Study Guide
1. Orion
There are several versions of the myth of Orion, but one of the more common iterations is that Orion proclaimed himself to be the greatest hunter in the world, much to the dismay of Hera, the wife of Zeus. She had a scorpion kill him, and Zeus put Orion into the sky as consolation. In another version, Orion is blinded for raping Merope, a granddaughter of the god Dionysis. He has to travel East to seek the sun's rays to recover his sight. While the name Orion is steeped in Greek mythology, many cultures have been influenced by the story of this constellation. Orion has also associated with the Egyptian Pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty called Unas. In Hungary, Orion is known as (magic) Archer (Íjász), or Scyther (Kaszás). Scandinavians refer to "Orion's belt" as Frigg's Distaff. 2. Ursa Major(Big Deeper)
The god Zeus hid the nymph Callisto from his wife Hera by changing her into a bear. Her son, Actas, did not know she was now a bear and while hunting one day came across Callisto. To keep Actas from accidentally killing his mother, Zeus placed them together into the sky as the Big and Little Bear (we know them better by the names Big and Little Dipper). 3. Ursa Minor (Smaller Dipper)
Arcas was the son of Callisto, who was transformed by Juno into a bear. When Arcas was fifteen, he was out hunting in the forest when he came across a bear. The bear behaved quite strangely, looking him in the eyes. He of course could not recognize his mother in her strange shape, and was preparing to shoot her when Jupiter prevented him. Arcas was transformed into a bear like his mother, and the two were taken up into the sky. Juno was annoyed that the pair should be given such honor, and took her revenge by convincing Poseidon to forbid them from bathing in the sea. It is for this reason that Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are both circumpolar constellations, never dipping beneath the horizon when viewed from northern latitudes. Ursa Minor is better known as the Little
There are several versions of the myth of Orion, but one of the more common iterations is that Orion proclaimed himself to be the greatest hunter in the world, much to the dismay of Hera, the wife of Zeus. She had a scorpion kill him, and Zeus put Orion into the sky as consolation. In another version, Orion is blinded for raping Merope, a granddaughter of the god Dionysis. He has to travel East to seek the sun's rays to recover his sight. While the name Orion is steeped in Greek mythology, many cultures have been influenced by the story of this constellation. Orion has also associated with the Egyptian Pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty called Unas. In Hungary, Orion is known as (magic) Archer (Íjász), or Scyther (Kaszás). Scandinavians refer to "Orion's belt" as Frigg's Distaff. 2. Ursa Major(Big Deeper)
The god Zeus hid the nymph Callisto from his wife Hera by changing her into a bear. Her son, Actas, did not know she was now a bear and while hunting one day came across Callisto. To keep Actas from accidentally killing his mother, Zeus placed them together into the sky as the Big and Little Bear (we know them better by the names Big and Little Dipper). 3. Ursa Minor (Smaller Dipper)
Arcas was the son of Callisto, who was transformed by Juno into a bear. When Arcas was fifteen, he was out hunting in the forest when he came across a bear. The bear behaved quite strangely, looking him in the eyes. He of course could not recognize his mother in her strange shape, and was preparing to shoot her when Jupiter prevented him. Arcas was transformed into a bear like his mother, and the two were taken up into the sky. Juno was annoyed that the pair should be given such honor, and took her revenge by convincing Poseidon to forbid them from bathing in the sea. It is for this reason that Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are both circumpolar constellations, never dipping beneath the horizon when viewed from northern latitudes. Ursa Minor is better known as the Little