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obscure. Various claims have been made about Babylonian innovations and the similarity between the Greek and the stories, dating from the third millennium BCE, of Gilgamesh, a legendary Sumerian hero who encountered animals and characters similar to those of the zodiac. Some of the Babylonian may have been popularized in the Greek world through the conquest of The Lore of the , Alexander in the fourth century BCE. Alexander himself sent captured Babylonian texts back For Amateur Campfire Sages to Greece for his tutor Aristotle to interpret. Even earlier than this, Babylonian by Anders Hove would have been familiar to the Persians, who July 2002 occupied Greece several centuries before Alexander’s day. Although we may properly credit the Greeks with completing the Babylonian work, it is clear that the Babylonians did develop some of the symbols and constellations later adopted by the Greeks for their zodiac. Contrary to the story of the -counter in Le Petit Prince, there aren’t unnumerable stars Cuneiform tablets using symbols similar to in the night sky, at least so far as we can see those used later for constellations may have with our own eyes. Only about a thousand are some relationship to astronomy, or they may visible. Almost all have names or Greek letter not. Far more tantalizing are the various designations as part of constellations that any- cuneiform tablets outlining astronomical one can learn to recognize. observations used by the Babylonians for Modern astronomers have divided the sky tracking the moon and developing a calendar. into 88 constellations, many of them fictitious— One of these is the MUL.APIN, which describes that is, they cover sky area, but contain no vis- the stars along the paths of the moon and ible stars. About half the modern constellations elsewhere in the sky. The MUL.APIN, or “plough form a recognizable pattern in the night sky. In the , the stars,” apparently dates from the time of Sargon (), , Cassiopeia are the easi- II Assurbanipal (667-626 BCE), and is a copy of est to spot. In the , Scor- an earlier work of unknown date. pius and the southern cross () are promi- Drawing on earlier work, Gary Thompson nent. These constellations are bright enough describes the following 18 constellations the to be spotted from urban areas. Of course, no Babylonians saw along the path of the moon: celestial sight can surpass the breathtaking view of a perfectly dark and cloudless sky on a MUL.LU.HUN.GA, the hired man (parts of and cool summer night in the countryside. ); MUL.MUL, the stars (now the ); MUL.GUD.AN.NA, the bull of heaven or Anu (); BEGINNINGS MUL.SIPA.ZI.AN.NA, the shepherd of Anu (Orion); No doubt humans first grouped stars into MUL.SHU.GI, the old man (Perseus); MUL.GAM, the hooked staff (); constellations long before the advent of MUL.MASH.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL, the twins (); civilization or history. The origins of the modern MUL.AL.LUL, the crab (); constellations—as established by the Greeks MUL.UR.GU.LA, the lion (); and embellished by modern astronomers—are MUL.AB.SIN, the barley-stalk (, holding wheat); MUL.ZIB.BA.AN.NA, the scales (); THE GREEK STORIES MUL.GIR.TAB, the scorpion (); MUL.PA.BIL.SAG, the grandfather (Sagittarius); The two most prominent Greek legendary MUL.GU.LA, the great one (); cycles portrayed in the heavens concern the MUL.ZIBBATI.MESH, the tails (part of ); heroes and Perseus. The PERSEUS group MUL.SIM.MAH, the swallow (part of Pisces); is particularly convenient for stargazers in that MUL.A.NU.TI.TUM, a goddess (parts of Pisces and it is contained within a fairly compact area of Andromeda). the northern hemisphere sky, and contains mainly bright, well-known constellations. The above list suggests that a number of According to the legend, Queen CASSIOPEIA the constellations adopted by the Greeks did offended , the god of the , by indeed arise from Babylonian forebears. bragging that her beauty exceeded that of all However, translating cuneiform symbols and the nymphs of the sea. The god, eager to punish matching them to what the ancients saw in this new example of hubris, sent a mighty the sky (or believed they were seeing) is a highly whale, , against the queen. Cassiopeia specialized discipline notoriously troubled by and her husband, , decided to chain differences in interpretation. Others have their daughter, ANDROMEDA, to a rock to lure arrived at different conclusions, and this the whale and secure their own escape. The author is not qualified to express any view other hero Perseus, who was returning from slaying than abstract wonder at the intriguing the Gorgon Medusa, was equipped with mysteries presented by this ancient material. accoutrements that would make any hero The earliest known written account of the proud: the winged sandals of Hermes, the Greek constellations is contained in the helmet of Hades, and the shield of Athena, who Phaenomena, by of Solis working in the had instructed Perseus to only look at Medusa’s third century BCE. In his poetry, Aratus described reflection in its bronze. Hesiod writes: 43 constellations and named many individual stars, apparently using the stories of the poet On his feet he had winged sandals; his black- Hesiod as inspiration. In 129 BCE, Hipparchus sheathed sword was slung across his shoulders helped popularize these earlier Greek stories by a cross-belt of bronze. He was flying swift as with a catalogue of constellations and stars; thought. The head of a dreadful monster, the only fragments of this work now remain, along Gorgon, covered the broad of his back, and a bag with some of his commentary on Aratus. Still of silver—a marvel to see—contained it: and from the bag bright tassels of gold hung down. Upon later, in the second century of the common era, the head of the hero lay the dread cap of Hades of Alexandria penned a star which had the awful gloom of night. containing 48 constellations, along with other writings that together have been passed on by Fulfilling the legend, Perseus killed the the Arabs as , the greatest. whale and rescued Andromeda, earning her These Greek stories color and dominate our hand in marriage. Blood from the Medusa understanding of the historical development dripped into the seas crashing against the rock, of astronomy and astrology in Babylonia. The uniting with Poseidon’s seed to give birth to cachet posthumously enjoyed by the the winged horse , which emerged from Babylonians owes partly to their careful the boiling white froth and mounted to the celestial observations and well-developed heavens. calendar system, and partly to the high regard HERCULES’ feats were so many that the skies the Greeks held for Chaldean fortune-tellers, of both hemispheres couldn’t contain their which in turn was either due to legend or the myriad characters. He is represented in his own presence of fortune-tellers in Greek towns. constellation, a surprisingly dim and unmemorable summer that is mainly notable for containing M13, the brightest hanging from his staff—the dim constellation northern hemisphere globular . The , actually added by Renaissance-era legends of the great hero’s twelve labors are printers to fill an apparent void in the map. prominent in the zodiac. LEO, the great lion, is , , and are all the Nemean Lion, a lunar beast descended to associated with the eleventh labor of Hercules, earth whose cloak was impervious to blows in which he was instructed to obtain the sacred and impenetrable to arrows. Hercules Apples of the Hesperides. Since no mortal could strangled the creature, and he is usually remove the apples, Hercules sought the advice portrayed holding the lion’s cloak as his shield. of Prometheus, who was known for sharing CANCER, the crab, famously nipped at Hercules’ godly secrets with mortals. Indeed, Prometheus ankles while he and his cousin were feverishly was still chained to a rock in the Caucasus for working to slay the many-headed Lernian his crime of giving fire to humans; every night, , also a constellation. Hercules rid himself an eagle preyed on him, tearing out his liver, of the annoyance with a bash of his club, which grew back each day. According to one earning Cancer an undeserved spot in the story, Hercules killed this eagle with an arrow zodiac—at the request of Hera, the organizer in return for the advice he sought. The eagle of its expedition. The constellation is so dim belonged to Zeus, who placed it and the deadly that Dante joked that if it had a single bright arrow into the sky as Aquila and Sagitta. Aquila star the calendar would have one month of is also seen as the eagle Zeus used to retrieve only a day’s length, since such a star would his thurderbolts. wash out the remainder of the constellation.* Prometheus advised Hercules to have the The tales of Hydra, Leo, and Cancer are Titan Atlas obtain the apples. In return, well-known. , AQUILA, SAGITTA, and Hercules agreed to hold up the sky in Atlas’ DRACO played more peripheral roles in the stead. First, however, Hercules had to kill the Herculean labors. Centaurus is Chiron, a dragon (Draco) that lay coiled round the tree centaur friend of Hercules with whom the hero that held the apples. This he (or perhaps Atlas) supped after outrunning and killing the accomplished by whirling the dragon into the Eurymanthian Boar, his third labor. During the sky, where its motion about the dinner, a riot erupted among the centaurs after twisted it into a circle. The constellation is dim Hercules violated protocol by dipping his own and difficult to pick out among the more cup into their vat of wine. During the melee prominent northern constellations. that followed, Hercules accidentally struck In the roster of Greek celestial heroes, ORION Chiron with an arrow tipped in poison. An ranks at least third. The great hunter’s stars immortal, Chiron petitioned the gods to allow are possibly the most recognized in the world, his death. Ultimately, he was permitted to since they are visible to both hemispheres, exchange his immortality with Prometheus. He unlike the Big Dipper or Southern Cross. is portrayed in the sky with a dead wolf Given that Orion is better known for his belt and sword than for his head, it isn’t surprising that he met his end through the classical crime of hubris. According to the most * The length of the months is not really tied to the colorful legend, Orion was killed by Artemis, size of the respective constellation. The zodiac used the Roman Diana, goddess of the hunt, after in newspaper horoscopes uses equally sized months. he bragged to her that he would slay all the If one follows the modern astronomical constellation animals of the world. (An alternative version— boundaries, themselves arbitrary, the spends more that of Apollodorus—is that he threatened to than twice the time crossing in front of large constellations like Virgo, Capricorn, and Leo as it does kill the maiden Opis.) According to passing over Cancer or Libra. Indeed, several non- , Artemis sent a scorpion to kill zodiacal constellations also inhabit considerable Orion (SCORPIUS, or “Scorpio” in newspaper space along the plane of the earth’s . astrology columns), and placed it opposite him they encountered the wreckage of the mythical in the sky, to always rise as his stars set. It was sun-chariot. The chariot’s crash had been the a fitting posthumous wound to the pride of result of Helios’ unwise decision to allow young the great huntsman. and CANIS Phaeton to command it. The inexperienced MINOR are sometimes seen as his hunting dogs, youth misled the horses, which were spooked though some interpret the large dog as Myra, by Scorpius. How did the Argo get from the the dog of Icarius. At Orion’s feet is , the Black Sea to the Nile? In the days of ancient hare, poised to flee—supposedly placed in the Greece, Mediterranean peoples believed that sky by Hermes in the honor of its speed. the world was surrounded by Ocean, which Fourth on the list of heroes is Jason, head was reachable by a number of great waterways. of the Argonauts, represented by his ship, the The upper reaches of the Nile were only fully . This ancient constellation took up mapped in the late 1800’s. a vast part of the south equatorial skies before The Golden Fleece had itself arisen from it was broken up in a modern star atlas drawn an earlier legendary Greek injustice. Phrixis by Abbe Nicolas Louis de La Caille, to whom and Helle, the daughters of King Athamas of we shall return further on. Boeotia, were due to be sacrificed to the gods The purpose of Jason’s voyage was to as a result of an oracle received by their father. retrieve the legendary Golden Fleece, held by This drastic oracle was, in fact, a sham the double-dealing Aeetus, king of Colchis in arranged by their jealous step-mother Ino, who the Caucasus. Jason’s voyage came about after was eager to place her own offspring on the his brother usurped the throne of Attica in throne. Sometimes sensible of injustice, the Greece, offering to share it only if Jason gods sent a golden-fleeced ram to spirit the retrieved the fleece, a seemingly impossible task. children away from their evil mother, but Word of this injustice spread throughout somehow things went awry, for Helle fell from heaven and earth, attracting heroes such as the ram and drowned as they were passing Castor and Pollux, Asclepius, Hephaestius, and over the straits leading to the Black Sea. The Orpheus. First, Jason had to make his way Greeks gave the strait the name Hellespont through the perilous straits leading to the Black after the girl—Dardanelles is the modern Sea. According to the legend, in those times variant. After it reached the Caucasus, the ram the rocks of the straits crashed together was slaughtered and its fleece nailed to a tree, constantly, making navigation impossible. To and in death the ram became the zodiacal avoid being dashed against the rocks, Jason constellation ARIES. released a white dove into the spray One imagines that, for Orpheus, being a surrounding the channel, and ordered his men crewman on the good ship Argo was more of to row at the moment the bird passed through a chore than the main event. As the son of safely. The tactic proved effective, but even so Apollo and the muse Calliope, Orpheus was a part of the Argo was torn off by the rocks; profoundly skilled at music. Apollo graciously the pieces lodged there permanently, holding accommodated his son’s interests with the gift the straits open ever since. The white dove, of a heavenly lyre, originally fashioned by which is also associated with the Biblical legend Hermes from a tortoise shell. According to of Noah’s Ark, is seen in the sky near the ship Apollodorus, the music of Orpheus could move as the constellation . From there the not only the souls of humans, but trees and Argo was on to the Caucasus, where Jason rocks as well: the oak trees of Thrace are said wooed Medea, the king’s daughter, who then to have migrated there to hear his music. Yet stole the fleece for Jason from the sacred forest his passions, by most accounts, would be his where her father had nailed it to a tree. end, for Orpheus was so stricken with the On its return voyage the Argo sailed down death of his wife Euridyce that he could not the river (probably a representation give up her memory, earning him the spite of of the River Nile), where, among other things, the Thracian women. Once, in a fury, these women tore Orpheus limb from limb. Zeus daughters were Helen (of Troy) and placed his lyre () in the sky in his memory. Clytemnestra. The sons were Castor and A diamond-shaped constellation headed by Polydeuces (Pollux). After the mortal Pollux one of the sky’s brightest stars (), Lyra is a was killed in a sword-fight, Castor pleaded with beautiful summer Zeus, saying that he evening constellation could not bear to that does honor to remain alive without his musicians everywhere. brother. The two were As with his half- reunited in the sky as brother Orpheus, Argo GEMINI, the twins. crew-mate Asclepius is The philandering better known for other Zeus is also responsible things, especially his for the constellation work with medicine. TAURUS, the bull—the According to the often- form Zeus assumed on told story, Asclepius his way to Io. This came upon a snake that constellation is one of threatened him with its the oldest known, and is fangs. He crushed it with a staff, extracted the probably handed down from the Babylonians. venom, and used it as an antidote for life’s One of Zeus’s lovers, Callisto, is represented illnesses—so effectively that he could even treat by URSA MAJOR, the great bear. In one of her the dead. Soon, Asclepius was raising people customary jealous rages, Hera transformed from the dead wholesale. Naturally, Hades Callisto into the bear and bewitched Callisto’s protested to the gods that the underworld was son, Arcas, into hunting her. Hearing Callisto’s in danger of being depopulated and earth cries, Zeus placed both in the sky in such a overrun. To return the natural order, Zeus sent position that Arcas (BOÖTES) would perpetually down a thunderbolt to kill Asclepius, mollifying chase the bear without ever catching it. Boötes the healer’s father Apollo by placing his son in is sometimes seen as leading two dogs, which the sky. Socrates famously told Crito to pay form the modern constellation , homage to Asclepius with a the sacrifice of a the two hunting dogs named Asterion and cock—”pay it and don’t let it pass”—and the Chara. snake-entwined staff is still the universal symbol AQUARIUS, the cup-bearer or water-bearer of medicine. In the sky, Asclepius is known by of the gods, was another acquisition of Zeus. his Roman name, , and he is seen Aquarius was Ganymede, a shepherd boy wrestling with his snake, the winding whom the gods found wildly attractive. To constellation . retrieve the boy, Zeus sent his thunderbird. Aquila, already mentioned in connection with Hercules, is sometimes portrayed as holding THE LEGENDS OF ZEUS the youth in its claws. Zeus, the king of the gods who had the largest hand in strewing the heavens with constellations, is himself represented in a THE PANIC number of them. His most colorful legends, of A number of constellations arise from the course, involve the seduction of various earthly attack of the great beast Typhon, sent by the beauties. The constellation is said to be Titans to crush the Olympians in their epic war Zeus on his way to Queen Leda of Sparta. Leda for heavenly supremacy. Apollodorus describes bore twin sons and twin daughters, one of each the monster: pair the immortal offspring of Zeus. The As far as the thighs he was of human shape and OTHER ZEUS CONNECTIONS of such prodigious bulk that he out-topped all the mountains, and his head often brushed the SAGITTARIUS, the archer, is another famous stars. One of his hands reached out to the west and bright constellation whose origins certainly and the other to the east, and from them projected predate Greek legend. According to a hundred dragons’ heads. From the thighs Eratosthenes, Sagittarius is Crotus, the satyr downward he had huge coils of vipers, which son of the god Pan, who was taken to be raised when drawn out, reached to his very head and with the nine muses, the goddesses of the arts. emitted a loud hissing. His body was all winged: unkempt hair streamed on the wind from his The muses were: Urania (astronomy), Clio head and cheeks; and fire flashed from his eyes. (history), Terpsichore (dancing), Calliope, Such and so great was Typhon when, hurling Eurterpe, and Erato (poetry), Melpomene kindled rocks, he made for the very heaven with (tragedy), Thalia (comedy), and Polyhymnia hissings and shouts, spouting a great jet of fire (song). Perhaps it was the company of creative from his mouth. geniuses that let Crotus to bend back a piece of wood with a string, inventing the bow and It was the god Pan who sounded the archery. Hyginus credits the invention to alarm—giving rise to the words “panic” and inspiration from Zeus, who wanted Crotus to “pandemonium.” This prompted the exhibit the best in all human traits. Like Chiron, Olympians to assume earthly disguises to make the centaur friend of Hercules, Crotus adopted good their escape. Pan, the goddess Aphrodite, a philosophical approach to life despite the and her son Eros all changed themselves into warlike qualities of his race. When he listened . Aphrodite and Eros are PISCES, the fish, to the timeless performances of the muses he supposedly tied together with a cord so that expressed his delight by striking his hands Aphrodite can keep charge of her son. Pan is together, the first applause. , the sea-goat, shown only half Although modern astronomers would transformed into a fish. Pan’s carefree nature populate the heavens with tools and and his simple music on a flute made of reeds implements of the scientific trade, Zeus may made him a natural god for the countryside. have tried his hand at honoring invention in Since the simple country people of the Roman at least one case. AURIGA, the wagoner or Empire and Europe were the last to adopt charioteer, is sometimes seen as a mortal given Christianity, Pan’s cloven goat hoofs came to eternal life by the gods in return for his represent the Christian devil, and his name with invention. The charioteer is, in one story, that of the non-believers, the pagans. In a sense, Myrtilus, the son of Hermes and driver for King then, astrological Capricorn is the devil. Oinomaos. Oinomaos had such confidence in Of course, many years would pass between Myrtilus that he made beating the king’s chariot the mythical Panic and Pan’s second, unwilling the challenge for anyone wishing to wed his transformation into Lucifer. In the immediate daughter. Pelops bribed Myrtilus to throw the aftermath of Typhon’s attack, Zeus entered race by loosening the pins holding one wheel into the fray and, after a rampage that altered onto the chariot. Pelops won his race, the king the of several Mediterranean was killed, and Pelops thought it wise to destroy countries, crushed the monster under a huge the evidence by drowning the charioteer in a mountain in Sicily, Etna, whose fire and smoke nearby river. The charioteer is typically shown is said to represent Typhon’s lingering breaths. containing the goat that suckled Zeus at birth, One last constellation resulted from this and early Christians used the image of the goat immense war: the altar () where the lesser to portray the region as Joseph’s stable. Olympian gods gave thanks for their salvation. Auriga’s bright , , takes its name from the Latin for she-goat. Before leaving Zeus we mustn’t forget the one constellation associated with his birth, , known to us as the Little Dipper of the for the thread, Ariadne extracted a promise of north pole. The most basic story of Greek marriage. Alas, on his way home to Athens legend is perhaps that of Zeus’s father Cronus, Theseus abandoned Ariadne, but she gained who ate all of his children to keep any of them happiness by marrying the god , who from succeeding him. Rhea, Zeus’s mother, fed in turn lobbed her wedding crown (CORONA Cronus swaddling clothes to keep him from BOREALIS) into the sky in joy at their nuptials. consuming Zeus in his turn. Since the child Dionysus is also associated with the crown could not be raised at home, he was sent to a of myrtle worn by his mother Semele, who was cave to be raised by a nymph, now seen as the killed by jealous Hera for an affair with Zeus. little bear or dipper. Hera had told Semele to make Zeus prove his identity by revealing himself in godly form; when he did so, she was incinerated by the THE FERTILITY GODDESS glare. Dionysus traveled to the underworld to seek her release, but obtained only the crown VIRGO (the virgin) and the nearby LIBRA (the of myrtle, seen in the sky as . scales) are associated with numerous legends of Western antiquity, including Roman Justicia, who holds the scales of Justice. In Greek legend OTHER GREEK LEGENDS Virgo is Demeter, goddess of the harvest, whose daughter Persephone was abducted into the , the crow, is associated with Apollo, underworld, after which Demeter abandoned who himself became a crow during the great her fields in grief. Similarly, in ancient Egyptian attack of Typhon. However, Corvus is usually thought, which drew heavily on Greek myth seen as the unfortunate bird commanded by and inspired Romans, Virgo was Isis, who fled Apollo, condemned to wear the color black for the monster Typhon and scattered wheat in having brought news of the infidelity of her path. In Mesopotamia, Virgo was Ishtar, Apollo’s lover Coronis, and condemned also who fled her fields after her husband was to be forever separated from his drinking cup abducted into the underworld. In the summer () by the monster Hydra as a months Virgo looms large in the evening sky, punishment for tarrying on the way to fetch its brightest star—Spica, named for the spike Apollo a drink. For this bird’s misfortunes, all of wheat held by Virgo—sets earlier each night crows were said to wear black and speak only until finally it disappears in the sun’s glare at in discordant squawks. harvest time. Perhaps this accounts for the is an ancient constellation popular story of Virgo’s flight from the fields. that is sometimes seen as the parent of the other two fish, Pisces. It is comparatively prominent owing to its bright star, Formalhaut, derived THESEUS AND ARIADNE from the Arabic for the fish’s mouth. The constellation’s mythical origins are obscure, The story of Ariadne is perhaps the most possibly quite ancient, and it is sometimes touching of all the tales of love in Greek legend. associated with the end of the Biblical flood. Theseus, the Greek hero, was tasked with Hence the fish is often portrayed as drinking a destroying the great Minotaur of Crete, lodged large stream of spilled water coming from the in the original Labyrinth, a maze of gourd of nearby Aquarius. subterranean passages. Ariadne caught sight , the , has several stories, of Theseus on his approach and offered her but most often it is credited to the roster of help, in the form of a ball of twine which Poseidon, who sent a dolphin to help him woo Theseus would unroll while entering the maze and to bring her back to him. In and by which he could trace his way back gratitude he placed the creature in the stars. upon the completion of the task. In exchange Like several other summer constellations, the dolphin is a compact cluster of moderately popular atlas printers were accepted into bright stars easily seen next to Aquila. Modern common usage. celestial mapmakers have typically portrayed Petrus Plancius (1552–1622) was a minister it as a curled up dolphin, a figure suggested by in the Dutch Reformed Church who, fleeing the arrangement of its stars—a rare religious persecution in Flanders, moved to constellation that resembles its sign. and tried his hand in printing, is technically a Greek politics, and the young Dutch East constellation, having been mentioned by Company. His maps used information from Ptolemy (in Almagest) and Hipparchus. The Dutch traders and explorers, as well as charts dim little horse may simply represent an from the Portugese. On his own celestial globe, accident of history borrowed from neighboring Plancius conjured up the constellations constellations such as Aquarius or Pegasus. CAMELOPARDUS (the giraffe) and (the is perhaps the most boring of unicorn), both dim northern constellations in the Greek constellations. To some it may previously blank parts of the sky. Plancius’ represent either the Nile Delta or the island of globe also included Columba the dove, Sicily, but it is usually interpreted as prominent mentioned earlier in connection with Jason triangle that somehow escaped notice of and the Argo Navis, as well as TRIANGULUM classical storytellers. However, given the AUSTRALIS and CRUX, the latter the cross already abstract quality of the night sky, modern city well-known to European navigators of the dwellers may wonder that more constellations southern seas. don’t have similarly uninspiring geometric Plancius had a strong interest in expanding designations. In fact, most amateur Western Dutch trading links to Asia, and many of his stargazers are familiar with a handful of charts pertained to efforts to explore a important informal geometric figures including through the north of the Great Square (Pegasus), the Summer Siberia. At the same time, Plancius was Triangle (Vega, , and , the bright involved in early voyages around the Cape of stars in Lyra, Cygnus, and Aquila respectively), Good Hope, the longer route to the East. When the keystones of Hercules and Cancer, and the first such expedition, led by the Hollandia, numerous pointer stars. set sail for the Indian Ocean in 1595, Plancius charged its pilot with making a catalogue of southern stars. The pilot, Pietr Dirksz Keyser, THE MODERN EUROPEANS made observations from Madagascar and Sumatra in what is now Indonesia, but he died The West’s view of the constellations was during the voyage on the island of Java. His little changed from that of Ptolemy until the work was ultimately compiled by Frederik de 1500’s, when the increased prominence of Houtman, the chief of the expedition, and astronomy, science, printing, and navigation included on globes made by Plancius and led to rapid change. Continental printers were Hondius. doing a brisk trade in world maps, each seller Frederik de Houtman, destined to become trying to out-do the others by including the one of the great Dutch navigators, sought to latest observations obtained from the complete Keyser’s observations on his second navigators themselves or purloined from the voyage to the in 1598-99. On this secret military archives of neighboring states. journey he not only added stars to Keyser’s Maps of the heavens were also in demand, and list but improved on some of the data from the printers again vied to obtain accurate scientific earlier catalogue. But the expedition ran into observations and information about the far trouble with the sultan of Aceh, where southern skies. As happened with terrestrial Frederik’s brother Cornelis was killed and maps, place names favored by the most Frederik himself imprisoned. During his stay he improved still further on Europe’s knowledge of the world by drafting a Malay- asterism, and in any case other nearby cultures Dutch dictionary. Freed from prison, de had thought of the cluster as hair on Leo or Houtman returned home, where he ultimately shafts of wheat dangling from Virgo. The published the first catalogue of southern stars legend of the queen came down to Brahe as an appendix to the dictionary, the Spraeck through the poems of Catullus of Rome, whose ende Woord-boeck. De Houtman would writings borrowed from the earlier Greek continue his journeys to the East, and ultimately Callimachus. Though Coma’s origins may seem he became the first to chart portions of the obscure, the popularity of Greco-Roman poetry western coast of near what is now in general largely explains the longevity of Perth. Greek legends in constellation lore. Although Keyser and de Houtman are Not satisfied with the accuracy of earlier usually given credit for many of the charts of the stars, (1611– constellations that arose from their work, the 1687) set about making his own stellar atlas in actual formation of the constellations is the late 1600’s from his home base in Danzig, attributed to Plancius. These are , Poland. Using huge quadrants and sextants, (the golden fish), (the crane), he made what is perhaps the most accurate (the fly or bee), (a female pair attributed to naked-eye for the northern Hydra), (the toucan), observation. His innovations generally covered (the flying fish) and (the peacock). dim areas of the sky previously associated with Plancius also may have borrowed three other neighboring constellations. The Hevelius constellations—, (the American constellations are , (the little Indian of Tiera del Fuego) and (the bird lion), (originally Vulpecula cum of paradise)—from Chinese ideas about the Anser, the fox with the goose), (Urania’s firebird, the Persian, and the wonderbird. The sextant), (the lizard), and (the Plancius constellations received wide currency shield). Of these, Scutum is the best known, after they were included in Johannes Bayer’s since it lies in the bright part of the in 1603. known as the Scutum Cloud. Hevelius invented The next new constellation to enter the the constellation to honor his patron, Polish lexicon came from the legendary astronomer King Jan III Sobieski, celebrated throughout Tycho Brahe (1546–1601), whose early-1600’s Europe for his role in repelling the Turks from catalogue included the constellation COMA the gates of Vienna in 1683. BERENICES, which had formerly been associated By the 1700’s astronomers were with neighboring Leo or Virgo. Brahe’s increasingly relying on telescopes and other constellation derives from a story about Queen instruments for their work. Indeed, the 1700’s Berenice II, wife of Ptolemy III Euergenes of were an era of scientific gadgetry in which Egypt in around 250 BCE. Egypt at that time enterprising scholar-craftsmen pushed out the was deeply embedded in Greek culture, the boundaries of knowledge by any means Ptolemaic dynasty itself a product of available. Many scientists were no doubt just Alexander’s conquest nearly a century earlier. as enthusiastic about their instruments as According to a story of that day, Berenice cut about the fruits of their new scientific methods. off her golden hair as an offering at the Temple This enthusiasm must serve as an explanation of Aphrodite at Zephyrium during her for the plethora of scientific devices that husband’s campaign in Syria. The locks then populate the southern skies, at least as far as disappeared from the temple, leaving the queen modern designations are concerned. Many of disconsolate over their loss. Conon of Samos, these constellations are the work of one intrepid the court astronomer, diplomatically suggested astronomer, Abbe Nicolas Louis de La Caille. that the locks had found a new home among La Caille (1713–62) can be regarded as the the stars. Conon may have himself derived the Hevelius of the southern hemisphere, the man idea from earlier thinking about the Coma who completed the earlier surveys by Keyser are quite beautiful and seemingly more and de Houtman and the first person to evocative of their home cultures than the Greek systematically observe the whole sky. During legends. I must apologize for not doing them 11 frenetic months of observation in Cape Town better justice here, and for borrowing so much (1750–1754), La Caille charted over 10,000 from sources I cannot verify. These two faults stars with a half-inch telescope. The names of are due to my own relative ignorance of the his constellations leave little doubt as to what topic. dominated his thoughts:

ANTLIA (the air pump), (the engraver’s tool), AMERICANS: NAVAJO, PAWNEE (the geometer’s compass), Perhaps no American culture’s stories are (after Lavoisier’s chemical furnace), more well-known than those of the Dinee. HOROLOGIUM (the clock), Many American schoolchildren are familiar (the ), with the story of Coyote, the constant mischief- (the carpenter’s square), maker of the Southwest who contributed to (Hadley’s octant), the making of the heavens by flinging a (the easel), buckskin blanket full of shiny quartz into the (the telescope reticule, used for sky—the Milky Way—much to the centering stars), consternation of the People. The chaos sewn (the Sculptor), and by Coyote also explains why so many star (the telescope). groupings appear random. In addition, La Caille honored Table According to the story of the construction Mountain with the constellation , a of the heavens, the first work was Náhookos constellation perpetually enshrouded in the (Ursa Major), the Cold Man of the North, and just as his wife, Nahookás Ba’áád (Cassiopeia). These is so often wreathed in clouds. two bring constellations perpetually revolve Not content with having invented 13 new around the , their home fire. constellations, mainly named for tools and The Pleiades are viewed as the Navajo Flint instruments, La Caille also saw fit to break up Boys, who jumped up onto Black God, the ruler the expansive classical constellation Argo of the night sky, when he stamped his foot. The Navis, in turn creating (the keel), are sometimes portrayed on Black God’s face. (the sail), (the poop deck), and (the The tail of Scorpius, which resembles a figure ship’s compass house). of the letter Y, was seen as rabbit tracks that stand upright in early summer, as a sign for hunting to begin. Similarly, the Skidi Pawnee of the Kansas BEYOND THE OFFICIAL SYSTEM prairie saw the tail of Scorpius as swimming In this enlightened era, few will argue that ducks whose appearances heralded spring. the official constellations as endorsed by According to Von del Chamerlain, the Pawnee international astronomical associations agreed with the Greeks in seeing a great bear constitute the last word on the outlines of the in the bowl of the Big Dipper, followed by three heavenly storybook. No campfire sage would hunters, the dipper’s handle. consider his or her narrative tour of the complete without at least a passing comment on African, Australian, Asian, or American star legends. Many of these stories AND The Japanese adopted a similar 28-station zodiac grouped into four seasonal houses. One Millions of Westerners are familiar with the particularly well-known celestial tale from Chinese zodiac through placemats at Chinese Japan involves the oxman and the maiden. As restaurants. Unlike the Western zodiac, so often happened in ancient times, the oxman however, these twelve animals are not noticed the maiden doing her clothes along a constellations, but years. This cycle arose from stream and, seeing her own garments drying careful observation of the motion of , on a tree, he plucked them up and refused to which takes twelve earth years to mark a give them back until she danced for him. She complete circuit of the sun. Instead of focusing is seen as the brilliant white star Vega, which on the ecliptic, the apparent path of the sun is high in the summer sky, while he is Altair, and through the sky, the Chinese the yellowish star to the south. divided up the sky into equal-sized slices or stations. Originally there were only four stations, one per season: Azure dragon (spring, stretching from the Greek Virgo to Sagittarius), Genbu or black tortoise (winter, Sagittarius to HINDU Pegasus), white tiger (fall, Andromeda to Like the Chinese, the ancient people of Orion), and red bird (summer, Gemini to south India sought to divide up the sky into lunar of Leo). The Chinese houses were associated houses corresponding with the days of a lunar with stars visible in the evening sky, unlike the month, either 27 or 28. The Vedas speak of Western zodiac, which derives its dates astronomical events such as equinoxes and associations from the location of the sun. planetary positions, and from these modern Within these four season-houses were seven historians have tried to determine the subsidiary divisions, making for 28 total associations between the vedic houses, or divisions of the sky, a compromise between the nakshatras, and individual stars or asterisms. 27-day lunar month and the 29-day cycle of As with the Chinese zodiac and the modern lunar phases. This system is handed down at Western list of 88 constellations, many of the least from the period of the Warring States Indian asterisms are dim and unspectacular (480–222 BCE). since they were created to fill space rather than Perhaps the best known Chinese to illustrate stories. However, many nakshatras constellation lore has to do with the stars of are associated with gods of Hindu mythology. the polar region, in the Greek Ursa Minor, Ursa Some of the more easily recognized groupings Major, and Draco. These stars were all include: Gemini’s Pollux, which is Punarvasu associated with the emperor, his staff and the , representing Aditi, the goddess of imperial household. The pole star, about which abundance; the Pleiades, which corresponds the sky appears to revolve, was the emperor with Krittika nakshatra, representing Agni, the himself, the bright star on the lip of the Little god of fire; and parts of Taurus, which form Dipper his chief minister. His queen (cup Rohini Nakshatra, the bride of Chandra, the bottom), imperial guards (the handle), and lunar god. prince rounded out Ursa Minor. Nearby Draco’s stars represented the emperor’s daughters, their tutor, various ministers, and the throne and house of the emperor. The stars of the Big Dipper were seen as the emperor’s own tutor, his chief guard, and his advisers. AFRICANS KhoiKhoi viewed the Pleiades as carriers of rain and lightning. Africa probably bears responsibility for more constellations than we know, since Greek and Egyptian culture and mythology were so closely related. The Greek constellations AUSTRALIANS Eridanus and Triangulum are, as noted, As elsewhere, the Australian peoples associated with the Nile, and developed constellation associations patterned represents the hair of a Greek-Egyptian queen. after animals and people found on earth, and More importantly, all of the scientific imaged that there was a distinct Skyworld. instruments placed in the heavens by La Caille Since ancient Australia, like other continents, could be called African, since his work took was peopled with hundreds of different people place in South Africa. La Caille’s constellation of diverse languages and cultures, there was Mensa, or Table Mountain, is the only modern no doubt an equally immense variation in constellation whose origins can be definitively constellations. Pring Adele’s brief survey of the linked to a geographical place. Be that as it may, different Australian interpretations of the it is certainly a pity that La Caille didn’t southern cross (Crux) gives some idea of this attempt to borrow from rich South African variation: To some of the peoples of South knowledge of the southern skies. Australia near Adelaide, the cross was a According to Dave Laney, several of the stingray, and the nearby pointing stars of peoples of South Africa, including the Venda, Centaurus were sharks. To a storyteller in Sotho, and Tswana, regarded the bright stars Arnhem Land in the north, the cross is a of the southern cross and Centaurus as a group friendly crocodile and the pointers its night- of giraffes seen from the side, with the cross as bird companions. In Victoria, the Boorong the forequarters and the pointers at the neck. people saw the cross as a possum who swivels Orion and the Pleiades were also prominent in position throughout the night. And in the constellations for the Southern African peoples, Torres Strait, the Tagai people see the cross as just as spring and summer stars held the most a left hand holding a fish spear, guiding fishing important to ancient North Americans and activities throughout the seasons. Europeans. To the Kiswahili, the appearance One eastern Australian story tells of two of the digging stars (the Pleiades) marked the brothers preparing two separate campfires to beginning of the rains and the planting season. cook recently caught fish while two friends wait The Zulu viewed the digging stars as symbols nearby. The brothers and their fires are the of renewal, since their status as a cluster grows cross, their friends the pointers, and the fish apparent gradually as they rise from the sun’s the dark Coal Sack in Crux. morning glare in the spring. Similarly, the BIBLIOGRAPHY Navajo Legend,” http:// www.earthbow.com/native/navajo/sun- Apollodorus, The Library, James George Frazer, moon.htm, accessed July, 2002. trans., Cambridge, Mass.: Loeb Classics, 1960. Royal Observatory-Greenwich and the Hesiod, The Homeric Hymns, and Homerica, National Maritime Museum, “South African Hugh G. 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