The Northern Constellations.The Northern Constellations.The Lyre—Cassiopeia—The Little Bear—The Dragon—Andromeda—The Great Bear—Capella—Algol, or Medusa's Head.
The Lyre—Cassiopeia—The Little Bear—The Dragon—Andromeda—The Great Bear—Capella—Algol, or Medusa's Head.
When we look upon the multitude of heavenly bodies with which the celestial vault is strewed, our attention is naturally arrested by certain groupings of brilliant stars, apparently associated together on account of their great proximity; and also by certain remarkable single stars which have excessive brilliancy or are completely isolated from the rest. These natural groups seem to have some obscure connection with or dependence on each other. They have always been noticed, even by the most savage races. The languages of several such races contain different names for the same identical groups, and these names, mostly borrowed from terrestrial beings, give an imaginary life to the solitude and silence of the skies. A celestial globe, as we know, presents us with a singular menagerie, rich in curious monsters placed in inconceivable positions. How these constellations, as they are called, were first invented,and by whom, is an interesting question which by the aid of comparative philology we must endeavour now to answer.
Among these constellations there are twelve which have a more than ordinary importance, and to which more attention has always been paid. They are those through which the sun appears to pass in his annual journey round the ecliptic, entering one region each month. At least, this is what they were when first invented. They were called the zodiacal constellations or signs of the zodiac—the name being derived from their being mostly named after living beasts. In our own days the zodiacal constellations are no longer the signs of the zodiac. When they were arranged the sun entered each one on a certain date. He now is no longer at the same point in the heavens at that date, nevertheless he is still said to enter the same sign of the zodiac—which therefore no longer coincides with the zodiacal constellation it was named from—but merely stands for a certain twelfth part of the ecliptic, which varies from time to time. It will be of course of great interest to discover the origin of these particular constellations, the date of their invention, &c.; and we shall hope to do so after having discussed the origin of those seen in the Northern hemisphere which may be more familiar even than those.
We have represented in the frontispiece the two halves of the Grecian celestial sphere—the Northern and theSouthern, with the various constellations they contain. This sphere was not invented by the Greeks, but was received by them from more ancient peoples, and corrected and augmented. It was used by Hipparchus two thousand years ago; and Ptolemy has given us a description of it. It contained 48 constellations, of which 21 belonged to the Northern, 15 to the Southern hemisphere, and the remaining twelve were those of the zodiac, situated along the ecliptic.
The constellations reckoned by Ptolemy contained altogether 1,026 stars, whose relative positions were determined by Hipparchus; with reference to which accomplishment Pliny says, "Hipparchus, with a height of audacity too great even for a god, has ventured to transmit to posterity the number of the stars!"
Ptolemy's catalogue contains:—
For the northern constellations361 starsFor the zodiacal350 "For the southern318 "or———For all the 48 constellations1,029 "or, since 3 of these are named twice1,026 "
Of course this number is not to be supposed to represent the whole of the stars visible even to the naked eye; there are twice as many in the Northern hemisphere alone, while there are about 5,000 in the whole sky. The number visible ina telescope completely dwarfs this, so that more than 300,000 are now catalogued; while the number visible in a large telescope may be reckoned at not less than 77 millions. The principal northern constellations named by Ptolemy are contained in the following list, with the stars of the first magnitude that occur in each:—
The Great Bear, or David's Chariot, near the centre.
The Little Bear, with the Pole Star at the end of the tail.
The Dragon.
Cepheus, situated to the right of the Pole.
The Herdsman, or the Keeper of the Bear, with the star Arcturus.
The Northern Crown to the right.
Hercules, or the Man who Kneels.
The Lyre, or Falling Vulture, with the beautiful star Vega.
The Swan, or Bird, or Cross.
Cassiopeia, or the Chair, or the Throne.
Perseus.
The Carter, or the Charioteer, with Capella Ophiuchus, or Serpentarius, or Esculapius.
The Serpent.
The Bow and Arrow, or the Dart.
The Eagle, or the Flying Vulture, with Altaïr.
The Dolphin.
The Little Horse, or the Bust of the Horse.
Pegasus, or the Winged Horse, or the Great Cross.
Andromeda, or the Woman with the Girdle.
The Northern Triangle, or the Delta.
The fifteen constellations on the south of the ecliptic were:—
The Whale.
Orion, with the beautiful stars Rigel and Betelgeuse.
The River Endanus, or the River Orion, with the brilliant Achernar.
The Hare.
The Great Dog, with the magnificent Sirius.
The Little Dog, or the Dog which runs before, with Procyon.
The ship Argo, with its fine Alpha (Canopus) and Eta.
The Female Hydra, or the Water Snake.
The Cup, or the Urn, or the Vase.
The Raven.
The Altar, or the Perfuming Pot.
The Centaur, whose star Alpha is the nearest to the earth.
The Wolf, or the Centaur's Lance, or the Panther, or the Beast.
The Southern Crown, or the Wand of Mercury, or Uraniscus.
The Southern Fish, with Fomalhaut.
The twelve zodiacal constellations, which are of more importance than the rest, are generally named in the order in which the sun passes through them in its passage along the ecliptic, and both Latins and English have endeavouredto impress their names on the vulgar by embodying them in verses. The poet Ausonius thus catalogues them:—
"Sunt: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo,Libraque, Scorpius, Arcitenens, Caper, Amphora, Pisces."
"Sunt: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo,Libraque, Scorpius, Arcitenens, Caper, Amphora, Pisces."
and the English effusion is as follows:—
"The Ram, the Bull, the Heavenly Twins,And next the Crab the Lion shines,The Virgin and the Scales.The Scorpion, Archer, and He Goat,The Man that holds the watering-pot,And Fish with glittering scales."
"The Ram, the Bull, the Heavenly Twins,And next the Crab the Lion shines,The Virgin and the Scales.The Scorpion, Archer, and He Goat,The Man that holds the watering-pot,And Fish with glittering scales."
These twelve have hieroglyphics assigned to them, by which they are referred to in calendars and astronomical works, some of the marks being easily traced to their origin.
Thus♈refers to the horns of the Ram;♉to the head of the Bull;♏to the joints and tail-sting of the Scorpion;♐is very clearly connected with an archer;♑is formed by the junction of the first two letters τ and ρ in τράγος, the Sea-goat, or Capricorn;♎for the Balance, is suggestive of its shape;♒refers to the water in the Watering-pot; and perhaps♓to the Two Fishes;♊for Twins may denote two sides alike;♋for the Crab, has something of its side-walking appearance; while♌for the Lion, and♍for the Virgin, seem to have no reference that is traceable.
These constellations contain the following stars of the first magnitude—Aldebaran, Antares, and Spica.
To these constellations admitted by the Greeks should be added the Locks of Berenice, although it is not named by Ptolemy. It was invented indeed by the astronomer Conon. The story is that Berenice was the spouse and the sister of Ptolemy Euergetes, and that she made a vow to cut off her locks and devote them to Venus if her husband returned victorious; to console the king the astronomer placed her locks among the stars. If this is a true account Arago must be mistaken in asserting that the constellation was created by Tycho Brahe in 1603. The one he did add to the former ones was that of Antinöus, by collecting into one figure some unappropriated stars near the Eagle. At about the same time J. Bayer, from the information of Vespuccius and the sailors, added twelve to the southern constellations of Ptolemy; among which may be mentioned the Peacock, the Toucan, the Phœnix, the Crane, the Fly, the Chameleon, the Bird of Paradise, the Southern Triangle, and the Indian.
Augustus Royer, in 1679, formed five new groups, among which we may name the Great Cloud, the Fleur-de-Lis, and the Southern Cross.
Hevelius, in 1690, added 16; the most important being the Giraffe, the Unicorn, the Little Lion, the Lynx, the Little Triangle.
Among these newer-named constellations none is more interesting than the Southern Cross, which is by some considered as the most brilliant of all that are known. Someaccount of it, possibly from the Arabs, seems to have reached Dante, who evidently refers to it, before it had been named by Royer, in a celebrated passage in his "Purgatory." Some have thought that his reference to such stars was only accidental, and that he really referred only to the four cardinal virtues of theology, chiefly on account of the difficulty of knowing how he could have heard of them; but as the Arabs had establishments along the entire coast of Africa, there is no difficulty in understanding how the information might reach Italy.
Americus Vespuccius, who in his third voyage refers to these verses of Dante, does not mention the name of the Southern Cross. He simply says that the four stars form a rhomboidal figure. As voyages round the Cape multiplied, however, the constellation became rapidly more celebrated, and it is mentioned as forming a brilliant cross by the Florentine Andrea Corsali, in 1517, and a little later by Pigafetta, in 1520.
All these constellations have not been considered sufficient, and many subsequent additions have been made. Thus Lacaille, in 1752, created fourteen new ones, mostly characterized by modern names—as the Sculptor's Studio, the Chemical Furnace, the Clock, the Compass, the Telescope, the Microscope, and others.
Lemonnier, in 1766, added the Reindeer, the Solitaire, and the Indian Bird, and Lalande the Harvestman. Poczobut, in1777, added one more, and P. Hell another. Finally, in the charts drawn by Bode, eight more appear, among which the Aerostat, and the Electrical and Printing Machines.
We thus arrive at a total of 108 constellations. To which we may add that the following groups are generally recognized. The Head of Medusa, near Perseus; the Pleiades, on the back, and the Hyades on the forehead of the Bull; the Club of Hercules; the Shield of Orion, sometimes called the Rake; the Three Kings; the Staff of S. James; the Sword of Orion; the Two Asses in the Crab, having between them the Star Cluster, called the Stall, or the Manger; and the Kids, near Capella, in the constellation of the Coachman.
This brings the list of the constellations to 117, which is the total number now admitted.
A curious episode with respect to these star arrangements may here be mentioned.
About the eighth century Bede and certain other theologians and astronomers wished to depose the Olympian gods. They proposed, therefore, to change the names and arrangements of the constellations; they put S. Peter in the place of the Ram; S. Andrew instead of the Bull; and so on. In more recent calendars David, Solomon, the Magi, and other New and Old Testament characters were placed in the heavens instead of the former constellations; but these changes of name were not generally adopted.
As an example of these celestial spheres we figure a portion of one namedCœli stellati Christiani hemisphericum prius. We here see the Great Bear replaced by the Barque of S. Peter, the Little Bear by S. Michael, the Dragon by the Innocents, the Coachman by S. Jerome, Perseus by S. Paul, Cassiopeia by the Magdalene, Andromache by S. Sepulchre, and the Triangle by S. Peter's mitre; while for the zodiac were substituted the Twelve Apostles.
Fig. 3.Fig. 3.
In the seventeenth century a proposal was made byWeigel, a professor in the University of Jena, to form a series of heraldic constellations, and to use for the zodiac the arms of the twelve most illustrious families in Europe; but these attempts at change have been in vain, the old names are still kept.
Having now explained the origin in modern times of 69 out of the 117 constellations, there remain the 48 which were acknowledged by the Greeks, whose origin is involved in more obscurity.
One of the first to be noticed and named, as it is now the most easily recognized and most widely known, is theGreat Bear, which attracts all the more attention that it is one of those that never sets, being at a less distance from the pole than the latter is from the horizon.
Every one knows the seven brilliant stars that form this constellation. The four in the rectangle and the three in a curved line at once call to mind the form of a chariot, especially one of antique build. It is this resemblance, no doubt, that has obtained for the constellation the name of "the Chariot" that it bears among many people. Among the ancient Gauls it was "Arthur's Chariot." In France it is "David's Chariot," and in England it goes by the name of "King Charles' Wain," and by that of the "Plough." The latter name was in vogue, too, among the Latins (Plaustrum), and the three stars were three oxen, from whence it would appear that they extended the idea to all the sevenstars, and at last called them thesevenoxen,septem-triones, from whence the name sometimes used for the north—septentrional. The Greeks also called it the Chariot (Ἅμαξα), and the same word seems to have stood sometimes for a plough. It certainly has some resemblance to this instrument.
If we take the seven stars as representing the characteristic points of a chariot, the four stars of the quadrilateral will represent the four wheels, and the three others will represent the three horses. Above the centre of the three horses any one with clear sight may perceive a small star of the fifth or sixth magnitude, called the Cavalier. Each of these several stars is indicated, as is usual with all the constellations, by a Greek letter, the largest being denoted by the first letter. Thus the 4 stars in the quadrilateral are α, β, γ, δ, and the 3 tail stars ε, ξ, η. The Arabs give to each star its special name, which in this case are as follows:—Dubhé and Mérak are the stars at the back; Phegda and Megrez those of the front; Alioth, Mizat, and Ackïar the other three, while the little one over Mizat is Alcor. Another name for it is Saidak, or the Tester, the being able to see it being a mark of clear vision.
There is some little interest in the Great Bear on account of the possibility of its being used as a kind of celestial time-keeper, and its easy recognition makes it all the more available. The line through α and β passes almost exactlythrough the pole. Now this line revolves of course with the constellation round the pole in 24 hours; in every such interval being once, vertical above the pole, and once vertical below, taking the intermediate positions to right and left between these times. The instant at which this line is vertical over the pole is not the same on any two consecutive nights, since the stars advance each day 4 minutes on the sun. On the 21st of March the superior passage takes place at 5 minutes to 11 at night; on the following night four minutes earlier, or at 9 minutes to 11. In three months the culmination takes place 6 hours earlier, or at 5 minutes to 5. In six months,i.e.on Sept. 22, it culminates at 10.55 in the morning, being vertically below the pole at the same hour in the evening. The following woodcut exhibits the positions of the Great Bear at the various hours of September 4th. It is plain from this that, knowing the day of the month, the hour of the night may be told by observing what angle the line joining α and β of this constellation makes with the vertical.
We have used the nameGreat Bear, by which the constellation is best known. It is one of the oldest names also, being derived from the Greeks, who called it Arctos megale (Ἄρκτος μεγάλη), whence the name Arctic; and singularly enough the Iroquois, when America was discovered, called it Okouari, their name for a bear. The explanation of this name is certainly not to be found in
Fig. 4.Fig. 4.
the resemblance of the constellation to the animal. The three stars are indeed in the tail, but the four are in the middle of the back; and even if we take in the smaller stars that stand in the feet and head, no ingenuity can make it in this or any other way resemble a bear. It would appear, as Aristotle observes, that the name is derived from the fact, that of all known animals the bear was thought to be the only one that dared to venture into thefrozen regions of the north and tempt the solitude and cold.
Fig. 5.Fig. 5.
Other origins of the name, and other names, have been suggested, of which we may mention a few. For example, "Ursa" is said to be derived fromversus, because the constellation is seen toturnabout the pole. It has been called the Screw (Ἔλικη), or Helix, which has plainly reference to its turning. Another name is Callisto, in reference to its beauty; and lastly, among the Arabs the Great and Little Bears were known as the Great and Little Coffinsin reference to their slow and solemn motion. These names referred to the four stars of each constellation, the other three being the mourners following the bearers. The Christian Arabs made it into the grave of Lazarus and the three weepers, Mary, Martha, and their maid.
Next as to the Little Bear. This constellation has evidently received its name from the similarity of its form to that of the Great Bear. In fact, it is composed of seven stars arranged in the same way, only in an inverse order. If we follow the line from β to α of the Great Bear to a distance of five times as great as that between these stars we reach the brightest star of the Little Bear, called the Pole Star. All the names of the one constellation have been applied to the other, only at a later date.
The new constellations were added one by one to the celestial sphere by the Greeks before they arranged certain of them as parts of the zodiac. The successive introduction of the constellations is proved completely by a long passage of Strabo, which has been often misunderstood. "It is wrong," he says, "to accuse Homer of ignorance because he speaks only of one of the two Celestial Bears. The second was probably not formed at that time. The Phenicians were the first to form them and to use them for navigation. They came later to the Greeks."
All the commentators on Homer, Hygin and Diogenes Laertes, attribute to Thales the introduction of thisconstellation. Pseudo-Eratosthenes called the Little Bear Φοινίκη, to indicate that it was a guide to the Phenicians. A century later, about the seventeenth Olympiad, Cleostrates of Tenedos enriched the sphere with the Archer (Τοξότης, Sagittarius) and the Ram (Κριός, Aries), and about the same time the zodiac was introduced into the Grecian sphere.
The Constellations from the Sea-Shore.The Constellations from the Sea-Shore.The Swan—The Lyre—Hercules—The Crown—The Herdsman—The Eagle—The Serpent—The Balance—The Scorpion—Sagittarius.
The Swan—The Lyre—Hercules—The Crown—The Herdsman—The Eagle—The Serpent—The Balance—The Scorpion—Sagittarius.
With regard to the Little Bear there is another passage of Strabo which it will be interesting to quote. He says—"The position of the people under the parallel of Cinnamomophore,i.e.3,000 stadia south of Meroe and 8,800 stadia north of the equator, represents about the middle of the interval between the equator and the tropic, which passes by Syene, which is 5,000 stadia north of Meroe. These same people are the first for whom the Little Bear is comprised entirely in the Arctic circle and remains always visible; the most southern star of the constellation, the brilliant one that ends the tail being placed on the circumference of the Arctic circle, so as just to touch the horizon." The remarkable thing in this passage is that it refers to an epoch anterior to Strabo, when the star α of the Little Bear, which now appears almost immovable, owing to its extreme proximity to the pole, was then more to the south than the other stars of the constellation, and moved in the Arctic circle so as to touch the horizon of places of certain latitudes, and to set for latitudes nearer the equator.
In those days it was not thePoleStar—if that word has any relation to πολέω, I turn—for the heavens did not turn about it then as they do now.
The Grecian geographer speaks in this passage of a period when the most brilliant star in the neighbourhood of the pole was α of the Dragon. This was more than three thousand years ago. At that time the Little Bear was nearer to the pole than what we now call the Polar Star, for this latter was "the most southern star in the constellation." If we could alight upon documents dating back fourteen thousand years, we should find the star Vega (α Lyra) referred to as occupying the pole of the world, although it now is at a distance of 51 degrees from it, the whole cycle of changes occupying a period of about twenty-six thousand years.
Before leaving these two constellations we may notice the origin of the names according to Plutarch. He would have it that the names are derived from the use that they were put to in navigation. He says that the Phenicians called that constellation that guided them in their route theDobebe, orDoube, that is, the speaking constellation, and that this same word happens to mean also in that language a bear; and so the name was confounded. Certainly there is still a worddubbehin Arabic having this signification.
Next as to the Herdsman. The name of its characteristic star and of itself, Arcturus (Ἄρκτος, bear; Οὖρος, guardian), is explained without difficulty by its positionnear the Bears. There are six small stars of the third magnitude in the constellation round its chief one—three of its stars forming an equilateral triangle. Arcturus is in the continuation of the curved line through the three tail stars of the Great Bear. The constellation has also been called Atlas, from its nearness to the pole—as if it held up the heavens, as the fable goes.
Beyond this triangle, in the direction of the line continued straight from the Great Bear, is the Northern Crown, whose form immediately suggests its name. Among the stars that compose it one, of the second magnitude, is called the Pearl of the Crown. It was in this point of the heavens that a temporary star appeared in May, 1866, and disappeared again in the course of a few weeks.
Among the circumpolar constellations we must now speak of Cassiopeia, or the Chair—or Throne—which is situated on the opposite side of the Pole from the Great Bear; and which is easily found by joining its star δ to the Pole and continuing it. The Chair is composed principally of five stars, of the third magnitude, arranged in the form of an M. A smaller star of the fourth magnitude completes the square formed by the three β, α, and γ. The figure thus formed has a fair resemblance to a chair or throne, δ and ε forming the back; and hence the justification for its popular name. The other name Cassiopeia has its connection and meaning unknown.
We may suitably remark in this place, with Arago, that no precise drawing of the ancient constellations has come down to us. We only know their forms by written descriptions, and these often very short and meagre. A verbal description can never take the place of a drawing, especially if it is a complex figure, so that there is a certain amount of doubt as to the true form, position, and arrangement of the figures of men, beasts, and inanimate objects which composed the star-groups of the Grecian astronomers—so that unexpected difficulties attend the attempt to reproduce them on our modern spheres. Add to this that alterations have been avowedly introduced by the ancient astronomers themselves, among others by Ptolemy, especially in those given by Hipparchus. Ptolemy says he determined to make these changes because it was necessary to give a better proportion to the figures, and to adapt them better to the real positions of the stars. Thus in the constellation of the Virgin, as drawn by Hipparchus, certain stars corresponded to the shoulders; but Ptolemy placed them in the sides, so as to make the figure a more beautiful one. The result is that modern designers give scope to their imagination rather than consult the descriptions of the Greeks.Cassiopeia,Cepheus,Andromeda, andPerseusholding in his hand theHead of Medusa, appear to have been established at the same epoch, no doubt subsequently to the Great Bear. They form one family, placed together in one part of the heavens, and associated in onedrama; the ardent Perseus delivering the unfortunate Andromeda, daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia. We can never be sure, however, whether the constellations suggested the fable, or the fable the constellations: the former may only mean that Perseus, rising before Andromeda, seems to deliver it from the Night and from the constellation of the Whale. The Head of Medusa, a celebrated woman, that Perseus cut off and holds in his hand, is said by Volney to be only the head of the constellation Virgo, which passes beneath the horizon precisely as the Perseus rises, and the serpents which surround it are Ophiucus and the polar Dragon, which then occupies the zenith.
Either way, we have no account of the origin of thenames, and it is possible that we may have to seek it, if ever we find it, from other sources—for it would appear that similar names were used for the same constellations by the Indians. This seems inevitably proved by what is related by Wilford (Asiatic Researches, III.) of his conversation with his pundit, an astronomer, on the names of the Indian constellations. "Asking him," he says, "to show me in the heavens the constellation of Antarmada, he immediately pointed to Andromeda, though I had not given him any information about it beforehand. He afterwards brought me a very rare and curious work in Sanscrit, which contained a chapter devoted toUpanacchatras, or extra-zodiacal constellations, with drawings ofCapuja(Cepheus), and ofCasyapi(Cassiopeia) seated and holding a lotus flower in her hand, ofAntarmadacharmed with the fish beside her, and last ofParasiea(Perseus) who, according to the explanation of the book, held the head of a monster which he had slain in combat; blood was dropping from it, and for hair it had snakes." As the stars composing a constellation have often very little connection with the figure they are supposed to form, when we find the same set of stars called by the same name by two different nations, as was the case, for instance, in some of the Indian names of constellations among the Americans, it is a proof that one of the nations copied it from the other, or that both have copied from a common source. So in the case before us, we cannot think these similar names have arisen independently, but must conclude that the Grecian was borrowed from the Indian.
Another well-known constellation in this neighbourhood, forming an isosceles triangle with Arcturus and the Pole Star, is the Lyre. Lucian of Samosatus says that the Greeks gave this name to the constellation to do honour to the Lyre of Orpheus. Another possible explanation is this. The word for lyre in Greek (χέλυς) and in Latin (testudo) means also a tortoise. Now at the time when this name was imposed the chief star in the Lyre may have been very near to the pole of the heavens and therefore have had a very slow motion, and hence it might have been named the tortoise, and this in Greek would easily be interpreted into lyre instead. Indeed this double meaning of the word seems certainly to have given rise to the fable of Mercury havingconstructed a lyre out of the back of a tortoise. Circling round the pole of the ecliptic, and formed by a sinuous line of stars passing round from the Great Bear to the Lyre, is the Dragon, which owes its name to its form. Its importance is derived from its relation to the ecliptic, the pole of which is determined by reference to the stars of the first coil of the body. The centre of the zodiacal circle is a very important point, that circle being traced on the most ancient spheres, and probably being noticed even before the pole of the heavens.
Closely associated with the Dragon both in mythology and in the celestial sphere is Hercules. He is always drawn kneeling; in fact, the constellation is rather a man in a kneeling posture than any particular man. The poets called it Engonasis with reference to this, which is too melancholy or lowly a position than would agree well with the valiant hero of mythology. There is a story related by Æschylus about the stones in the Champ des Cailloux, between Marseilles and the embouchure of the Rhône, to the effect that Hercules, being amongst the Ligurians, found it necessary to fight with them; but he had no more missiles to throw; when Jupiter, touched by the danger of his son, sent a rain of round stones, with which Hercules repulsed his enemies. The Engonasis is thus considered by some to represent him bending down to pick up the stones. Posidonius remarks that it was a pity Jupiter did not rain the stones on the Ligurians at once, without giving Hercules the trouble to pick them up.
Ophiucus, which comes close by, simply means the man that holds the serpent ὀϕι-οῦχος.
It is obviously impossible to know the origins of all the names, as those we now use are only the surviving ones of several that from time to time have been applied to the various constellations according to their temporary association with the local legends. The prominent ones are favoured with quite a crowd of names. We need only cite a few. Hercules, for instance, has been called Ὀκάλζων Κορυνήτης, Engonasis, Ingeniculus, Nessus, Thamyris, Desanes, Maceris, Almannus, Al-chete, &c. The Swan has the names of Κύκνος, Ἴκτιν, Ὄρνις, Olar, Helenæ genitor, Ales Jovis, Ledæus, Milvus, Gallina, The Cross, while the Coachman has been Ἱππιλατης, Ἐλαστίππος, Αἰρωηλατης, Ἤνιοχος, Auriga, Acator, Hemochus, Erichthonus, Mamsek, Alánat, Athaiot, Alatod, &c. With respect to the Coachman, in some old maps he is drawn with a whip in his left hand turned towards the chariot, and is called the charioteer. No doubt its proximity to the former constellation has acquired for it its name. The last we need mention, as of any celebrity, is that of Orion, which is situated on the equator, which runs exactly through its midst. Regel forms its left foot, and the Hare serves for a footstool to the right foot of the hero. Three magnificent stars in the centre of the quadrilateral, which lie in one straight line are called the Rake, or the Three Kings, or the Staff of Jacob, or the Belt.These names have an obvious origin; but the meaning of Orion itself is more doubtful. In the Grecian sphere it is written Ὠρίων, which also means a kind of bird. The allied word ὦρος has very numerous meanings, the only one of which that could be conjectured to be connected with the constellations is a "guardian." The word ἵριον, on the contrary, the diminutive of ὥρος, means a limit, and has been assigned to Jupiter; and in this case may have reference to the constellation being situated on the confines of the two hemispheres. In mythology Orion was an intrepid hunter of enormous size. He was the same personage as Orus, Arion, the Minotaur, and Nimrod, and afterwards became Saturn. Orion is calledTsanin Chinese, which signifies three, and corresponds to the three kings.
Fig. 6.Fig. 6.
The Asiatics used not to trace the images of their constellations, but simply joined the component stars by straight lines, and placed at the side the hieroglyphic characters that represented the object they wished to name. Thus joining by five lines the principal stars in Orion, they placed at the side the hieroglyphics representing a man and a sword, from whence the Greeks derived the figure they afterwards drew of a giant armed with a sword.
We must include in this series that brightest of all stars, Sirius. It forms part of the constellation of the Great Dog, and lies to the south of Orion near the extreme limit of our vision into the Southern hemisphere in our latitudes. This star seems to have been intimately connected with Egypt, and to have derived its name—as well as the name of the otherwise unimportant constellation it forms part of—from that country, and in this way:—
The overflowing of the Nile was always preceded by an Etesian wind, which, blowing from north to south about thetime of the passage of the sun beneath the stars of the Crab, drove the mists to the south, and accumulated them over the country whence the Nile takes its source, causing abundant rains, and hence the flood. The greatest importance attached to the foretelling the time of this event, so that people might be ready with their provisions and their places of security. The moon was no use for this purpose, but the stars were, for the inundation commenced when the sun was in the stars of the Lion. At this time the stars of the Crab just appeared in the morning, but with them, at some distance from the ecliptic, the bright star Sirius also rose. The morning rising of this star was a sure precursor of the inundation. It seemed to them to be the warning star, by whose first appearance they were to be ready to move to safer spots, and thus acted for each family the part of a faithful dog. Whence they gave it the name of the Dog, or Monitor, in EgyptianAnubis, in PhenicianHannobeach, and it is still the Dog-Star—Caniculus, and its rising commences ourdog-days. The intimate connection between the rising of this star and the rising of the Nile led people to call it also the Nile star, or simply the Nile; in Egyptian and Hebrew,Sihor; in Greek, Σοθίς; in Latin,Sirius.
In the same way the Egyptians and others characterised the different days of the year by the stars which first appeared in the evening—as we shall see more particularly with reference to the Pleiades—and in this way certain starscame to be associated in their calendar with variations of temperature and operations of agriculture. They soon took for the cause what was originally but the sign, and thus they came to talk of moist stars, whose rising brought rain, and arid stars, which brought drought. Some made certain plants to grow, and others had influence over animals.
In the case of Egypt, no other so great event could occur as that which the Dog-Star foretold, and its appearance was consequently made the commencement of the year. Instead, therefore, of painting it as a simple star, in which case it would be indistinguishable from others, they gave it shape according to its function and name. When they wished to signify that it opened the year, it was represented as a porter bearing keys, or else they gave it two heads, one of an old man, to represent the passing year, the other of a younger, to denote the succeeding year. When they would represent it as giving warning of the inundation they painted it as a dog. To illustrate what they were to do when it appeared, Anubis had in his arms a stew-pot, wings to his feet, a large feather under his arm, and two reptiles behind him, a tortoise and a duck.
There is also in the celestial sphere a constellation called the Little Dog and Procyon; the latter name has an obvious meaning, as appearingbeforethe Dog-Star.
We cannot follow any farther the various constellations of the northern sphere, nor of the southern. The zodiacalconstellations we must reserve for the present, while we conclude by referring to some of the changes in form and position that some of the above-mentioned have undergone in the course of their various representations.
These changes are sometimes very curious, as, for example, in a coloured chart, printed at Paris in 1650, we have the Charioteer drawn in the costume of Adam, with his knees on the Milky Way, and turning his back to the public; the she-goat appears to be climbing over his neck, and two little she-goats seem to be running towards their mother. Cassiopeia is more like King Solomon than a woman. Compare this with thePhenomena of Aratus, published 1559, where Cassiopeia is represented sitting on an oak chair with a ducal back, holding the holy palm in her left hand, while the Coachman, "Erichthon," is in the costume of a minion of Henry the Third of France. Now compare the Cassiopeia of the Greeks with that drawn in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, or the Coachman of the same periods, and we can easily see the fancies of the painters have been one of the most fertile sources of change. They seem, too, to have had the fancy in the middle ages to draw them all hideous and turning their backs. Compare, for instance, the two pictures of Andromeda and Hercules, as given below, where those on one side are as heavy and gross as the others are artistic and pretty. Unfortunately for the truth of Andromeda's beauty, as depicted in these designs,she was supposed to be a negress, being the daughter of the Ethiopians, Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Not one of the drawings indicates this; indeed they all take after their local beauties.
Fig. 7.Fig. 7.
In Flamsteed's chart, as drawn above, the Coachman isa female; and instead of the she-goat being on the back, she holds it in her arms. No one, indeed, from any of the figures of this constellation would ever dream it was intended to represent a coachman.
Fig. 8.Fig. 8.
One more fundamental cause of changes has been the confusion of names derived by one nation from another, these having sometimes followed their signification, but at others being translated phonetically. Thus the Latins, in deriving names from the Greek Ἄρκτος, have partly translated it by Ursa, and partly have copied it in the form Arcticus. So also with reference to the three stars in the head of the Bull, called by the Greeks Hyades. The Romans thought it was derived from ὗες, sows, so they called themsuculæ, or little sows; whereas the original name was derived from ὕειν, to rain, and signified stars whose appearance indicated the approach of the rainy season.
More curious still is the transformation of the Pearl of the Northern Crown (Margarita Coronæ) in a saint—S. Marguerite.
The names may have had many origins whose signification is lost, owing to their being misunderstood. Thus figurative language may have been interpreted as real, as when a conjunction is called a marriage; a disappearance, death; and a reappearance, a resurrection; and then stories must be invented to fit these words; or the stars that have in one country given notice of certain events lose the meaning of their names when these are used elsewhere; as when a boat painted near the stars that accompany an inundation,becomes the ship Argo; or when, to represent the wind, the bird's wing is drawn; or those stars that mark a season are associated with the bird of passage, the insect or the animal that appears at that time: such as these would soon lose their original signification.
The celestial sphere, therefore, as we now possess it, is not simply a collection of unmeaning names, associated with a group of stars in no way connected with them, which have been imposed at various epochs by capricious imagination, but in most instances, if not in all, they embody a history, which, if we could trace it, would probably lead us to astronomical facts, indicating the where and the when of their first introduction; and the story of their changes, so far as we can trace it, gives us some clue to the mental characteristics or astronomical progress of the people who introduced the alterations.
We shall find, indeed, in a subsequent chapter, that many of our conclusions as to the birth and growth of astronomy are derived from considerations connected with the various constellations, more especially those of the zodiac.
With regard to the date when and the country where the constellations of the sphere were invented, we will here give what evidence we possess, independent of the origin of the zodiac.
In the first place it seems capable of certain proof that they were not invented by the Greeks, from whom we havereceived them, but adopted from an older source, and it is possible to give limits to the date of introduction among them.
Newton, who attributes its introduction to Musæus, a contemporary of Chiron, remarks, that it must have been settledafterthe expedition of the Argonauts, andbeforethe destruction of Troy; because the Greeks gave to the constellation names that were derived from their history and fables, and devoted several to celebrate the memory of the famous adventurers known as the Argonauts, and they would certainly have dedicated some to the heroes of Troy, if the siege of that place had happened at the time. We remark that at this time astronomy was in too infant a state in Greece for them to have fixed with so much accuracy the position of the stars, and that we have in this a proof they must have borrowed their knowledge from older cultivators of the science.
The various statements we meet with about the invention of the sphere may be equally well interpreted of its introduction only into Greece. Such, for instance, as that Eudoxus first constructed it in the thirteenth or fourteenth centuryB.C., or that by Clement of Alexandria, that Chiron was the originator.
The oldest direct account of the names of the constellations and their component stars is that of Hesiod, who cites by name in hisWorks and Daysthe Pleiades, Arcturus, Orion,and Sirius. He lived, according to Herodotus, about 884 years before Christ.
The knowledge of all the constellations did not reach the Greeks at the same time, as we have seen from the omission by Homer of any mention of the Little Bear, when if he had known it, he could hardly have failed to speak of it. For in his description of the shield of Achilles, he mentions the Pleiades, the Hyades, Orion and the Bear, "which alone does not bathe in the Ocean." He could never have said this last if he had known of the Dragon and Little Bear.
We may then safely conclude that the Greeks received the idea of the constellations from some older source, probably the Chaldeans. They received it doubtless as a sphere, with figured, but nameless constellations; and the Greeks by slight changes adapted them to represent the various real or imaginary heroes of their history. It would be a gracious task, for their countrymen would glory in having their great men established in the heavens. When they saw a ship represented, what more suitable than to name it the ship Argo? The Swan must be Jupiter transformed, the Lyre is that of Orpheus, the Eagle is that which carried away Ganymede, and so on.
This would be no more than what other nations have done, as, for example, the Chinese, who made greater changes still, unless we consider theirs to have had an entirely independent origin.