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Mythology of Saturn 4 What We Call Mythology Was a Living Truth for Other Peoples in Other Times

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Mythology of Saturn 4 What We Call Mythology Was a Living Truth for Other Peoples in Other Times CULTURAL CONNECTIONS — MYTHOLOGY ENRICHMENT Mythology of Saturn 4 What we call mythology was a living truth for other peoples in other times. Images of beauty, innocence, courage, and honor handed down from antiquity attract us; images of depravity, cruelty, violence, and evil in the same tales repel. The ancients, just like ourselves, wished to perceive “divine order” in the chaotic world of nature and humanity. It was often the poets who spun the narratives that explained the creation of the Universe and the place of humans in it. These narratives provided answers to the deep questions posed in days long past. The ancient Roman culture was a powerful civi- lization; thus, European culture accepted Ro- man names for the visible planets and many of the stars. As telescopes improved what could be seen in the sky, European astronomers contin- Saturn about to devour one of his children, from a woodcut ued to choose names from Roman mythology. published in Germany in 1599. Modern astronomy followed the European tra- dition of selecting Roman names for new celes- TOPICS tial objects. Today, names are selected and ap- Collect sky and star myths of many cultures proved by a group of astronomers (the Working through libraries, museums, observatories, the Group for Planetary System Nomenclature of Internet, and by speaking with persons from vari- the International Astronomical Union). Two ous cultures. Share the star stories and have stu- exceptions are: comets, which take the names dents discuss the similarities and differences. For of their discoverers; and asteroids, which are example, both ancient Arabs and Native Ameri- named by their discoverers with the approval of cans imagined the constellation of the Big Dipper the Working Group. as part of a large bear. Have students consider: if western culture had used names for the stars and Almost all human cultures have their own planets of, say, Hindu gods or Australian spirits, names for, and stories about, the Sun, the would astronomical research change? Would we Moon, the planets, and the stars. For example, in the 20th century view the Universe differently? the ancient Egyptians named the planet we call It’s clear that despite diverse visions and interpre- Saturn after their god of light, Horus, who often tations, the composition of the Saturn system, appeared in the form of a hawk. Many of the indeed the Solar System and beyond, remains de- star names that astronomers use today are an- pendent on physical laws. The real Universe is cient Arabic names. accessible to scientific observation and explora- tion, no matter what names we use. 219 Saturn Educator Guide • Cassini Program website — http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/educatorguide • EG-1999-12-008-JPL Background for Enrichment 4 ENRICHMENT interpretations of “modern” scholars have been 4 Naming Distant Worlds influenced by the surviving works of the ancient The ancient religions, which lost their grip on poets (most notably Homer and Hesiod) and ac- humans even before the Classical Age was over, curacy has been limited by translations of ancient continued to be useful in providing a reservoir of languages into English. Many of the mythology appellations for the objects seen in the sky. The books available today base their conclusions on planets visible to the naked eye received the translations of stories that, despite their popular- names of the principal gods of the Roman pan- ity, were never historically correct. Some of the theon. The custom of giving the names of the ancient myths were filled with more violent and gods and heroes of antiquity to newly observed racy themes than can be found in modern movies celestial objects originated in the 17th century and soap operas, encouraging traditional classic with the discovery of the four large moons of Ju- scholars to “modify” the stories into more socially piter, which were named after companions of the acceptable forms. god Jupiter. Five moons of Saturn were also dis- covered in the 17th century, but they didn’t re- Current research provides no evidence that the ceive their mythological names immediately. Roman god Saturn was a harvest god, as popu- Christiaan Huygens simply called the satellite he larly represented. In fact, few stories about Saturn had found Saturni luna (“Saturn’s moon”), and survive. The scythe carried by Saturn was not Jean-Dominique Cassini named the four moons necessarily a farm implement. Scythes were also he discovered Lodicea sidera (“stars of Louis used as weapons, particularly for the beheading XIV”). The satellites also received numerical des- of monsters and giants. Kronos may have become ignations, 1 through 5. The naming convention identified with Saturn because the Greeks and for Saturn’s moons had to wait until 1847, when Romans held similar festivals, usually at harvest the astronomer Sir John Herschel, the son of time, to honor their respective gods. The Kronia William Herschel (discoverer of moons 6 and 7), and Saturnalia celebrations were alike in several proposed that the numerical designations be sup- ways. The modern celebration of Christmas may planted with the names of Saturn’s “brothers and have originated with the Saturnalia holiday, when sisters, the Titans and Titanesses.” evergreen trees were decorated with ornaments and candies, gifts were exchanged among friends In Search of the Real Saturn and family, and it was customary to forgive debts Saturn (also known as Saturnus) has been repre- and make donations to charities. sented as a Roman god of harvest and described as a strong old man with a long gray beard who The Greek god Kronos had a violent family his- wields a scythe. In reality, there is extensive con- tory. Gaia (the Earth) gave birth to Ouranos (the troversy regarding the origins of Saturn and his Sky). With Ouranos, Gaia then produced 12 im- Greek counterpart, Kronos (in Latin, Cronus), mortal children (the Titans). Kronos was her who has frequently been represented as Father youngest child and described as “devious and de- Time. It is important to understand that the vising, the most terrible of her children.” Gaia gods and mythological creatures of ancient was not happy with Ouranos, so she convinced Greece and Rome were not always well-defined Kronos to attack and castrate his own father personalities. They were composites of multiple (who was also his half-brother!) with a stone- myths and local traditions that varied from place bladed sickle she provided. Ouranos could no to place and changed over time. In addition, the longer father children and was vanquished. 220 Saturn Educator Guide • Cassini Program website — http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/educatorguide • EG-1999-12-008-JPL Kronos became supreme ruler of the world and Many Names for Saturn ENRICHMENT married his sister Rhea. However, both his Here are some names for Saturn in various lan- 4 mother and father had foretold that Kronos guages, with pronunciations transliterated into would be dethroned by his own child. To pre- English. vent the prophecy from coming true, each time Rhea gave birth to one of his children, Kronos Albanian Shtundi would swallow the baby whole. Grief-stricken Arabic Zuhal (“one that withdraws”) and enraged by the loss of her children, Rhea or ath-Thãqib escaped to a cave in Crete, where she gave birth to her son Zeus. Rhea returned to Kronos with Basque Saturnu a baby-sized stone wrapped in a blanket that Chinese T’u-hsing (“earth-star”) Kronos mistook for his son and swallowed. (Mandarin) Cyrillic Byamba or Sancir When Zeus, raised in secret by nymphs, was Egyptian Heru-ka-pet (“star of the West full-grown, he conspired to drug the food eaten which traverseth heaven”; Horus) by his father, Kronos. When Kronos became ill, French Saturne he regurgitated the stone and then all the chil- dren he had swallowed (miraculously, as im- Gaelic Satarn mortals, still alive). With his rescued sisters and German Saturn brothers, Zeus waged a long and bloody war Greek Phaínõn (“luminous”) against his father and all the other Titans. Zeus Hebrew Shabtha’i or Kiwan won the war and imprisoned his father and the Hungarian Szaturnusz Titans in Tartarus (a great fortress of iron with gates of unbreakable stone, located in a dismal Japanese Dosei (“earth, soil”) pit at the edge of Earth). Zeus and his siblings Korean T’osong (“earth, soil”) then ruled the world from Mount Olympus. Latin Lucidus, Sãturnus, stella solis, or Sãturni So where did the image of Saturn as old Father Mongolian Bimba (Tibetan-derived), or Time come from? The Greeks and Romans Sanicar (Sanskrit-derived) both named the stars and planets after their Persian Zahl gods and all sorts of mythological creatures. A bright “star” that appeared to move slowly Russian Satúrn across the field of other stars was named Kronos Sanskrit Sani (“slow-moving”), Sauri by the Greeks. Its progression across the sky be- (“hero” or “son of the Sun”), came associated with the inevitable passing of plus 26 other names! time and the seasons. Perhaps people confused Spanish Saturno and combined Kronos with some lesser known Sumerian Lu-bat-sag-ush (“omen [planet]– deity. Whatever the reason, the modern image steady” or “omen–slow-moving”) of Saturn as old Father Time is as valid as any Tibetan Snenpa ancient myth. It is the very nature of myths and stories to change and become whatever people Turkish Zuhal imagine them to be. Vietnamese Tho-tinh (“earth, soil”) Welsh Sadwrn 221 Saturn Educator Guide • Cassini Program website — http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/educatorguide • EG-1999-12-008-JPL PROMETHEUS (pro-MEE-thee-uss) was a son of Moons of the Planet Saturn Iapetus, presented by Hesiod as an immortal ENRICHMENT The first of Saturn’s moons to be discovered — who sided with the mortals and as a prankster by Christiaan Huygens in the mid-17th century 4 who liked to annoy Zeus, his cousin.
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