Constellation Powerpoints. Stars and Constellations. The Mythology of the Constellations. Most ancient cultures saw pictures in the stars of the night sky. The earliest known efforts to catalogue the stars date to cuneiform texts and artifacts dating back roughly 6000 years. These remnants, found in the valley of the Euphrates River, suggest that the ancients observing the heavens saw the lion, the bull, and the scorpion in the stars.
The constellations as we know them today are undoubtedly very different from those first few--our night sky is a compendium of images from a number of different societies, both ancient and modern. By far, though, we owe the greatest debt to the mythology of the ancient Greeks and Romans. The earliest references to the mythological significance of the Greek constellations may be found in the works of Homer, which probably date to the 7th century B.C. In the Iliad, for instance, Homer describes the creation of Achilleus's shield by the craftsman god Hephaistos: The Major Constellations: Works Cited and Consulted. The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Constellations (by month)
Table of Contents- AllAboutSpace. The Mythology of the Constellations: Draco. It is unclear precisely which mythological dragon Draco represents. There are, however, three main contenders. One version--the least likely--of the Draco story is that the dragon fought Minerva during the wars between the giants and the gods. Minerva threw Draco's twisted body into the heavens before it had time to unwind itself. Another possibility is that Draco represents the dragon who guarded the golden apples in the garden of the Hesperides. One of the labors of Hercules was to steal these apples (some sources state it was his eleventh labor, others it was his twelfth). This was, according to Bulfinch, the most difficult labor of all..., for Hercules did not know where to find them.
Hercules suggested this plan to Atlas, who pointed out two problems: first, he could not simply drop his burden; second, there was the awful guardian dragon. By far the most commonly accepted version of Draco's arrival in the heavens, however, is that Draco was the dragon killed by Cadmus. Greek Mythology: THE CONSTELLATIONS, STAR MYTHS 1. The Greek name for constellations, was katasterismoi. Of these the twelve signs whose risings intersected the sun's at dawn were known as the zodiakos ( zodiac) or zodiakos kyrklos (circle of little animals). The constellations, as they were described in Greek mythology, were mostly god-favoured (or cursed) heroes and beasts who received a place in the heavens in memorial of their deeds.
They were regarded, as semi-divine spirits, living, concious entities who strode across the heavens. The main source for Greek star myths were the lost works of Hesiod and Pherecydes, and the later works of Pseudo-Eratosthenes, Aratus and Hyginus. For those unfamiliar with the basic visible mechanics of constellar movement, here is a brief outline, including Greek beliefs regarding the behaviour of the stars. The constellations revolve round a central point in the northern sky known as the pole star, or heavenly axis (Greek polos). Part of the heavenly dome always lay beneath the horizon.