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This episode aims to give you an overview of five Ancient Greek constellations seen in the night sky, and what story the Ancient Greeks themselves attributed to them. I also dedicate this episode to my mother, who suggested the topic.
We’ve all heard of Greek myths, whether that’s the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, or Theseus and the Minotaur. But the stories the Greeks themselves told about the natural world particularly fascinates me. How did they explain the stars in the sky and the natural satellites they saw?
According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, a constellation is:
A grouping of stars on the celestial sphere perceived as a figure or design, especially one of the 88 recognized groups named after characters from classical Greek and Roman mythology as well as various common animals and objects.
Today is my foray into publicly sharing my thoughts on a selection of stars. The Greek constellations I’ve chosen are the most familiar to people, I think. We’ve all heard of either the constellations or the myths behind Orion, Taurus, Pegasus, and Hercules. I’ve thrown in Canis Minor just because.
I don’t claim to be an astronomer. I’m just a hobbyist historian with an interest in knowing everything I can about the world we live in. If you’re also ready to dig deeper into why we named certain groups of stars the way we did, let’s jump in.
Greek Constellation #1: Orion the Hunter
You’re more likely to see Orion’s Belt than you are Orion himself in my experience. These are three bright stars clustered together, though the constellation itself is the most prominent in the winter night sky. This cluster of stars forms a man with a pinched in tunic (his famous belt) and holds a bow in one hand and an animal pelt in the other.
Orion, also called the Hunter or Orion the Hunter, was the son of Poseidon in Greek mythology. He was also a really good hunter who fancied himself attracted to someone he shouldn’t have. In one myth, it was to the Pleiades, the seven daughters of the Titan Atlas and Pleione. The gods place Orion in the sky, just out of reach of the Pleiades.
In another myth, it was the goddess of hunting herself, Artemis, who Orion went after. When Orion boasted he could kill all the animals in the world, the earth herself, Gaia, sent a scorpion to kill Orion. Both Orion and the scorpion (Scorpius) are in opposite parts of the sky to continue the chase forever.
Orion is one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy. He’s visible from January to April at night, and invisible from May to June because he’s out in the daytime.
As far as Greek constellations go, Orion is yet another warning to mortals that you really shouldn’t think you’re better than the gods at anything.
Greek Constellation #2: Taurus
Taurus, the Bull, as a constellation, is only really the head and forelegs. In the sky, he’s a Y shape of front legs, head and horns. Orion is below him. Follow the Belt up. If you keep going, you’ll reach the Pleiades Cluster (the Seven Sisters Orion failed to seduce).
In mythology, Taurus is Zeus’ bull form. Zeus transformed into animals quite a lot to seduce women. For the constellation, Taurus faces off against Orion to protect the Pleiades.
In the northern hemisphere, Taurus is mostly visible all night from late November to early December. By March, he begins to set at sunset, and he’s entirely invisible because of the sun’s glare during the summer.
The constellation dates back further than the Greeks. The constellation itself resembles cave art in some places. In the Early Bronze Age, Taurus marked the location of the sun for the Spring Equinox. There are also bull figures in the mythologies of Ancient Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, not just Greece and Rome.
Greek Constellation #3: Pegasus
Pegasus is a great square, and the front legs of a supposed flying horse. The brightest star in the Andromeda constellation (Alpheratz) is in the top left corner. In the northern hemisphere, it’s upside down in the autumn. Offshoot stars from the top right form the front legs and below right make the neck and head.
In Greek mythology, Pegasus began life springing fully formed from Medusa’s decapitated head. Pegasus allowed the hero Bellerophon to ride him so he could defeat a monster. And then Bellerophon wanted to go to Mount Olympus and Zeus threw a thunderbolt at them and killed them.
Pegasus was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy. It’s the seventh largest constellation, measuring 1121 square degrees.
Greek Constellation #4: Canis Minor
Canis Minor is parallel to Orion’s shoulders. If you find Orion’s shoulders, go left until you hit a bright star called Procyon. The constellation only has two stars in it, Procyon and Gomeisa.
People usually think of this constellation as either one of Orion’s hunting dogs (the other being Canis Major), or a fox running from Canis Major, the fastest dog in the world. If we continue with the fox myth, Zeus was fed up with the dog not catching this fox, so he turned them both to stone and put them in the heavens.
Canis Minor, as a constellation, dates back to Mesopotamia. Procyon and Gomesia were known as “twins” after twin gods, Lulal and Latarak. In Greece, they called the constellation Procyon (“coming before the dog”) and the Romans added the descriptor “minor” to differentiate it from Canis Major. The Egyptians named the constellation after the jackal-headed god Anubis.
Canis Minor was also included in Ptolemy’s listed 48 constellations.
Greek Constellation #5: Hercules
Hercules, or Heracles, if you want to stay in Greek mythology, isn’t a particularly bright set of stars. He’s between the bright stars Arturus and Vega in the summer of the northern hemisphere. In the sky, he’s kneeling while facing the constellation Draco. He’s the largest constellation which doesn’t have a really bright star to identify him with.
In Greek mythology, Hercules was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman, the great-grandson of the hero Perseus (that’s the one who killed Medusa). Hercules completed twelve impossible labours to reach godhood, showing off his manliness along the way. A lot of the constellations reference his labours (like Hydra and Draco). Hercules is also sometimes associated with Gilgamesh, a Sumerian mythological hero who also went on a quest of labours.
Hercules is, yet again, another constellation included in Ptolemy’s listed 48 constellations. It is also the fifth largest of the modern 88 constellations. In mid-northern latitudes, you can see Hercules from mid-spring until early autumn, culminating at midnight on 13th June.
Conclusion
Humans have been telling stories about the world since before they wrote it down. These Greek constellations are just another aspect of how the gods and their heroes interacted with the world.
Since we still recognise near enough the same stars in the same patterns. We can probably say the stars are just as fascinating today as they were three thousand years ago. It’s just that now, we have better technology to understand more about the science behind the stars, but that’s not to say stories aren’t relevant.
We still believe, for the most part, that when we die, our souls ascend. The finer points might have changed, such as the gods shoving our souls in the sky for others to remember, but we still believe some version of that. We still talk about these figures, their constellations, like they’ve always been there in that form. And maybe they have.
Without the stories we attribute to natural phenomena, I don’t think the world would be as exciting to live in. Without stories and the imagination behind them, we’d lose what makes us human.
And that’s not a world I want to live in.
Resources and Links
- “The Secret World of Stargazing” by Adrian West (2021). I went to see him give a talk with my parents; you can tell he’s enthusiastic about the subject of making astronomy accessible. His book (my father bought a signed copy) is an easy read. All of my Greek constellations appear in here.
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