whale), to ravage the seas, sinking ships, killing the sailors, and
destroying towns and villages along the seacoast. This created great fear
among the people of Casseopia’s country. In an effort to stop this tremendous
destruction, the people when to Poseidon and asked what could be done to stop
this monster. Poseidon replied that if Casseopia would admit that his sea
nymphs were indeed more beautiful than she, he would stop the monster. But
Casseopia refused. The people asked Poseidon if there were any other way to
stop the destruction. He replied that if the beautiful Andromeda, Casseopia’s
only daughter, were to be sacrificed to Cetus the destruction would stop. The
people took Andromeda and chained her to a rock which projected out into the
sea to be sacrificed to Cetus. However, she was saved by Perseus, and Cetus
was turned to stone.

Poseidon and his brother Zeus decreed that Casseopia be placed in the
sky as a constellation, and as punishment for being so conceited about her looks,
she would suffer the humiliating position of being upside down in the sky during
the fall of the year when her constellation is best seen.

Cephus – The King

Cephus, the legendary king of
Ethiopia, was placed in the night sky just
ahead of his wife, Casseopia, as they rotate
around the North Star, Polaris. He must
have been a weak king allowing his wife to
continually boast of her beauty and in the
end be willing to let Casseopia sacrifice
their own daughter, Andromeda, to Cetus
the sea monster.

Since he did not stop Casseopia from
her continual boasting of her beauty,
Cephus was placed next to her in the sky
where he must listen for all time to her
boasting. His constellation was given faint
stars which are somewhat difficult to see.

Another story relates that Cephus was one of the Argonauts, the valiant
band of heroes that sailed the ship Argo in quest of the Golden Fleece.
According to this legend, Cephus was changed into a constellation at his death.

Corona Borealis – The Northern Crown

Corona Borealis – The Northern Crown
Minos, the second king of Crete, had a
great labyrinth built to confine the ferocious
Minotaur. The maze was so complex and
confusing that even the designer, Daedalis, was
almost unable to find his way back to the
entrance. Each year, King Minos exacted, as
part of his tribute from Athens, twelve of the
most handsome or beautiful young people to be
placed in the labyrinth as food for the monster.
In the third group to be selected was Theseus, King of Athens. Minos’ daughter
Ariadne, fell in love with Theseus and offered to help him if he would take her
away with him when he escaped. He agreed. She gave him a ball of magical
thread to unwind while he was in the labyrinth so that when he killed the
Minotaur he could follow the thread and find his way out again. Theseus
attacked and killed the terrible monster and then followed the magical thread
and was able to find his way out of the labyrinth.