Orion Mythology

Every culture has its own constellations and mythology. Constellations rarely look like the object their name suggests; many groupings of stars have been called different things over the years.

According to Greek mythology, the stars in this region of the sky are labelled Orion in honour of a great hunter, son of Neptune and the nymph Eurayle.

To the Egyptians, the same stars were a tribute to the god of light, Osiris. Other cultures saw such things as a turtle or octopus. Some cultures combined these stars and others into larger figures like a Cayman or alligator-like creature. Others saw subsets of the stars as individual figures.

Orion is probably one of the easiest constellations to find. From the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere, in January at about 9:00 PM , look due south and half way between horizon and zenith. There, you will see three bright stars in a row that make up the belt of the mythical hunter. To the north-north west of the belt, you'll see one bright, slightly red star, Betelgeuse, that artists draw as the hunter's right shoulder. Other bright stars mark his left shoulder, his right knee and raised left foot. Below his belt on a clear night you might make out the reddish glow of the Orion Nebula, part of Orion's sword.

Orion once boasted that so great was his might and skill as a hunter that he could kill all the animals on the face of the Earth. Gaea, Goddess of Earth, was alarmed at such a boastful and inappropriate statement. Gaea decided that Orion must be killed just in case he might one day decide to carry out his boast. So Gaea sent a giant scorpion to Orion and ordered the beast to sting Orion. As mighty as Orion was, after only a brief battle, the scorpion managed to deliver the hunter a deadly sting. Scorpius stung Orion on the heel (at the star Rigel). Orion and the scorpion were given honored places in the sky, but they were placed at opposite ends of the great sky dome so that they would never engage in battle again. Although there are other storied about how Orion met his death, this one is the most common. In another Greek myth, the goddess Artemis (goddess of Wild Animals and of the Moon) fell in love with the handsome Orion. Her brother, Apollo, did not like this, and plotted to destroy Orion. One day while Orion was swimming, Apollo walked by with Artemis. Apollo challenged her to hit the target bobbing in the water. Artemis did not know it was the head of Orion, and shot her arrow. The arrow struck Orion in the head killing him. When Orion's body washed ashore by the waves, Artemis was horrified to see her arrow and to learn that she had been tricked by Apollo. In great sadness she tenderly placed the body of Orion in her silver Moon-chariot an carried him high up into the sky. Then finding the darkest place, so that his stars would shine the brightest of all surrounding stars, she placed him where we see him today.

Orion was the son of Neptune. He was a handsome giant and a mighty hunter. His father gave him the power of wading through the depths of the sea, or as others say, of walking on its surface.

Orion loved Merope, the daughter of Oenopion, king of Chios, and sought her in marriage. He cleared the island of wild beasts, and brought the spoils of the chase as presents to his beloved; but as Oenopion constantly deferred his consent, Orion attempted to gain possession of the maiden by violence. Her father, incensed at this conduct, having made Orion drunk, deprived him of his sight, and cast him out on the sea shore. The blinded hero followed the sound of the Cyclops' hammer till he reached Lemnos, and came to the forge of Vulcan, who, taking pity on him, gave him Kedalion, one of his men, to be his guide to the abode of the sun. Placing Kedalion on his shoulders, Orion proceeded to the east, and there meeting the sun-god, was restored to sight by his beam.

After this he dwelt as a hunter with Diana, with whom he was a favourite, and it is even said she was about to marry him. Her brother was highly displeased and often chide her, but to no purpose. One day, observing Orion wading though the sea with his head just above the water, Apollo pointed it out to his sister and maintained that she could not hit that black thing on the sea. The archer-goddess discharged a shaft with fatal aim. The waves rolled the dead body of Orion to the land, and bewailing her fatal error with many tears, Diana placed him among the stars, where he appears as a giant, with a girdle, sword, lion's skin, and club. Sirius, his dog, follows him, and the Pleiads fly before him.

The Pleiads were daughters of Atlas, and nymphs of Diana's train. One day Orion saw them, and became enamored, and pursued them. In their distress they prayed to the gods to change their form, and Jupiter in pity turned them into pigeons, and then made them a constellation in the sky. Though their numbers was seven, only six stars are visible, for Electra, one of them, it is said, left her place that she might not behold the ruin of Troy, for that city was founded by her son Dardanus. The sight had such an effect on her sisters that they have looked pale ever since.