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Hyginus, Astronomica (Hyg.+Astr.)

§ 2.1.1  GREAT BEAR: We begin, then as we said above, with theGreat Bear.Hesiod says she is namedCallisto, daughter ofLycaon, who ruled inArcadia. Out of her zeal for hunting she joinedDiana, and was greatly loved by the goddess because of their similar temperaments. Later, when made pregnant byJove, she feared to tell the truth toDiana. But she couldn't conceal it long, for as her womb grew heavier near the time of her delivery, when she was refreshing her tired body in a stream,Diana realized she had not preserved her virginity. In keeping with her deep distrust, the goddess inflicted no light punishment. Taking away her maiden features, she changed her into the form of a bear, called arktos in Greek. In this form she boreArcas.

§ 2.1.2  But asAmphis, writer of comedies, says,Jupiter, assuming the form ofDiana, followed the girl as if to aid her in hunting, and embraced her when out of sight of the rest. Questioned byDiana as to the reason for her swollen form, she replied that it was the goddess' fault, and because of this reply,Diana changed her into the shape we mentioned above. When wandering like a wild beast in the forest, she was caught by certainAitolians and brought intoArcadia to KingLycaon along with her son as a gift, and there, in ignorance of the law, she is said to have rushed into the temple ofJoveLycaeus. Her son at once followed her, and theArcadians in pursuit were trying to kill them, whenJupiter, mindful of his indiscretion, rescued her and placed her and her son among the constellations. He named herArctos, and her sonArctophylax. About him we shall speak later.

§ 2.1.3  Some, too, have said that whenCallisto was embraced byJove,Juno in anger turned her into a bear; then, when she metDiana hunting, she was killed by her, and later, on being recognized, was placed among the stars.

§ 2.1.4  But others say that whenJupiter was pursuingCallisto in the woods,Juno, suspecting what had happened, hurried there so that she could say she had caught him openly. ButJove, the more easily to conceal his fault, left her changed to bear form.Juno, then, finding a bear instead of a girl in that place, pointed her out forDiana, who was hunting, to kill.Jove was distressed to see this, and put in the sky the likeness of a bear represented with stars.

§ 2.1.5  This constellation, as many have stated, does not set, and those who desire some reason for this fact say thatTethys, wife ofOcean, refuses to receive her when the other stars come there to their setting, becauseTethys was the nurse ofJuno, in whose bedCallisto was a concubine.

§ 2.1.6  Araethus ofTegea, however, writer of histories, says that she wasn'tCallisto, butMegisto, and wasn't the daughter ofLycaon, but ofCeteus, and so granddaughter ofLycaon. He says, too, thatCeteus himself was called the Kneeler. The other details agree with what has been said above. All this is shown to have taken place on theArcadian mountainNonacris.

§ 2.2.1  LESSER BEAR:Aglaosthenes, who wrote the Naxica, says that she isCynosura, one of the nurses ofJove from the number of theIdaean nymphs. He says, too, that in the city called Histoe, founded byNicostratus and his friends, both the harbour and the greater part of the land are called Cynosura from her name. She, too, was among theCuretes who were attendants ofJove. Some say that the nymphsHelice andCynosura were nurses ofJove, and so for gratitude were placed in the sky, both being called Bears. We call them Septentriones.

§ 2.2.2  But many have said that theGreat Bear is like a wagon, and the Greeks do call it amaxa. This reason has been handed down: Those who, at the beginning, observed the stars and supposed the number of stars into the several constellations, called this group not "Bear" but "Wain," because two of the seven stars which seemed of equal size and closest together were consideredoxen, and the other five were like the figure of a wagon. And so the sign which is nearest to this they wished to be calledBootes. We shall speak of him later on.Aratus, indeed, says that neitherBootes nor the Wain has these names for the reason above, but because the Bear seems, wagon-like, to wheel around the pole which is called North, andBootes is said to drive her. In this he seems to be considerably in error, for later, in connection with the seven stars, asParmeniscus says, twenty-five were grouped by certain astronomers to complete the form of the Bear, not seven. And so the one that followed the wagon and was formerly calledBootes, was now calledArctophylax [Bear Watcher], and she, at the same time thatHomer lived, was called Bear. About the SeptentrionesHomer says that she was called both Bear and Wain; nowhere does he mention thatBootes was calledArctophylax.

§ 2.2.3  There is a great diversity of opinion, too, as to why theLesser Bear is calledPhoenice, and why those who observe her are said to navigate more exactly and carefully; why, also, if she is more reliable than the Great Bear, all do not watch her. These people do not seem to realize the reason for her being calledPhoenice.Thales ofMiletus, who searched into these matters carefully, and first called her Bear, was by birth aPhoenician, asHerodotus says. Therefore all those in thePeloponnesus use the firstArctos; thePhoenicians, however, observe the one they received from her discoverer, and by watching her carefully, are thought to navigate more exactly, and suitably call herPhoenice from the race of her discoverer.

§ 2.3.1  SERPENT: This hugeserpent is pointed out as lying between the two Bears. He is said to have guarded the golden apples of theHesperides, and afterHercules killed him, to have been put byJuno among the stars, because at her instigationHercules set out for him. He is considered the usual watchman of the Gardens ofJuno.Pherecydes says that whenJupiter wedJuno,Terra came, bearing branches with golden applies, andJuno, in admiration, askedTerra to plant them in her gardens near distantMount Atlas. WhenAtlas' daughters kept picking the apples from the trees,Juno is said to have placed this guardian there. Proof of this will be the form ofHercules above the dragon, asEratosthenes shows, so that anyone may know that for this reason in particular it is called the dragon.

§ 2.3.1  Some also say this dragon was thrown atMinerva by theGiants, when she fought them.Minerva, however, snatched its twisted form and threw it to the stars, and fixed it at the very pole of heaven. And so to this day it appears with twisted body, as if recently transported to the stars.

§ 2.4.1  BEAR-WATCHER: He is said to beArcas, the son ofJove andCallisto, whomLycaon served at a banquet, cut up with other meat, whenJupiter came to him as a guest. ForLycaon wanted to know whether the one who had asked for his hospitality was a god or not. For this deed he was punished by no slight punishment, forJupiter, quickly overturning the table, burned the house with a thunderbolt, and turnedLycaon himself into awolf. But the scattered limbs of the boy he put together, and gave him to a certainAitolian to care for. When, grown to manhood, he was hunting in the woods, he saw his mother changed to bear form, and did not recognize her. Intent on killing her, he chased her into the temple ofJoveLycaeus, where the penalty for entering is death, according toArcadian law. And so, since both would have to die,Jupiter, out of pity, snatched them up and put them among the stars, as I have said before. As a result,Arcas is seen following the Bear, and since he guardsArctos, he is calledArctophylax.

§ 2.4.2  Some have said that he isIcarus, father ofErigone, to whom, on account of his justice and piety,Father Liber gave wine, the vine, and the grape, so that he could show men how to plant the vine, what would grow from it, and how to use what was produced. When he had planted the vine, and by careful tending with a pruning-knife had made it flourish, agoat is said to have broken into the vineyard, and nibbled the tenderest leaves he saw there.Icarus, angered by this, took him and killed him and from his skin made a sack, and blowing it up, bound it tight, and cast it among his friends, directing them to dance around it. And soEratosthenes says: Around thegoat ofIcarus they first danced.

§ 2.4.3  Others say thatIcarus, when he had received the wine fromFather Liber, straightway put full wineskins on a wagon. For this he was calledBootes. When he showed it to the shepherds on going round through the Attic country, some of them, greedy and attracted by the new kind of drink, became stupefied, and sprawling here and there, as if half-dead, kept uttering unseemly things. The others, thinking poison had been given the shepherds byIcarus, so that he could drive their flocks into his own territory, killed him, and threw him into a well, or, as others say, buried him near a certain tree. However, when those who had fallen asleep, woke up, saying that they had never rested better, and kept asking forIcarus in order to reward him, his murderers, stirred by conscience, at once took to flight and came to the island of theCeans. Received there as guests, they established homes for themselves.

§ 2.4.4  But whenErigone, the daughter ofIcarus, moved by longing for her father, saw he did not return and was on the point of going out to hunt for him, thedog ofIcarus,Maera by name, returned to her, howling as if lamenting the death of its master. It gave her no slight suspicion of murder, for the timid girl would naturally suspect her father had been killed since he had been gone so many months and days. But thedog, taking hold of her dress with its teeth, led her to the body. As soon as the girl saw it, abandoning hope, and overcome with loneliness and poverty, with many tearful lamentations she brought death on herself by hanging from the very tree beneath which her father was buried. And thedog made atonement for her death by its own life. Some say that it cast itself into the well,Anigrus by name. For this reason they repeat the story that no one afterward drank from that well.Jupiter, pitying their misfortune, represented their forms among the stars. And so many have calledIcarus,Bootes, andErigone, the Virgin, about whom we shall speak later. Thedog, however, from its own name and likeness, they have calledCanicula. It is calledProcyon by the Greeks, because it rises before the greaterDog. Others say these were pictured among the stars byFather Liber.

§ 2.4.5  In the meantime in the district of theAthenians many girls without cause committed suicide by hanging, becauseErigone, in dying, had prayed thatAthenian girls should meet the same kind of death she was to suffer if theAthenians did not investigate the death ofIcarus and avenge it. And so when these things happened as described,Apollo gave oracular response to them when they consulted him, saying that they should appeaseErigone if they wanted to be free from the affliction. So since she hanged herself, they instituted a practice of swinging themselves on ropes with bars of wood attached, so that the one hanging could be moved by the wind. They instituted this as a solemn ceremony, and they perform it both privately and publicly, and call it aletis, aptly terming her mendicant who, unknown and lonely, sought for her father with the god. The Greeks call such people aletides.

§ 2.4.6  In addition to this,Canicula, rising with its heat, scorched the land of theCeans, and robbed their fields of produce, and caused the inhabitants, since they had welcomed the bandits, to be plagued by sickness, and to pay the penalty toIcarus with suffering. Their king,Aristaeus, son ofApollo andCyrene, and father ofActaeon, asked his father by what means he could free the state from affliction. The god bade them expiate the death ofIcarus with many victims, and ask fromJove that whenCanicula rises he should send wind for forty days to temper the heat ofCanicula. This commandAristaeus carried out, and obtained fromJove the favour that theEtesian winds should blow. Some have called themEtesian because they spring up at a certain time each year, for etos in Greek is annus in Latin. Some, too, have called themEtesian because they were "asked for" fromJove, and so obtained. But we shall leave this undecided, lest we be though to have anticipated everything.

§ 2.4.7  To return to the matter at hand,Hermippus, who wrote about the stars, says thatCeres lay withIasion, son ofThuscus. Many agree withHomer that for this he was struck with a thunderbolt. From them, asPetellides,Cretan writer of histories, shows, two sons were born,Philomelus andPlutus, who were never on good terms, forPlutus, who was richer, gave nothing of his wealth to his brother.Philomelus, however, compelled by necessity, bought twooxen with what he had, and became the inventor of the wagon. So, by plowing and cultivating the fields, he supported himself. His mother, admiring his invention, represented him plowing among the stars, and called himBootes. From him they sayParias was born, who called the peopleParians and the townParion from his own name.

§ 2.5.1  CROWN: This is thought to beAriadne's crown, placed byFather Liber among the constellations. For they say that whenAriadne wedLiber on the island ofDia, and all the gods gave her wedding gifts, she first received this crown as a gift fromVenus and theHorae. But, as the author of the Cretica says, at the time whenLiber came toMinos with the hope of lying withAriadne, he gave her this crown as a present. Delighted with it, she did not refuse the terms. It is said, too, to have been made of gold andIndian gems, and by its aidTheseus is thought to have come from the gloom of thelabyrinth to the day, for the gold and gems made a glow of light in the darkness.

§ 2.5.2  But those who wrote theArgolica give the following reason. WhenLiber received permission from his father to bring back his motherSemele from the Lower World, and in seeking a place of descent had come to the land of theArgives, a certainHypolipnus met him, a man worthy of that generation, who was to show the entrance toLiber in answer to his request. However, whenHypolipnus saw him, a mere boy in years, excelling all others in remarkable beauty of form, he asked from him the reward that could be given without loss.Liber, however, eager for his mother, swore that if he brought her back, he would do as he wished, on terms, though, that a god could swear to a shameless man. At this,Hypolipnus showed the entrance. So then, whenLiber came to that place and was about to descend, he left the crown, which he had received as a gift fromVenus, at that place which in consequence is calledStephanos, for he was unwilling to take it with him for fear the immortal gift of the gods would be contaminated by contact with the dead. When he brought his mother back unharmed, he is said to have placed the crown in the stars as an everlasting memorial.

§ 2.5.3  Others say that this is the crown ofTheseus, and for the following reason placed near him, for the constellation called the Kneeler is thought to beTheseus. We shall speak later about him. It is said that whenTheseus came toCrete toMinos with seven maidens and six youths,Minos, inflamed by the beauty of one of the maidens,Eriboea by name, wished to lie with her.Theseus, as was fitting for a son ofNeptune, and one able to strive against a tyrant for a girl's safety, refused to allow this. So when the dispute became one not about the girl but about the parentage ofTheseus, whether he was the son ofNeptune or not,Minos is said to have drawn a gold ring from his finger and cast it into the sea. He badeTheseus bring it back, if he wanted him to believe he was a son ofNeptune; as for himself, he could easily show he was a son ofJove. So, invoking his father, he asked for some sign to prove he was his son, and straightway thunder and lightning gave token of assent. For a similar reason,Theseus, without any invoking of his father or obligation of an oath, cast himself into the sea. And at once a great swarm ofdolphins, tumbling forward over the sea, led him through gently swelling waves to theNereids. From them he brought back the ring ofMinos and a crown, bright with many gems, fromThetis, which she had received at her wedding as a gift fromVenus. Others say that the crown came from the wife ofNeptune, andTheseus is said to have given it toAriadne as a gift, when on account of his valor and courage she was given to him in marriage. AfterAriadne's death,Liber placed it among the constellations.

§ 2.6.1  THE KNEELER:Eratosthenes says he isHercules, placed above the dragon we have already mentioned, and prepared to fight, with his left hand holding hislion skin, and his right the club. He is trying to kill the dragon of theHesperides, which, it is thought, never was overcome by sleep or closed its eyes, thus offering more proof it was placed there as a guard.Panyassis in the Heraclea says of the sign thatJupiter, in admiration of their struggle, placed it among the stars; for the dragon has its head erect, andHercules, resting on his right knee, tires to crush the right side of its head with his left foot. His right hand is up and striking, his left extended with thelion skin, and he appears to be fighting with all his strength. AlthoughAratus says no one can prove who he is, nevertheless we shall try to show that we can say something reasonable.

§ 2.6.2  Araethus, as we said before, calls this figureCeteus, son ofLycaon, and father ofMegisto. He seems to be lamenting the change of his daughter to bear form, kneeling on one knee, and holding up outstretched hands to heaven, asking for the gods to restore her to him.

§ 2.6.3  Hegesianax, however, says that he isTheseus, who seems to be lifting the stone atTroezene.Aegeus is thought to have put [corrupt] and a sword under it, and warnedAethra, the mother, not to send him toAthens until he could lift the stone by his own strength and bring the sword to his father. And so he seems to try to lift the stone as high as he can. In this connection, too, some have said that the Lyre, placed nearest this sign, is the lyre ofTheseus, for he was skilful in all the arts and seems to have learned the lyre as well. This, too,Anacreon says: NearTheseus, son ofAegeus, is the Lyre.

§ 2.6.4  Others call himThamyris, blinded by theMuses, kneeling as a suppliant; others,Orpheus, killed by the Thracian women because he looked on the rites ofFather Liber.

§ 2.6.5  ButAeschylus, in the play entitledPrometheus Lyomenos , says that he isHercules, fighting not with the dragon, but with theLigurians. For he says that at the timeHercules was driving away thecattle ofGeryon, he journeyed through the territory of theLigurians. They joined forces in trying to take the herd from him, and pierced many of the beasts [?] with arrows. But afterHercules' weapons failed, worn out by the number of the barbarians and lack of arms, he fell to his knees, already suffering from many wounds.Jove, however, out of pity for his son, provided that there should be a great supply of stones around him. With theseHercules defended himself and put the enemy to flight. And soJove put he image of his fighting form among the constellations.

§ 2.6.6  Again, some have said that he isIxion with his arms bound, because he tried to attackJuno.

§ 2.6.7  Others say he isPrometheus, bound on Mt.Caucasus.

§ 2.7.1  LYRE: The Lyre was put among the constellations for the following reason, asEratosthenes says. Made at first byMercury from a tortoise shell, it was given toOrpheus, son ofCalliope andOiagrus, who was passionately devoted to music. It is thought that by his skill he could charm even wild beasts to listen. When, grieving for his wifeEurydice, he descended to the Lower World, he praised the children of the gods in his song, all exceptFather Liber; him he overlooked and forgot, asOineus didDiana in sacrifice. Afterwards, then, whenOrpheus was taking delight in song, seated, as many say, on Mt.Olympus, which separatesMacedonia fromThrace, or onPangaion, asEratosthenes says,Liber is said to have roused the Bacchanals against him. They slew him and dismembered his body. But others say that this happened because he had looked on the rites ofLiber. TheMuses gathered the scattered limbs and gave them burial, and as the greatest favour they could confer, they put as a memorial his lyre, pictured with stars, among the constellations.Apollo andJove consented, forOrpheus had praisedApollo highly, andJupiter granted this favour to his daughter.

§ 2.7.2  Others say that whenMercury first made the lyre on MountCyllene inArcadia, he made it with seven strings to correspond to the number ofAtlantides, sinceMaia, his mother, was of their company. Later, when he had driven away thecattle ofApollo and had been caught in the act, to win pardon more easily, atApollo's request he gave him permission to claim the invention of the lyre, and received from him a certain staff as reward. WhenMercury, holding it in his hand, was journeying toArcadia and saw twosnakes with bodies intertwined, apparently fighting, he put down the staff between them. They separated then, and so he said that the staff had been appointed to bring peace. Some, in making caducei, put twosnakes intertwined on the rod, because this seemed toMercury a bringer of peace. Following his example, they use the staff in athletic contests and other contests of this kind.

§ 2.7.3  But to return to the subject at hand.Apollo took the lyre, and is said to have taughtOrpheus on it, and after he himself had invented the cithara, he gave the lyre toOrpheus.

§ 2.7.4  Some also have said thatVenus andProserpina came toJove for his decision, asking him to which of them he would grantAdonis.Calliope, the judge appointed byJove, decided that each should posses him half of the year. ButVenus, angry because she had not been granted what she thought was her right, stirred the women inThrace by love, each to seekOrpheus for herself, so that they tore him limb from limb. His head, carried down from the mountain into the sea, was cast by the waves upon the island ofLesbos. It was taken up and buried by the people ofLesbos, and in return for this kindness, they have the reputation of being exceedingly skilled in the art of music. The lyre, as we have said, was put by theMuses among the stars.

§ 2.7.5  Some say that becauseOrpheus first favored love for youths, he seemed to insult women, and for this reason they killed him.

§ 2.8.1  SWAN: The sign the Greeks call the Swan, but others, out of ignorance of the story, have called it ornis, the general term for bird. This reason for the name has been handed down: WhenJupiter, moved by desire, had begun to loveNemesis, and couldn't persuade her to lie with him, he relieved his passion by the following plan. He badeVenus, in the form of aneagle, pursue him; he, changed to a swan, as if in flight from theeagle, took refuge withNemesis and lighted in her lap.Nemesis did not thrust him away, but holding him in her arms, fell into a deep sleep. While she slept,Jupiter embraced her, and then flew away. Because he was seen by men flying high in the sky, they said he was put in the stars. To make this really true,Jupiter put the swan flying and theeagle pursuing in the sky.

§ 2.8.2  ButNemesis, as if wedded to the tribe of birds, when her months were ended, bore an egg.Mercury took it away and carried it toSparta and threw it inLeda's lap. From it sprangHelen, who excelled all other girls in beauty.Leda called her her own daughter. Others say thatJove, in the form of a swan, lay withLeda. We shall leave the matter undecided.

§ 2.9.1  CEPHEUS:Euripides and the rest have shown that he was the son ofPhoenix, king of theEthiopians, and father ofAndromeda, the girl exposed to the sea-monster, according to the well-known tale.Perseus freed her from danger and made her his wife. And so, that the whole family be commemorated, the gods numberedCepheus, too, among the constellations.

§ 2.10.1  CASSIEPIA: [CASSIOPEIA]Euripides andSophocles and many others have said of her that she boasted that she excelled theNereids in beauty. For this she was put among the constellations, seated in a chair [?]. On account of her impiety, as the sky turns, she seems to be carried along lying on her back.

§ 2.11.1  ANDROMEDA: They say she was put among the constellations by the favour ofMinerva, on account of the valor ofPerseus, who freed her from danger when exposed to the sea-monster. Nor did he receive less kindness from her in return for his good deed. For neither her fatherCepheus nor her motherCassiepia could dissuade her from followingPerseus, leaving parents and country. About herEuripides has written a most excellent play with her name as title.

§ 2.12.1  PERSEUS: He is said to have come to the stars because of his nobility and the unusual nature of his conception. When sent byPolydectes, son ofMagnes, to theGorgons, he received fromMercury, who is thought to have loved him, talaria and petasus, and, in addition, a helmet which kept its wearer from being seen by an enemy. So the Greeks have called it the helmet of Haides [the Unseen One], thoughPerseus did not, as some ignorant people interpret it, wear the helmet ofOrcus himself, for no educated person could believe that. He is said, too, to have received fromVulcan a knife made of adamant, with which he killedMedusa theGorgon. The deed itself no one has described. But asAeschylus, the writer of tragedies, says in hisPhorcides, theGraeae were guardians of theGorgons. We wrote about them in the first book of the Genealogiae. They are thought to have had but one eye among them, and thus to have kept guard, watch one taking it in her turn. This eyePerseus snatches, as one was passing it to another, and threw is in LakeTritonis. So, when the guards were blinded, he easily killed theGorgon when she was overcome with sleep.Minerva is said to have the head on her breastplate.Euhemerus says theGorgon was killed byMinerva. We shall speak more of this later on.

§ 2.13.1  CHARIOTEER: In Latin we call him "auriga" —Erichthonius by name, asEratosthenes shows.Jupiter seeing that he first among men yokedhorses in four-horse chariots, admired the genius of a man who could rival the invention ofSol, who first among the gods made use of the quadriga.Erichthonius first invented the four-horse chariot, as we said before, and also first established sacrifices toMinerva, and a temple on the citadel of theAthenians.Euripides gives the following account of his birth.Vulcan, inflamed byMinerva's beauty, begged her to marry him, but was refused. She hid herself in the place called Hephaestius, on account of the love ofVulcan. They say thatVulcan, following her there, tried to force her, and when, full of passion he tried to embrace her, he was repulsed, and some of his seed fell to the ground.Minerva overcome by shame, with her foot spread dust over it. From this thesnakeErichthonius was born, who derives his name from the earth and their struggle.Minerva is said to have hidden him, like a cult-object, in a chest. She brought the chest to the daughters ofErechtheus and gave it to them to guard, forbidding them to open it. But man is by nature so curious, that the oftener he is forbidden to do something, the more he desired to do it. So the girls opened the chest and saw thesnake. As a result they were driven mad byMinerva, and threw themselves from theAcropolis. But thesnake fled to the shield ofMinerva, and was reared by her.

§ 2.13.2  Others have said thatErichthonius merely had snake-legs, and in his youth established thePanathenaic Games forMinerva, himself competing in the four-horse chariot race. In return for these deeds he was placed among the constellations.

§ 2.13.3  Some too, who have written about the stars, have said that the Charioteer was anArgive by birth, namedOrsilochus, who first invented the four-horse chariot, and for his invention gained a place among the stars.

§ 2.13.4  Others identified him as the son ofMercury andClytie,Myrtilus by name, the charioteer ofOinomaus. After his death, the manner of which is common knowledge, his father is said to have put his form in the sky.

§ 2.13.5  On his left shoulder (thegoat) Capra stands, and in his left hand the Kids seem to be placed. They tell this story about him. A certainOlenus, son ofVulcan, had two daughters, the nymphsAex andHelice, who were nurses ofJove. Others have said that certain cities were named from them —Olenus inAulis,Helice in the Peloponnesus, andAex inHaemonia — about whichHomer writes in the second book of theIliad. ButParmeniscus say that a certainMelisseus was king inCrete, and to his daughtersJove was brought to nurse. Since they did not have milk, they furnished him a she-goat,Amalthea by name, who is said to have reared him. She often bore twinkids, and at the very time thatJove was brought to her to nurse, had borne a pair. And so because of the kindness of the mother, thekids, too were placed among the constellations.Cleostratus ofTenedos is said to have first pointed out thesekids among the stars.

§ 2.13.6  ButMusaeus saysJove was nursed byThemis and the nymphAmalthea, to whom he was given byOps, his mother. NowAmalthea had as a pet a certaingoat which is said to have nursedJove.

§ 2.13.7  Some have calledAex the daughter ofSol, who surpassed many in beauty of body, but in contrast to this beauty, had a most horrible face. Terrified by it, theTitans beggedTerra to hide her body, andTerra is said to have hidden her in a cave in the island ofCrete. Later she became nurse ofJove, as we have said before. But whenJupiter, confident in his youth, was preparing for war against theTitans, oracular reply was given to him that if he wished to win, he should carry on the war protected with the skin of agoat, aigos, and the head of theGorgon. The Greeks call this the aegis. When this was done, as we have shown above,Jupiter, overcoming theTitans, gained possession of the kingdom. Covering the remaining bones of thegoat with a skin, he gave life to them and memorialised them, picturing them with stars. Afterwards he gave toMinerva the aegis with which he had been protected when he won.

§ 2.13.8  Euhemerus says that a certainAex was the wife ofPan. When she was embraced byJove she bore a son whom she called son ofPan. So the child was calledAegipan, andJove, Aegiochus. Since he was very fond of him, he placed in memory the form of agoat among the stars.

§ 2.14.1  SERPENT-HOLDER:Ophiuchus, who, by our writers, is called theSerpent-holder, is stationed aboveScorpio, and holds in his hands aserpent which coils about his body.

§ 2.14.2  Many have called himCarnabon, king of theGetae, who lived inThrace. He came into power at the time when it is thought grain was first given to mortals. For whenCeres was distributing her bounties to men, she badeTriptolemus, whose nurse she had been, go around to all the nations and distribute grain, so that tCarnahey and their descendants might more easily rise above primitive ways of living. He went in a dragon car, and is said to have been the first to use one wheel, so as not to be delayed in his journey. When he came to the king of theGetae, whom we mentioned above, he was at first hospitably received. Later, not as a beneficent and innocent visitor, but as a most cruel foe, he was seized by treachery, and he who was ready to prolong the lives of others, almost lost his own life. For at the order ofCarnabon one dragon was killed, so thatTriptolemus might not hope his dragon car could save him when he realized an ambush was being prepared. ButCeres is said to have come there, and restored the stolen chariot to the youth, substituting another dragon, and punishing the king with no slight punishment for his malevolent attempt. ForHegesianax says thatCeres, for men's remembrance, picturesCarnabon among the stars, holding a dragon in his hands as if to kill it. He lived so painfully that he brought on himself a most welcome death.

§ 2.14.3  Others point out that he isHercules, killing inLydia near the riverSagaris asnake which kept destroying many men and stripping the river banks of grain. In return for this deed,Omphale, the queen of that region, sent him back toArgos loaded with gifts, and because of his bravery he was placed byJove among the constellations.

§ 2.14.4  Some, too, have said that he isTriopas, king of theThessalians, who, in trying to roof his own house, tore down the temple ofCeres, built by the men of old. When hunger was brought on him byCeres for this deed, he could never afterward be satisfied by any amount of food. Last of all, toward the end of his life, when asnake was sent to plague him, he suffered many ills, and at last winning death, was put among the stars by the will ofCeres. And so thesnake, coiling round him, still seems to inflict deserved and everlasting punishment.

§ 2.14.5  Polyzelus theRhodian, however, points out that this isPhorbas, who was of great assistance to theRhodians. The citizens called their island, overrun by a great number ofsnakes, Ophiussa. In this multitude of beasts was asnake of immense size, which had killed many of them; and when the deserted land began finally to lack men,Phorbas, son ofTriopas byHiscilla,Myrmidon's daughter, when carried there by a storm, killed all the beasts, as well as that hugesnake. Since he was especially favored byApollo, he was put among the constellations, shown killing thesnake for the sake of praise and commemoration. And so theRhodians, as often as they go with their fleet rather far from their shores, make offerings first for the coming ofPhorbas, that such a happening of unexpected valor should befall the citizens as the opportunity for glory which broughtPhorbas, unconscious of future praise, to the stars.

§ 2.14.6  Many astronomers have imagined that he isAesculapius, whomJupiter, for the sake ofApollo, put among the stars. For whenAesculapius was among men, he so fare excelled the rest in the art of medicine that it wasn't enough for him to have healed men's diseases unless he could also bring back the dead to life. He is said most recently, according toEratosthenes to have restored to lifeHippolytus who had been killed by the injustice of his stepmother and the ignorance of his father. Some have said that by his skillGlaucus, son ofMinos, lived again. Because of this, as for a sin,Jove struck and burned his house with a thunderbolt, but because of his skill, and sinceApollo was his father, put him among the constellations holding asnake.

§ 2.14.7  Certain people have said that he holds thesnake for the following reason. When he was commanded to restoreGlaucus, and was confined in a secret prison, while meditating what he should do, staff in hand, asnake is said to have crept on to his staff. Distracted in mind,Aesculapius killed it, striking it again and again with his staff as it tried to flee. Later, it is said, anothersnake came there, bringing an herb in its mouth, and placed it on its head. When it had done this, both fled from the place. Where uponAesculapius, using the same herb, broughtGlaucus, too, back to life.

§ 2.14.8  And so thesnake is put in the guardianship ofAesculapius and among the stars as well. Following his example, his descendants passed the knowledge on to others, so that doctors make use ofsnakes.

§ 2.15.1  ARROW: This arrow, they say, is one of the weapons ofHercules, with which he is said to have killed theeagle which ate the liver ofPrometheus. It seems not unprofitable to speak ofPrometheus at greater length. When the men of old with great ceremony used to carry on the sacrificial rites of the immortal gods, they would burn the victims entire in the flame of the sacrifice. And so, when the poor were prevented from making sacrifices on account of the great expense,Prometheus, who with his wonderful wisdom is thought to have made men, by his pleading is said to have obtained permission fromJove for them to cast only a part of the victim into the fire, and to use the rest for their own food. This practice custom later established. Since he had obtained this permission, not as from a covetous man, but easily, as from a god,Prometheus himself sacrifices twobulls. When he had first placed their entrails on the altar, he put the remaining flesh of the twobulls in one heap, covering it with an oxhide. Whatever bones there were he covered with the other skin and put it down between them, offeringJove the choice of either part for himself.Jupiter, although he didn't act with divine forethought, nor as a god who ought to foresee everything, was deceived byPrometheus — sine we have started to believe the tale! — and thinking each part was abull, shoe the bones for his half. And so after this, in solemn rites and sacrifices, when the flesh of victims has been consumed, they burn with fire the remaining parts which are the gods.

§ 2.15.2  But, to come back to the subject,Jupiter, when he realized what had been done, in anger took fire from mortals, lest the favour ofPrometheus should seem to have more weight than the power of the gods, and that uncooked flesh should not be useful to men.Prometheus, however, who was accustomed to scheming, planned by his own efforts to bring back the fire that had been taken from men. So, when the others were away, he approached the fire ofJove, and with a small bit of this shut in a fennel-stalk he came joyfully, seeming to fly, not to run, tossing the stalk so that the air shut in with its vapours should not put out the flame in so narrow a space. Up to this time, then, men who bring good news usually come with speed. In the rivalry of the games they also make it a practice for the runners to run, shaking torches after the manner ofPrometheus.

§ 2.15.3  In return for this deed,Jupiter, to confer a like favour on men, gave a woman to them, fashioned byVulcan, and endowed with all kinds of gifts by the will of the gods. For this reason she was calledPandora. ButPrometheus he bound with an iron chain to a mountain inScythia namedCaucasus for thirty thousand years, asAeschylus, writer of tragedies, says. Then, too, he sent aneagle to him to eat out his liver which was constantly renewed at night. Some have said that thiseagle was born fromTyphon andEchidna, other fromTerra andTartarus, but many point out it was made by the hands ofVulcan and given life byJove.

§ 2.15.4  The following reason for the release ofPrometheus has been handed down. WhenJupiter, moved by the beauty ofThetis, sought her in marriage, he couldn't win the consent of the timid maiden, but none the less kept planning to bring it about. At that time theParcae were said to have prophesied what the natural order of events should be. They said that the son ofThetis' husband, whoever he might be, would be more famous than his father.Prometheus heard this as he kept watch, not from inclination but from necessity, and reported it toJove. He, fearing that what he had done to his fatherSaturn in a similar situation, would happened to him, namely, that he would be robbed of his power, gave up by necessity his desire to wedThetis, and out of gratitude toPrometheus thanked him and freed him from his chains. But he didn't go so far as to free him from all binding, since he had sworn to that, but for commemoration bade him bind his finger with the two things, namely, with stone and with iron. Following this practice men have rings fashioned of stone and iron, that they may seem to be appeasingPrometheus. Some also have said that he wore a wreath, as if to claim that he as victor had sinned without punishment. And so men began the practice of wearing wreaths at times of great rejoicing and victory. You may observe this in sports and banquets.

§ 2.15.5  But to come back to the beginning of the inquiry and the death of theeagle.Hercules, when sent byEurystheus for the apples of theHesperides, out of ignorance of the way came toPrometheus, who was bound on MountCaucasus, as we have shown above. When victor, he returned toPrometheus to tell him that that dragon we have mentioned was slain, and to thank him for his kindness since he had pointed out the way. Straightway he gave what honour he could to the one that deserved it, for [he killed theeagle? ] and since it was slain, men began, when victims were sacrificed, to offer livers on the altars of the gods to satisfy them in place of the liver ofPrometheus.

§ 2.15.6  Eratosthenes says about the Arrow, that with thisApollo killed theCyclopes who forged the thunderbolt by whichAesculapius died.Apollo had buried this arrow in theHyperborean mountain, but whenJupiter pardoned his son, it was borne by the wind and brought toApollo along with the grain which at that time was growing. Many point out that for this reason it is among the constellations.

§ 2.16.1  EAGLE: This is theeagle which is said to have snatchedGanymede up and given him to his lover,Jove. This bird, too,Jupiter is thought first to have singled out from the tribe of birds, because it alone, men say, strives to fly straight into the rays of the rising sun. And so it seems to fly aboveAquarius, who, as many imagine, isGanymede.

§ 2.16.2  Some, too, have said that the bird was a certain Meropes, who ruled the island ofCos, and who called the islandCos from the name of his daughter, and the inhabitants Meropians from his own name. He had a wife, Ethemea, of the race of nymphs, who was stuck with the arrows ofDiana when she ceased worshipping her. At last she was snatched away alive byProserpina to the Land of the Dead. Meropes, moved by longing for his wife, would have committed suicide, butJuno, pitying him, changed him into aneagle and put him among the constellations, for, if she had put him there in human form, since he would have a man's memory, he would still be moved with longing for his wife.

§ 2.16.3  Aglaosthenes, who wrote the Naxica, says thatJove was taken secretly fromCrete, brought toNaxos, and there nourished. After he came to man's estate and wished to attack theTitans in war, he sighted aneagle as he was sacrificing, and considering this an omen, he placed it among the stars.

§ 2.16.4  Some, too, have said thatMercury (though others say Anaplades) stirred byVenus's beauty, fell in love with her, and when she permitted no favours, became greatly downcast, as if in disgrace.Jove pitied him, and whenVenus was bathing in the riverAchelous he sent andeagle to take her sandal toAmythaonia of theEgyptians and give it toMercury.Venus, in seeking for it, came to him who loved her, and so he, on attaining his desire, as a reward put theeagle in the sky.

§ 2.17.1  DOLPHIN:Eratosthenes and others give the following reason for thedolphin's being among the stars.Amphitrite, whenNeptune desired to wed her and she preferred to keep her virginity, fled toAtlas.Neptune sent many to seek her out, among them a certain Delphin, who, in his wandering s among the islands, came at last to the maiden, persuaded her to marryNeptune, and himself took charge of the wedding. In return for this service,Neptune put the form of adolphin among the constellations. More than this, we se that those who make statues ofNeptune place adolphin either in his hand or beneath his foot — a thing they think will please the god especially.

§ 2.17.2  Aglaosthenes, who wrote theNaxica, says that there were certainTyrrhenian shipmasters, who were to takeFather Liber, when a child, toNaxos with his companions and give him over to the nymphs, his nurses. Both our writers and many Greek ones, in books on the genealogy of the gods, have said that he was reared by them. But, to return to the subject at hand, the shipmates, tempted by love of gain, were going to turn the ship off course, whenLiber, suspecting their plan, bade his companions chant a melody. TheTyrrhenians were so charmed by the unaccustomed sounds that they were seized by desire even in their dancing, and unwittingly cast themselves into the sea, and were there madedolphins. SinceLiber desired to recall thought of them to men's memory, he put the image of one of them among the constellations.

§ 2.17.3  Others, however, say that this is thedolphin which boreArion, the citharist, from theSicilian Sea toTaenarum. He excelled all others in skill, and was travelling about he island for the sake of gain, when his servants, thinking there was more profit in treacherous freedom than in quiet servitude, planned to cast their master into the sea and divide his goods among them. When he realized their designs, he asked from them, not as a master from his salves, nor as an innocent man from evil-doers, but as a father from his sons, to allow him to attired himself in the garb he had often worn when victor, since there was no other one who, so well as himself, could honor his death with lamentation. When he had obtained permission, straightway taking up his cithara, he began to mourn his own death, and attracted by the sweet sounds,dolphins from all over the sea swam along at the singing ofArion. Then, invoking the power of the immortal gods, he threw himself down upon them, ad one of them took him and carried him to the shore atTaenarum. In memory of this, the statue ofArion placed there seems to have on it the likeness of adolphin, and for this happening thedolphin's form is pictured by ancient astronomers among the constellations. But the slaves who thought they had escaped from servitude, driven by a storm toTaenarum, were seized their master and visited with no slight punishment.

§ 2.18.1  HORSE: This signAratus and many others have calledPegasus, offspring ofNeptune and theGorgonMedusa, who onHelicon, a mountain ofBoeotia, opened up a spring by striking the rock with his hoof. From him the spring is calledHippocrene. Others say that at the timeBellerophon came to visitProetus, son ofAbas and king of theArgives,Antia, the king's wife, smitten with love for the guest, begged to visit him, promising him her husband's kingdom. When she couldn't obtain this request, out of fear that he would accuse her to the king, she anticipated him by tellingProetus that he had offered violence to her.Proetus, who had been fond ofBellerophon, was reluctant to inflict punishment himself, but knowing that he had thehorsePegasus, sent him to the father ofAntia (some call herSthenoboea), for him to defend his daughter's chastity and send the youth against theChimera, which at that time was laying waste with flames the country of theLycians.

§ 2.18.2  Bellerophon was victor, and escaped, but after the creation of the spring, as he was attempting to fly to heaven, and had almost reached it, he became terrified looking down at the earth, and fell off and was killed. But thehorse is said to have flown up and to have been put among the constellations byJove. Others have said thatBellerophon fled fromArgos not because ofAntia's accusations, but so as not to hear any more proposals which were distasteful to him, or to be distressed by her entreaties.

§ 2.18.4  Euripides in hisMelanippe, says thatMelanippe, daughter ofChiron theCentaur, was once calledThetis. Brought up on MountHelicon, a girl especially fond of hunting, she was wooed byAeolus, son ofHellen, and grandson ofJove, and conceived a child be him. When her time drew near, she fled into the forest, so that her father, who supposed her a virgin, might not see that she had given birth to a grandchild. And so when her father was looking for her, she is said to have begged the power of the gods not to let her father see her in childbirth. After the child was born, by the will of the gods she was changed into a mare which was placed among the stars.

§ 2.18.5  Some say that she was a prophetess, and because she used to reveal the plans of the gods to men, she was changed into a mare.Callimachus says that because she ceased hunting and worshippingDiana,Diana changed her into the shape we have mentioned. For the reason above, too, she is said to be out of sight of theCentaur, who come say isChiron, and to show only half her body, since she didn't want her sex to be known.

§ 2.19.1  TRIANGLE: This constellation, which has three angles like the Greek letter Delta, is so named for that reason.Mercury is thought to have placed it above the head ofAries, so that the dimness ofAries might be marked by its brightness, wherever it should be, and that it should form the first letter in the name ofJove (in Greek,Dis). Some have said that it pictures the position ofEgypt; others, that of Aethiopa andEgypt where theNile marks their boundaries. Still others think thatSicily is pictured there. Others, say that three angles were put there because the gods divided the universe into three parts.

§ 2.20.1  RAM: This is thought to be the ram which carriedPhrixus andHelle thought theHellespont.Hesiod andPherecydes say that it had a fleece of gold; about his we shall speak at greater length elsewhere. Many have said thatHelle fell into theHellespont, was embraced byNeptune, and borePaeon, or, as some say,Edonus. They say, too, thatPhrixus, on coming safely toAeetes, sacrificed the ram toJove, and hung the fleece up in the temple. The image of the ram itself, put among the constellations byNubes, marks the time of year when grain is sown, becauseIno earlier sowed it parched — the chief reason for the flight.Eratosthenes says that the ram itself removed itsGolden Fleece, and gave itPhrixus as a memorial, and then came of its own accord to the stars; for this reason it seems somewhat dim, as we said before.

§ 2.20.2  Phrixus was born, some say, in the town ofOrchomenus, which is inBoeotia; others say, in the district of the Salones ofThessaly. Still others makeCretheus andAthamas with many others, sons ofAeolus; some, again, say thatSalmoneus, son ofAthamas, was a grandson ofAeolus.Cretheus hadDemodice as wife; others name her Biadice. Moved by the beauty ofPhrixus, son ofAthamas, she fell in love with him, and could not obtain from him favour in return; so, driven by necessity, she accused him toCretheus, saying that he had attacked her, and many similar things that women say. Stirred by this report,Cretheus, as was fitting for one who deeply loved his wife and was a king, persuadedAthamas to putPhrixus to death. However,Nubes intervened, and rescuingPhrixus andHelle his sister, put them on the ram, and bade them flee as far as they could through theHellespontHelle fell off and paid the debt to nature, and theHellespont was named from her name.Phrixus came to theColchians, and, as we have said, hung up the fleece of the slain ram in a temple. He himself was brought back toAthamas byMercury, who proved to his father that, relying on innocence, he had fled.

§ 2.20.3  Hermippus says that at the time whenLiber was attacking Africa he came with his army to the place calledAmmodes from the great quantities of sand. He was in great danger, since he saw he had to advance, and an added difficulty was the great scarcity of water. The army were almost at the point of exhaustion, and the men were wondering what to do, when a certain ram, wandering apart, came by chance near the soldiers. When it saw them it took safety in flight. The soldiers, however, who had seen it, though they were advancing with difficulty oppressed by the sand and heat, gave chase, as if seeking booty from the flames, and followed it to that place which was named from the temple ofJoveHammon later founded there. When they had come there, the ram which they had followed was nowhere to be seen, but what was more to be desired, they found an abundant supply of water, and, refreshed in body, reported it at once toLiber. In joy he led his army to that place, and founded a temple toJoveHammon, fashioning a statue there with the horns of a ram. He put the ram among the constellations in such a way that when the sun should be in that sign, all growing things would be refreshed; this happens in the spring for the reason that the ram's flight refreshed the army ofLiber. He wished it, too, to be chief of the twelve signs, because the ram had been the best leader of his army.

§ 2.20.4  ButLeon, who wrote aboutEgyptian affairs, speaks of the statue ofHammon as follows. WhenLiber was ruling overEgypt and the other lands, and was said to have introduced all arts to mankind, a certainHammon came from Africa and brought to him a great flock ofsheep, in order more readily to enjoy his favour and be called the first inventor of something. And so, for his kindness,Liber is thought to have given him the land oppositeEgyptianThebes. Accordingly, those who make statues ofHammon, make them with horned heads, so that men may remember that he first showed the use of flocks. Those, however, who have wished to assign the gift toLiber, as not asked for fromHammon, but brought to him voluntarily, make those horned images forLiber, and say that in commemoration the ram was placed among the constellations.

§ 2.21.1  BULL: TheBull was placed among the stars because it carriedEuropa safely toCrete, asEuripides says. Some say that whenIo was transformed into a heifer,Jupiter, to seem to make amends, put an image among the constellations which resembled abull in its fore parts, but was dim behind. It faces towards the East, and the stars which outline the face are calledHyades. These,Pherecydes theAthenian says, are the nurses ofLiber, seven in number, who earlier were nymphae called Dodonidae. Their names are as follows:Ambrosia,Eudora, Pedile,Coronis,Polyxo,Phyto, andThyone. They are said to have been put to flight byLycurgus and all exceptAmbrosia took refuge withThetis, asAsclepiades says. But according toPherecydes, they broughtLiber toThebes and delivered him toIno, and for this reasonJove expressed his thanks to them by putting them among the constellations.

§ 2.21.4  ThePleiades were so named, according toMusaeaus, because fifteen daughters were born toAtlas andAethra, daughter ofOcean. Five of them are calledHyades, he shows, because their brother wasHyas, a youth dearly beloved by his sisters. When he was killed in alion hunt, the five we have mentioned, given over to continual lamentation, are said to have perished. Because they grieved exceedingly at his death, they are calledHyades. The remaining ten brooded over the death of their sisters, and brought death on themselves; because so may experienced the same grief, they were calledPleiades.Alexander says they were calledHyades because they were daughters ofHyas andBoeotia,Pleiades, because born ofPleio, daughter ofOcean, andAtlas.

§ 2.21.5  ThePleiades are called seven in number, but only six can be seen. This reason has been advanced, that of the seven, six mated with immortals (three withJove, two withNeptune, and one withMars); the seventh was said to have been the wife ofSisyphus. FromElectra andJove,Dardanus was born; fromMaia andJove,Mercury; fromTaygete andJove,Lacedaemon; fromAlcyone andNeptune,Hyrieus; fromCelaeno andNeptune,Lycus andNycteus.Mars bySterope begatOinomaus, but others call her the wife ofOinomaus.Merope, wed toSisyphus, boreGlaucus, who, as many say, was the father ofBellerophon. On account of her other sisters she was placed among the constellations, but because she married a mortal, her star is dim. Others sayElectra does not appear because thePleiades are thought to lead the circling dance for the stars, but afterTroy was captured and her descendants throughDardanus overthrown, moved by grief she left them and took her place in the circle called Arctic. From this she appears, in grief for such a long time, with her hair unbound, that, because of this, she is called a comet.

§ 2.21.6  But ancient astronomers placed thesePleiades, daughters ofPleione andAtlas, as we have said, apart from theBull. WhenPleione once was travelling throughBoeotia with her daughters,Orion, who was accompanying her, tried to attack her. She escaped, butOrion sought her for seven years and couldn't find her.Jove, pitying the girls, appointed a way to the stars, and later, by some astronomers, they were called theBull's tail. And so up to this timeOrion seems to be following them as they flee towards the west. Our writers call these starsVergiliae, because they rise after spring. They have still greater honour than the others, too, because their rising is a sign of summer, their setting of winter — a thing is not true of the other constellations.

§ 2.22.1  TWINS: These stars many astronomers have calledCastor andPollux. They say that of all brothers they were the most affectionate, not striving in rivalry for the leadership, nor acting without previous consultation. As a reward for their services of friendship,Jupiter is thought to have put them in the sky as well-known stars.Neptune, with like intention, has rewarded them for he gave themhorses to ride, and power to aid shipwrecked men.

§ 2.22.2  Others have called themHercules andApollo; some, evenTriptolemus, whom we mentioned before, andIasion, beloved ofCeres — both carried to the stars.

§ 2.22.3  Those who speak ofCastor andPollux add this information, thatCastor was slain in the town ofAphidnae, at the time when theLacedemonians were fighting theAthenians. Others say that whenLynceus andIdas were attackingSparta, he perished there.Homer states thatPollux granted to his brother one half of his life, so that they shine on alternate days.

§ 2.23.1  CRAB: The Crab is said to have been put among the stars by the favour ofJuno, because, whenHercules had stood firm against theLernaeanHydra, it had snapped at his foot from the swamp.Hercules, enraged at this, had killed it, andJuno put it among the constellations to be one of the twelve signs which are bound together by the circuit of the sun.

§ 2.23.2  In one part of its figure there are certain stars calledAsses, pictured on the shell of the Crab byLiber with two stars only. ForLiber, when madness was sent upon him byJuno, is said to have fled wildly throughThesprotia intending to reach the oracle ofDodonaeanJove to ask how he might recover his former sanity. When he came to a certain large swamp which he couldn't cross, it is said twoasses met him. He caught one of them and in this way was carried across, not touching the water at all. So when he came to the temple ofDodonaeanJove, freed at once from his madness, he acknowledged his thanks to theasses and placed them among the constellations.

§ 2.23.3  Some say he gave a human voice to theass which had carried him. Thisass later had a contest withPriapus on a matter of physique, but was defeated and killed by him. Pitying him because of this,Liber numbered him among the stars, and so that it should be known that he did this as a god, not as a timid man fleeing fromJuno, he placed him above the Crab which had been added to the stars by her kindness.

§ 2.23.4  According toEratosthenes, another story is told about theAsses. AfterJupiter had declared war on theGiants, he summoned all the gods to combat them, andFather Liber,Vulcan, theSatyrs, and theSileni came riding onasses. Since they were not far from the enemy, theasses were terrified, and individually let out a braying such as theGiants had never heard. At the noise the enemy took hastily to flight, and thus were defeated.

§ 2.23.5  There is a story similar to this about the shell ofTriton. He, too, when he had hollowed out the trumpet he had invented, took it with him against theGiants, and there blew strange sounds through the shell. TheGiants, fearing that some wild beast had been brought by their adversaries, took to flight, and thus were overcome and came into their enemies' power.

§ 2.24.1  LION: He is said to have been put among the stars because he is considered the king of beasts. Some writers add thatHercules' first Labor was with him and that he killed him, unarmed.Pisandrus and many others have written about this. Above his likeness in the sky nearest the Virgin are seven other stars near his tail, arranged in a triangle, whichConon, the mathematician, andCallimachus call theLock of Berenice. WhenPtolemy had married his sisterBerenice, daughter ofPtolemy andArsinoe, and after a few days had set out to attackAsia,Berenice vowed that ifPtolemy returned as victor she would clip off her hair. She placed the lock, consecrated by this vow, in the temple ofVenusArsinoe Zephyritis, but on the following day it couldn't be seen there. When the king was distressed by this,Conon the mathematician, whom we mentioned above, desiring to win the favor of the king, said that he had seen the lock among the constellations, and pointed out seven stars without definite configuration which he imagined were the lock.

§ 2.24.3  Some authors along withCallimachus have said that thisBerenice raisedhorses, and used to send them toOlympia. Others add that oncePtolemy,Berenice's father, in panic at the number of the enemy, had sought safety in flight, but his daughter, an accomplished horsewoman, leaped on ahorse, organized the remaining troops, killed many of the enemy, and put the rest to flight. For this evenCallimachus calls her high-souled.Eratosthenes says that she ordered returned to the girls ofLesbos the dowry left to them by their parents, which no one had released, and she established among them right to bring action of recovery.

§ 2.25.1  VIRGIN:Hesiod calls her the daughter ofJove andThemis.Aratus says that she is thought to be daughter ofAstraeus andAurora, who lived at the time of the Golden Age of men and was their leader. On account of her carefulness and fairness she was calledJustice, and at that time no foreign nations were attacked in war, nor did anyone sail over the seas, but they were wont to live their lives caring for their fields. But those born after their death began to be less observant of duty and more greedy, so thatJustice associated more rarely with men. Finally the disease became so extreme that it was said the Brazen Race was born; then she could not endure more, and flew away to the stars. Others call herFortune — others,Ceres, and they dispute the more about her because her head is dimly seen. Some have called herErigone, daughter ofIcarus, whom we have spoken of before. Others call her a daughter ofApollo byChrysothemis, an infant, namedParthenos. Because she died young she was put byApollo among the constellations.

§ 2.26.1  SCORPION: This sign is divided into two parts on account of the great spread of the claws. One part of it our writers have called the Balance.

§ 2.26.2  But the whole of the constellation was put in the sky, it is said, for the following reason:Orion since he used to hunt, and felt confident that he was most skilled of all in that pursuit, said even toDiana andLatona that he was able to kill anything the produced.Earth, angered at this, sent the scorpion which is said to have killed him.Jove, however, admiring the courage of both, put the scorpion among the stars, as a lesson to men not to be too self-confident.Diana, then, because of her affection forOrion, askedJove to show to her request the same favour he had given of his own accord toEarth. And so the constellation was established in such a way that when Scorpion rises,Orion sets.

§ 2.27.1  ARCHER: Many have called this sign theCentaurus; others deny the name, for the reason that noCentaurus makes use of arrows. The question is raised, too why he is formed withhorse flanks but aSatyr's tail.

§ 2.27.2  Some say that he isCrotus, son ofEupheme, nurse of theMuses. AsSositheus, writer of tragedies, says, he had his home on MountHelicon and took his pleasure in the company of theMuses, sometimes even following the pursuit of hunting. He attained great fame for his diligence, for he was very swift in the woods, and clever in the arts. As a reward for his zeal theMuses askedJove to represent him in some star group, andJove did so. Since he wished to display all his skills in one body, he gave himhorse flanks because he rode a great deal. He added arrows, since these would show both his keenness and his swiftness, and he gave him aSatyr's tail because theMuses took no less pleasure inCrotus thanLiber did in theSatyrs. Before his feet are a few stars arranged in a circle, which some said were a wreath, thrown off as by one at play.

§ 2.28.1  CAPRICORN OR SEA GOAT: This sign resemblesAegipan, whomJupiter wished to be put among the constellations because he was nourished with him, just as he put thegoat nurse we have mentioned before. He, first, asEratosthenes says, whenJupiter attacked theTitans, is said to have cast into the enemy the fear that is called panikos. The lower part of his body has fish formation, because he hurled shellfish against the enemy, too, instead of stones.

§ 2.28.2  Egyptian priests and some poets say that once when many gods had assembled inEgypt, suddenlyTyphon, an exceedingly fierce monster and deadly enemy of the gods, came to that place. Terrified by him, they changed their shapes into other forms:Mercury became an ibis,Apollo, the bird that is called Thracian,Diana, acat. For this reason they say theEgyptians do not permit these creatures to be injured, because they are called representations of gods. At this same time, they say,Pan cast himself into the river, making the lower part of his body a fish, and the rest agoat, and thus escaped fromTyphon.Jove, admiring his shrewdness, put his likeness among the constellations.

§ 2.29.1  AQUARIUS OR WATER BEARER:Aquarius or Water Bearer. Many have said he isGanymede, whomJupiter is said to have made cupbearer of the gods, snatching him up from his parents because of his beauty. So he is shown as if pouring water from an urn.Hegesianax, however, says he isDeucalion, because during his reign such quantities of water poured from the sky that the great Flood resulted.Eubulus, again, points out that he isCecrops, commemorating the antiquity of the race, and showing that men used water in the sacrificed of the gods before wine was given to them, and thatCecrops ruled before wine was discovered.

§ 2.30.1  FISHES:Diognetus Erythraeus says that onceVenus and her sonCupid came inSyria to the riverEuphrates. ThereTyphon, of whom we have already spoken, suddenly appeared.Venus and her son threw themselves into the river and there changed their forms to fishes, and by so doing this escaped danger. So afterwards the Syrians, who are adjacent to these regions, stopped eating fish, fearing to catch them lest with like reason they seem either to oppose the protection of the gods, or to entrap the gods themselves.

§ 2.31.1  SEA-MONSTER OR WHALE: Whale. With regard to the Sea-Monster, they say that it was sent byNeptune to killAndromeda, about whom we have already spoken. But because it was killed byPerseus, on account of its huge size and his valour it was placed amongst the constellations.

§ 2.32.1  ERIDANUS OR RIVER: Some call this theNile, though many call it Ocean. Those who advocate theNile point out that it is correctly so called on account of the great length and usefulness of that River, and especially because below the sign is a certain star, shining more brightly than the rest, calledCanopus.Canopus is an island washed by the riverNile.

§ 2.33.1  HARE: The hare is said to be fleeing thedog of the hunterOrion, for when, as was proper, they representedOrion as a hunter, they wanted to indicate what he was hunting, and so they put the fleeing hare at his feet. Some say that it was put there byMercury, and that it had been given the faculty, beyond other kinds of quadrapeds, of being pregnant with new offspring when giving birth to others. Those who disagree with this reason say that so noble and great a hunter asOrion (we spoke about him in the discussion ofScorpio) shouldn't be represented hunting hares.Callimachus, too, is blamed, because, when he was singing the praises ofDiana, he said she delighted in the flesh of hares and hunted them. So they have representedOrion fighting theBull.

§ 2.33.4  The following story of the hare has been recorded. There were no hares on the island ofLeros, and a certain young man of the state, led by a liking for the breed, brought in from another country a pregnant female, and watched over her very carefully as she bore her young. When she had borne them, many of the citizens developed an interest, and by acquiring some for money, some as gifts, they all began to raise hares. In no long time such a multitude of hares was produced that the whole island was swarming with them. When men gave them nothing to eat, they made inroads on the grain fields and devoured everything. The inhabitants, faced with disaster because of this, since they were reduced to hunger, by co-operation of the whole state were said at length to have driven them from the island, through with difficulty. So afterwards they put the image of a hare in the stars, that men should remember that there was nothing so desirable in life but that later they might experience more grief than pleasure from it.

§ 2.34.1  ORION:Hesiod calls him the son ofNeptune byEuryale, daughter ofMinos. He had the ability of running over the waves as if on land, just as it is said thatIphiclus could run over standing grain and not bruise it.

§ 2.34.2  Aristomachus says that there lived a certainHyrieus atThebes —Pindar puts him on the island ofChios — who asked fromJove andMercury when they visited him that he might have a child. To gain his request more readily he sacrificed anox and put it before them for a feast. When he had done this,Jove andMercury asked him to remove the hide from theox; then they urinated in it, and bade him bury the hide in the ground. From this, later on, a child was born whomHyrieus called Urion from the happening, though on account of his charm and affability he came to be calledOrion.

§ 2.34.3  He is said to have come fromThebes toChios, and when his passions were excited by wine, he attackedMerope, the daughter ofOinopion. For this he was blinded byOinopion and cast out of the island. But he came toLemnos andVulcan, and received from him a guide namedCedalion. Carrying him on his shoulders, he came toSol, and whenSol healed him returned toChios to take vengeance onOinopion. The citizens however, guardedOinopion underground. Despairing of findingOinopion,Orion came toCrete, and there began to hunt withDiana. He made the boast to her we have mentioned before, and thus came to the stars. Some say thatOrion lived withOinopion in too close intimacy, and wanting to prove to him his zeal in hunting, boasted toDiana, too, what we spoke of above, and so was killed. Others, along withCallimachus, say that when he wished to offer violence toDiana, he was transfixed by her arrows and fashioned for the stars because of their similar zeal in hunting.

§ 2.34.4  Istros, however, says thatDiana lovedOrion and came near marrying him.Apollo took this hard, and when scolding her brought no results, on seeing the head ofOrion who was swimming a long way off, he wagered her that she couldn't hit with her arrows the black object in the sea. Since she wished to be called an expert in that skill, she shot an arrow and pierced the head ofOrion. The waves brought his slain body to the shore, andDiana, grieving greatly that she had struck him, and mourning his death with many tears, put him among the constellations. But whatDiana did after his death, we shall tell in the stories about her.

§ 2.35.1  DOG: He is said to have been given byJove as a guardian forEuropa, and later to have come toMinos. WhenMinos was ill,Procris, wife ofCephalus, is said to have cured him, and received thedog as a reward for her services, as she was very fond of hunting and thedog was so swift that no beast could escape. After her death thedog came toCephalus her husband, who brought it toThebes with him when he came. There was afox there which was said to be so swift that it could outrun alldogs. So when the two animals met,Jupiter, in a dilemma, asIstros says, changed them both to stone.

§ 2.35.2  Some have said that this is thedog ofOrion, and becauseOrion was devoted to hunting, thedog was put with him among the stars. Others have called it thedog ofIcarus. These many suggestions have their own advocates.

§ 2.35.5  TheDog has one star on his tongue which itself is calledDog, and on its head another whichIsis is thought to have put there under her own name, and to have called itSirius on account of the brilliance of the flame because it seems to shine more than the rest. So, in order for men to recognize it more easily, she called itSirius.

§ 2.36.1  PROCYON:Procyon seems to rise before the greaterDog; for this reason it is called the Fore-dog. By some it is thought to beOrion'sdog, and it is put in all the same tales in which the greaterDog is numbered.

§ 2.37.1  ARGO: Some have said this ship was calledArgo in Greek on account of her speed, others becauseArgus was her inventor. Many have said she was the first ship on the sea, and for this reason especially was pictured in the stars.Pindar says she was built in the town ofMagnesia calledDemetrias —Callimachus in that district near the temple of Actian Apollo which theArgonauts are thought to have founded on their departure. The place is calledPagasae, in Greek pagasai, because theArgo was first fitted together there.Homer says that this same place was in the district ofThessaly.Aeschylus and some others say that in the same place a speaking beam was added byMinerva. The entire form of the ship does not appear in the stars; it is divided from stern to mast, signifying that men should not be in despair when their ships are wrecked.

§ 2.38.1  CENTAUR: He is said to beChiron, son ofSaturn andPhilyra, who surpassed not only the other Centaurs but also men in justice, and is thought to have rearedAesculapius andAchilles. By his conscientiousness and diligence, therefore, he won inclusion among the stars.

§ 2.38.2  WhenHercules was once visitingChiron, and while sitting with him was examining his arrows, one of them is said to have fallen on the foot ofChiron, and thus brought about his death. Others say that when theCentaur wondered at his being able to kill such huge creatures as Centaurs with such slight arrows, he himself tried to draw the bow, and the arrow, slipping from his hand, fell on his foot. For this reasonJupiter, pitying him, put him among the constellations with a victim which he seems to hold above the altar for sacrifice.

§ 2.38.3  Others have said that he isPholus theCentaurus, who was more skilled in augury that the rest. Consequently, by the will ofJove, he was represented coming to the altar with a victim.

§ 2.39.1  ALTAR: On this altar the gods are thought to have first made offerings and formed an alliance when they were about to oppose theTitans. TheCyclopes made it. From this observance men established the custom that when they plan to do something, they make sacrifices before beginning the undertaking.

§ 2.40.1  WATER-SNAKE: This is the sign on which theCrow sits and over which the Bowl is placed. The following reason has been handed down: WhenApollo was sacrificing, thecrow, who was under his guardianship, was sent to a spring to get some pure water. Seeing several trees with their figs not yet ripe, he perched on one of them waiting for them to ripen. After some days when the figs had ripened and thecrow had eaten some,Apollo, who was waiting, saw him come flying in haste with the bowl full of water. For this fault of tardinessApollo, who had had to use other water because of thecrow's delay, punished him in this way. As long as the figs are ripening, thecrow cannot drink, because on those days he has a sore [?] throat,. So when the god wished to illustrate the thirst of thecrow, he put the bowl among the constellations, and placed the water-snake underneath to delay the thirstycrow. For thecrow seems to peck at the end of its tail to be allowed to go over to the bowl.

§ 2.40.2  Istros and several others have said that theCrow wasCoronis, daughter ofPhlegyas. She boreAesculapius toApollo, but afterIschys, son ofElatus, had lain with her, thecrow, which had noted it, reported it toApollo. For his unpleasant newsApollo changed him to black instead of his former white color, and transfixedIschys with his arrows.

§ 2.40.3  About the BowlPhylarchus writes this tale: In theChersonnese nearTroy where many have said thetomb ofProtesilaus is located, there is a city,Elaeusa by name. When a certainDemophon was ruling there, a sudden plague fell on the land with a strange death-rate among the citizens.Demophon, greatly disturbed by this, sent to the oracle ofApollo seeking a remedy, and was told that every year one girl of noble rank should be sacrificed to their household gods.Demophon, passing over his own daughters, would choose by lot one of the daughters of the nobles, and kept doing this until his scheme offended a certain man of highest rank. He said he wouldn't allow his daughter to be entered in the drawing unless the daughters of the king were included. The king, angered by this, killed the noble's daughter without drawing of lots. This deedMastusius, father of the girl, for a time out of patriotism pretended he did not resent, for the girl might have perished if the lots had been taken. Little by little, time led the king to forget. When the girl's father had shown himself to be on most friendly terms with the king, he said he was going to make a solemn sacrifice and invited the king and his daughters to join the celebration. The king, suspecting nothing, sent his daughters ahead; since he was busy with a state affair, he would come later. When this happened asMastusius wished, he killed the king's daughters, and mixing their blood with wine in a bowl, bade it be given as a drink to the king on his arrival. The king asked for his daughters, and when he learned what had happened, he orderedMastusius and the bowl to be thrown into the sea. The cape where he was thrown, to memorialize him is calledMastusian; the harbour still is called the Bowl. Astronomers of old pictured it in the stars, so that men might remember that no one can profit from an evil deed with impunity, nor can hostilities often be forgotten. Some, withEratosthenes, say that it is the bowlIcarus used when he showed wine to men; others the jar into whichMars was thrown byOtus andEphialtes.

§ 2.41.1  FISH: This is the Fish that is called Southern. He seems to take water in his mouth from the sign ofAquarius. Once, whenIsis was in labor, he is thought to have saved her, and as a reward for this kindness she placed the fish and its young, about whom we have spoken before, among the stars. As a result the Syrians generally do not eat fish, and worship their gilded likenesses as household gods.Ctesias, too, writes about this.

§ 2.42.1  PLANETS: It remains for us to speak of the five stars which many have called "wandering," and which the Greeks called planets. One of them is the star ofJove,Phaenon by name, a youth whomPrometheus made excelling all others in beauty, when he was making man, asHeraclides Ponticus says. When he intended to keep him back, without presenting him toJove as he did the others,Cupid reported this toJove, whereuponMercury was sent toPhaenon and persuaded him to come toJove and become immortal. Therefore he is placed among the stars.

§ 2.42.2  The second star is that ofSol; others say ofSaturn.Eratosthenes claims that it is calledPhaethon, from the son ofSol. Many have written about him — how he foolishly drove his father's chariot and set fire to the earth. Because of this he was struck with a thunderbolt byJove, and fell into the riverEridanus, and was conveyed bySol to the constellations.

§ 2.42.3  The third star is that ofMars, though others say it belongs toHercules. The star ofMars follows that ofVenus, asEratosthenes says, for the following reason: WhenVulcan had marriedVenus, and on account of his careful watch,Mars had no opportunity to see her,Mars obtained nothing fromVenus except that his star should follow hers. Since she inflamed him violently with love, she called the star Pyroeis, indicating this fact.

§ 2.42.4  The fourth star is that ofVenus,Lucifer by name. Some say it isJuno's. In many tales it is recorded that it isHesperus, too. It seems to be the largest of all stars. Some have said it represents the son ofAurora andCephalus, who surpassed many in beauty, so that he even vied withVenus, and, asEratosthenes says, for this reason it is called the star ofVenus. It is visible both at dawn and sunset, and so properly has been called bothLucifer andHesperus.

§ 2.42.5  The fifth star isMercury's, namedStilbon. It is small and bright. It is attributed toMercury because he first established the months and perceived the courses of the constellations.Euhemerus says thatVenus first established the constellations and taughtMercury.

§ 2.43.1  MILKY WAY: There is a certain circular figure among the constellations, white in color, which some have called the Milky Way.Eratosthenes says thatJuno, without realizing it, gave milk to the infantMercury, but when she learned that he was the son ofMaia, she thrust him away, and the whiteness of the flowing milk appears among the constellations. Others have said thatHercules was given toJuno to nurse when she slept. When she awoke, it happened as described above. Others, again, say thatHercules was so greedy that he couldn't hold in his mouth all the milk he had sucked, and the Milky Way spilled over from his mouth. Still others say that at the timeOps brought toSaturn the stone, pretending it was a child, he bade her offer milk to it; when she pressed her breast, the milk that was caused to flow formed the circle which we mentioned above.