Orion in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Orion

18 passages from 10 ancient authors that tell of Orion, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Orion was a hunter in Greek mythology. There are various stories about his birth as well as the way he died.According to the oldest version, he was ... For the story in one place, read our article on Orion.

Hesiod (3)

Hesiod, Fragments 8.1–5AstronomyThe Astronomy, a poem attributed to Hesiod, is cited for the stars and constellations. The fragments name the Pleiades and the Hyades, the Great Bear and Callisto, Boötes and Orion.
Hesiod, Works and Days 605–674Vintage, laying up the ship and Hesiod's own voyage (605-674)After the harvest Hesiod tells Perses to cut the grapes when Orion and Sirius are in mid-heaven, showing them to the sun for ten days before drawing off the wine. When the Pleiades set, gales rage, so the ship is to be hauled ashore, its tackle stowed and its rudder hung over the smoke. He recalls how his father left Aeolian Cyme and settled at Ascra by Helicon, and says that his only sea-voyage was to Chalcis, where he won a tripod with a song at the games of Amphidamas and dedicated it to the Muses.
Hesiod, Works and Days 535–604Winter clothing, spring pruning and the summer heat (535-604)Hesiod prescribes warm clothing for the bitter month: a soft coat and tunic, felt-lined boots of ox hide, kidskins and a felt cap. Sixty days after the solstice Arcturus rises and the swallow appears, and then the vines are to be pruned; in harvest time a man should rise at dawn. When the artichoke flowers and the cicada sings, he pictures a shady rock with wine of Biblis, curds and milk, and then winnowing Demeter's grain when Orion rises.

Homer (2)

Homer, Iliad 18.468–540The Shield of Achilles (1): earth, sky and two citiesHephaestus sets to work with his bellows and makes a great shield of five layers, on which he forges the earth, the sea and the sky, with the sun, the moon and the constellations. He then shows two cities of mortal men: one at peace, with a wedding procession and a quarrel over a blood-price in the market-place, and one besieged, whose people sally out to an ambush by the river. Strife, Tumult and deadly Fate are among the fighters.
Homer, Odyssey 11.568–640Minos, Orion and the great sinnersOdysseus sees Minos judging the dead with a golden sceptre, and Orion driving wild beasts across a meadow. He sees Tityos, Tantalus and Sisyphus in their torments, and then the ghost of Heracles, while Heracles himself is among the gods. Heracles speaks of his labours and of the dog of Hades, and Odysseus waits for more heroes, but the ghosts flock round him with a great cry, and he returns to the ship in fear.

Apollodorus (1)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.4.1–5Leto, Apollo and Artemis; Python, Marsyas and OrionAsteria flees Zeus and becomes the island Delos, where the hunted Leto bears Artemis and then Apollo. Apollo takes over the oracle at Delphi by killing the snake Python, kills Tityus for assaulting Leto, and has Marsyas flayed after a musical contest. Artemis kills Orion on Delos, and two reasons are given, a challenge at quoits or violence against the Hyperborean maiden Opis; the section ends with Poseidon's children by Amphitrite.

Callimachus (1)

Callimachus, Hymns 3.1–268Hymn to Artemis: the goddess's childhood wishesAs a small girl on her father's knees, Artemis asks Zeus to let her stay a maiden for ever and to give her a bow, a short tunic, sixty nymphs of Oceanus for her choir and twenty nymphs of Amnisus to tend her hounds, and Zeus smiles and grants it, adding cities. She visits the Cyclopes on Lipara for her arrows, takes hounds from Pan in Arcadia and captures four golden-horned deer for her chariot. The poet praises her favourite places and companions, among them Britomartis, Cyrene and Atalanta, and her shrines at Miletus and Ephesus. He ends with a warning to those who wronged her, such as Oeneus, Otus and Orion.

Diodorus Siculus (1)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.81.1–4.85.7Aristaeus, Eryx, Daphnis and OrionThe historian tells of Aristaeus, son of Apollo and Cyrene, who after the death of Acteon goes to Ceos and helps the Greeks during a plague, and who is honoured as a god in Sicily. He continues with Eryx, son of Aphrodite, with the shepherd Daphnis in the Heraean mountains, and with the giant hunter Orion, whose works in Sicily, at Peloris and elsewhere, are described.

Pausanias (1)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.20.1–5Tanagra: Poemander, Corinna, the tomb of Orion, Hermes and the Triton of DionysusPausanias gives the Tanagrans' account of their founder Poemander and of the city's name, which came from Tanagra, also called Graea, a daughter of Aeolus or of Asopus. He mentions the tomb of Orion, Mount Cerycius, where Hermes was born, and the place called Polus. In the temple of Dionysus he describes the image by Calamis and the headless Triton, killed either in a fight with Dionysus or when he was lured by a bowl of wine.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (1)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 5.333–455The madness of AiasThetis and the Nereids plunge back into the sea, where Cymothoe curses Prometheus. Aias, furious at the verdict, will not eat or sleep and arms himself in the night, and Athena strikes him with madness to spare Odysseus. Menelaus fears for the army, but Aias slaughters the flocks in the plain, thinking them Argives, and taunts a slain ram as if it were Odysseus.

Nonnus of Panopolis (4)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 38.318–434Book 38: Phaethon's drive and fall; the Heliades become treesPhaethon loses control of the horses and drives off the course of the zodiac, throwing the stars and constellations into confusion, while Lucifer warns him in vain. Zeus strikes him with a thunderbolt into the river Eridanos, restores order, and sets him in the sky as the Charioteer, while his sisters the Heliades are changed into trees that shed precious dew.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 5.409–532Book 5: Actaion's ghost appears to his fatherActaion's ghost appears to Aristaios in a dream in the shape of a stag and tells how he came to his death. He asks his father not to punish the dogs, and to bury him with a carved likeness on his tomb.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 13.83–200Book 13: Boeotians, Phocians, Euboians and AtheniansA second Boeotian host is led by Hymenaios from Aspledon, Orchomenos, Hyria and Aulis, and the poet digresses on Orion and Iphigeneia. The Phocians follow, and then the Corybants of Euboia. The Athenians come under Erechtheus, from Marathon, Eleusis and Acharnai.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 48.328–473Book 48: Aura insults Artemis; Nemesis is sent against herBathing beside Artemis, Aura stares at the goddess and mocks her breasts and her claim to virginity, boasting of her own boyish strength. Artemis, furious, appeals to Nemesis for vengeance. Nemesis pursues Aura in her griffin car and strikes her with her whip, and Eros makes Dionysos mad with love for the girl.

Aratus (3)

Aratus, Phaenomena 571–737Risings and settings of the constellationsAratus tells which constellations set and which rise as each sign of the Zodiac rises, from the Crab to the Twins, among them Ophiuchus, Boötes, Orion, Cetus, Cepheus, Cassiepeia and Perseus. In explaining why Orion flees when the Scorpion rises, he tells how Orion offended Artemis in Chios and was killed by the Scorpion. The section ends by turning to the Moon's phases as a guide to the month.
Aratus, Phaenomena 266–420The Lyre, Orion, Argo and the southern constellationsAratus describes the Lyre that Hermes made from a tortoise, the Bird, Hydrochoüs, Aegoceros, the Archer and the Scorpion, with warnings for sailors when the Sun is in Aegoceros and in the Bow. He then places Orion and the Dog Seirius, the Hare, the ship Argo, Cetus, the River Eridanus and the Southern Fish. He explains that an early observer grouped the stars into figures so that they might be known by name, and ends with the Water and the Altar, a sign of storms at sea.
Aratus, Phaenomena 738–891Weather signs from the Moon and the SunThe twelve signs of the Zodiac tell the hours of the night, and Aratus urges sailors to watch the stars at sea. He explains how the Moon's phases mark the days of the month and how the shape and colour of her horns and the halos round her foretell wind, rain or calm. He then gives signs from the Sun, from the colour of his disk, his rays, and the mist and clouds around him at rising and setting, and from the parhelia that gird him.

Parthenius of Nicaea (1)

Parthenius of Nicaea, Love Romances 18.1–20.2Neaera and Promedon; Pancrato; Aero and OrionNeaera, wife of Hypsicreon of Miletus, gives herself to his friend Promedon of Naxos and takes refuge at Naxos, where the Naxians refuse to give her up and Miletus declares war. Two raiders from Thrace fall in love with Pancrato, taken captive with her mother Iphimede, and kill each other fighting for her. Aero is desired by Orion, who is blinded by her father Oenopion after breaking into her chamber in drink.