XXI. TAURUS.
Hic dicitur inter astra esse constitutus, quod Europam incolumem transuexerit Cretam, ut Euripides dicit. nonnulli aiunt, cum Io in bouem sit conuersa, ut Iuppiter ei satisfacere uideretur, inter sidera constituisse, quod eius prior pars appareat ut tauri, sed reliquum corpus obscurius uideatur. spectat autem ad exortum solis; cuius oris effigiem quae continent stellae, Hyades appellantur. Has autem Pherecydes Atheniensis Liberi nutrices esse demonstrat, numero septem, quas etiam antea nymphas Dodonidas appellatas. harum nomina sunt haec: Ambrosia, Eudora, Pedile, Coronis, Polyxo, Phyto, Thyone. hae dicuntur a Lycurgo fugatae et praeter Ambrosiam omnes ad Thetim profugatae, ut ait Asclepiades. sed ut Pherecydes dicit, ad Thebas Liberum perlatum Inoni tradiderunt. quam ob causam ab Ioue his gratia est relata, quod inter sidera sunt constitutae.
XXI. The Bull
This is said to have been placed among the stars because it carried Europa unharmed to Crete, as Euripides says. Some say that when Io was changed into a cow, Zeus, to seem to make amends to her, set it among the stars, because its front part appears as a bull's, but the rest of the body appears rather faint. It faces the rising of the sun; the stars that make up the likeness of its face are called the Hyades. Pherecydes of Athens shows these to be Dionysus's nurses, seven in number, whom even before they were called the Dodonian nymphs. Their names are: Ambrosia, Eudora, Pedile, Coronis, Polyxo, Phyto, Thyone. They are said to have been put to flight by Lycurgus and, all except Ambrosia, to have fled to Thetis, as Asclepiades says. But as Pherecydes says, they handed Dionysus, carried to Thebes, to Ino. For which reason thanks were returned to them by Zeus, in that they were set among the stars.
Pliades autem appellatae sunt, ut ait Musaeus, quod ex Atlante et Aethra Oceani filia sint filiae XV procreatae, quarum V Hyades appellatas demonstrat, quod earum Hyas fuerit frater, a sororibus plurimum dilectus. qui cum uenans a leone esset interfectus, quinque, de quibus supra diximus, lamentationibus assiduis permotae, dicuntur interisse; quare eas, quod plurimum de eius morte laborarent, Hyadas appellatas. reliquas autem decem sorores deliberasse de sororum morte et earum septem mortem sibi conscisse; quare quod plures idem senserint, Pliadas dictas. Alexander autem Hyadas ait dictas, quod Hyantis et Boeotiae sint filiae; Pliadas autem, quod ex Plione Oceani et Atlante sint natae. hae numero septem dicuntur, sed nemo amplius VI potest uidere; cuius causa proditur haec, quod de septem sex cum inmortalibus concubuerint, tres cum Ioue, duae cum Neptuno, una cum Marte, reliqua autem Sisyphi fuisse uxor demonstratur. quarum ex Electra et Ioue Dardanum, ex Maia Mercurium, ex Taygete Lacedaemona procreatum; ex Alcyone autem et Neptuno Hyriea, ex Celaeno Lycum et Nyctea natum. Martem autem ex Sterope Oenomaum procreasse, quam alii Oenomai uxorem dixerunt. Meropen autem Sisypho nuptam Glaucum genuisse, quem complures Bellerophontis patrem esse dixerunt. quare propter reliquas eius sorores inter sidera constitutam; sed quod homini nupserit, stellam eius obscuratam.
They are called Pliades, as Musaeus says, because fifteen daughters were born of Atlas and Aethra, daughter of Oceanus, of whom he shows five were called Hyades, because their brother was Hyas, much loved by his sisters. When, hunting, he was killed by a lion, the five of whom we spoke above, moved by continual lamentation, are said to have perished; hence, because they grieved so much over his death, they were called Hyades. The remaining ten sisters deliberated over their sisters' death, and seven of them took their own lives; because several felt the same, they were called Pliades. Alexander, however, says that the Hyades were so named because they are daughters of Hyas and Boeotia; the Pliades because they were born of Plione, daughter of Oceanus, and Atlas. They are said to be seven in number, but no one can see more than six; the reason for which is handed down as this, that of the seven, six lay with immortals, three with Zeus, two with Poseidon, one with Ares, while the remaining one is shown to have been Sisyphus's wife. Of them, from Electra and Zeus Dardanus was born; from Maia, Hermes; from Taygete, Lacedaemon; from Alcyone and Poseidon, Hyrieus; from Celaeno, Lycus and Nycteus. Ares, from Sterope, fathered Oenomaus, whom others have called Oenomaus's wife [= Sterope]. Merope, married to Sisyphus, bore Glaucus, whom very many have said was the father of Bellerophon. Hence, on account of her other sisters, she was set among the stars; but because she married a man, her star was dimmed.
alii dicunt Electram non apparere ideo, quod Pliades existimentur choream ducere stellis; sed postquam Troia sit capta, et progenies eius quae a Dardano fuerit, sit euersa, dolore permotam ab his se remouisse, et in circulo qui arcticus dicitur, constitisse, ex quo tam longo tempore lamentantem capillo passo uideri; itaque e facto Cometen esse appellatam. sed has Pliadas antiqui astrologi seorsum a Tauro deformauerunt, ut ante diximus, Pliones et Atlantis filias. quae cum per Boeotiam cum puellis iter faceret, Oriona comitatum uoluisse ei uim adferre; illam fugere coepisse, Oriona autem secutum esse annos VII neque inuenire potuisse. Iouem autem puellarum misertum, iter ad astra constituisse, et postea a nonnullis astrologis caudam Tauri appellatas. itaque adhuc Orion fugientes eas ad occasum sequi uidetur. eas stellas nostri Uergilias appellauerunt, quod post uer exoriuntur; et hae quidem ampliorem ceteris habent honorem, quod earum signo exoriente aestas significatur, occidente autem hiems ostenditur, quod aliis non est traditum signis.
Others say that Electra does not appear for this reason, that the Pleiades are thought to lead a dance among the stars; but after Troy was captured and her progeny which came from Dardanus was overthrown, moved by grief she withdrew from them, and took her stand in the circle called arctic, from which, for so long a time, she is seen lamenting with her hair unbound; and so, from this event, she is called Cometes (the Comet). But the ancient astrologers formed these Pliades apart from the Bull, as we said before, as the daughters of Pleione and Atlas. When she was travelling with the girls through Boeotia, Orion, who accompanied her, wished to use force on her; she began to flee, and Orion followed for seven years and could not find her. Zeus, pitying the girls, made a way for them to the stars, and afterwards they were called by some astrologers the Bull's tail. And so even now Orion is seen following them as they flee toward their setting. Our people called these stars the Vergiliae, because they rise after spring; and they have a greater honour than the rest, because when their sign rises summer is signified, and when it sets winter is shown, which has not been handed down for the other signs.
XXII. GEMINI.
Hos conplures astrologi Castorem et Pollucem esse dixerunt; quos demonstrant omnium fratrum inter se amantissimos fuisse, quod neque de principatu contenderint, neque ullam rem sine communi consilio gesserint. pro quibus officiis eorum Iuppiter notissima sidera eos constituisse existimatur. Neptunum autem pari consilio munerasse; nam equos quibus utuntur donauit et dedit potestatem naufragis saluti esse. alii dixerunt Herculem esse et Apollinem; nonnulli etiam Triptolemum, quem supra diximus, et Iasiona a Cerere dilectos et ad sidera perlatos. sed qui de Castore et Polluce dicunt, hoc amplius addunt, ut Castor in oppido Aphidnis sit occisus, quo tempore Lacedaemones cum Atheniensibus bellum gesserunt. alii autem, cum oppugnarent Spartam Lynceus et Idas, ibi perisse dixerunt. Pollucem ait Homerus concessisse fratri dimidiam uitam; itaque alternis diebus eorum quemque lucere.
XXII. The Twins
Very many astrologers have said that these are Castor and Pollux; they show that they were the most loving of all brothers toward each other, since they neither contended over precedence nor did anything without common counsel. For these services Zeus is thought to have set them as very well known stars. Poseidon too rewarded them with equal intent; for he gave them the horses which they use, and gave them power to be a safeguard to the shipwrecked. Others said that they are Heracles and Apollo; some also, Triptolemus, whom we mentioned above, and Iasion, beloved by Demeter and carried to the stars. But those who speak of Castor and Pollux add this besides: that Castor was killed in the town of Aphidnae, at the time when the Lacedaemonians waged war with the Athenians; others, however, said that he perished there when Lynceus and Idas were attacking Sparta. Homer says that Pollux granted his brother half of his life; and so on alternate days each of them shines.
XXIII. CANCER
dicitur Iunonis beneficio inter astra collocatus, quod, cum Hercules contra hydram lemaeam constitisset, ex palude pedem eius mordicus arripuisset; quare Herculem permotum, eum interfecisse. Iunonem autem inter sidera constituisse, ut esset cum duodecim signis, quae maxime solis cursu continentur. In eius deformationis parte sunt quidam qui Asini appellantur, a Libero in testa Cancri duabus stellis omnino figurati. Liber enim ab Iunone furore obiecto, dicitur mente captus fugisse per Thesprotiam, cogitans ad Iouis Dodonaei oraculum peruenire, unde peteret responsum, quo facilius ad pristinum statum mentis perueniret. sed cum uenisset ad quandam paludem magnam, quam transire non posset, quibusdam asellis duobus obuiam factis dicitur unum eorum deprehendisse et ita esse transuectus, ut omnino aquam non tetigerit. itaque cum uenisset ad templum Iouis Dodonaei, statim dicitur furore liberatus asellis gratiam retulisse et inter sidera eos collocasse. nonnulli etiam dixerunt asino illi, quo fuerit uectus, uocem humanam dedisse. itaque eum postea cum Priapo contendisse de natura et uictum ab eo interfectum. pro quo Liberum eius misertum in sideribus adnumerasse; et ut sciretur id pro deo, non pro homine timido, quia Iunonem fugerit, fecisse, supra Cancrum constituit, qui eius beneficio fuerat adfixus astris.
XXIII. The Crab
The Crab is said to have been placed among the stars by Hera's favour, because, when Heracles had taken his stand against the Lernaean hydra, it seized his foot with its bite out of the marsh; whereupon Heracles, provoked, killed it. Hera set it among the stars so that it might be with the twelve signs, which are chiefly bound up with the sun's course. In part of its figure there are some stars called the Asses (Aselli), formed by Dionysus on the shell of the Crab, two stars in all. For Dionysus, madness having been cast on him by Hera, is said to have fled, out of his mind, through Thesprotia, intending to reach the oracle of Dodonaean Zeus, from which he would seek a response by which he might the more easily return to his former state of mind. But when he had come to a certain great marsh, which he could not cross, two little asses met him, and he is said to have taken hold of one of them and been carried across in such a way that he did not touch the water at all. And so, when he came to the temple of Dodonaean Zeus, he is said to have been freed from his madness at once, to have repaid the asses with thanks and set them among the stars. Some also said that he gave human voice to that ass on which he had ridden. And so afterwards it contended with Priapus about nature [?] and, beaten, was killed by him. For this Dionysus, pitying it, counted it among the stars; and, so that it might be known that he did this for a god, not for a man timid because he was fleeing Hera, he set it above the Crab, which had been fixed among the stars by her kindness [?].
Dicitur etiam alia historia de Asellis. ut ait Eratosthenes, quo tempore Iuppiter, bello gigantibus indicto, ad eos oppugnandos omnes deos conuocasset, uenisse Liberum patrem, Uulcanum, Satyros, Silenos asellis uectos. qui cum non longe ab hostibus abessent, dicuntur aselli pertimuisse, et ita pro se quisque magnum clamorem et inauditum gigantibus fecisse, ut omnes hostes eorum clamore in fugam se coniecerint et ita sint superati. huic similis est historia de bucino Tritonis. nam is quoque fertur, cum concham inuentam excauasset, secum ad gigantas tulisse et ibi sonum quendam inauditum per concham misisse. hostes autem ueritos ne qua esset inmanis fera ab aduersariis adducta, cuius esset ille mugitus, fugae se mandasse, et ita uictos in hostium potestatem peruenisse.
Another story is also told of the Asses. As Eratosthenes says, at the time when Zeus, war having been declared on the Giants, had summoned all the gods to attack them, Dionysus came, with Hephaestus, Satyrs and Sileni, riding on asses. When these were not far from the enemy, the asses are said to have been frightened, and each for himself made so great and unheard-of a cry at the Giants that all their enemies threw themselves into flight at their cry and were thus overcome. Like this is the story of Triton's trumpet. For he too is reported, having hollowed out a conch he had found, to have taken it with him to the Giants and there sent forth through the conch a certain unheard-of sound. The enemies, fearing that some huge beast had been brought by their adversaries, whose bellowing that was, committed themselves to flight, and thus, conquered, fell into their enemy's power.
XXIV. LEO .
HIC dicitur ab Ioue inter astra constitutus, quod omnium ferarum princeps esse existimatur. nonnulli etiam hoc amplius dicunt, quod Herculis prima fuerit haec certatio, et quod eum inermis interfecerit. de hoc et Pisandrus et conplures alii scripserunt.
XXIV. The Lion
This is said to have been set among the stars by Zeus, because he is thought to be the chief of all wild beasts. Some also say this besides, that this was Heracles's first contest, and that he killed it unarmed. About this Pisander and very many others have written.
cuius supra simulacrum proxime Uirginem sunt aliae VII stellae ad caudam Leonis in triangulo collocatae, quas crines Berenices esse Conon Samius mathematicus et Callimachus dicit. cum Ptolomaeus Berenicen Ptolomaei et Arsinoes filiam sororem suam duxisset uxorem, et paucis post diebus Asiam oppugnatum profectus esset, uouisse Berenicen, si uictor Ptolomaeus redisset, se crinem detonsuram; quo uoto damnatam crinem in Ueneris Arsinoes Zephyritidis posuisse templo, eumque postero die non comparuisse. quod factum cum rex aegre ferret, Conon mathematicus ut ante diximus cupiens inire gratiam regis, dixit crinem inter sidera uideri collocatum et quasdam uacuas a figura septem stellas ostendit, quas esse fingeret crinem. hanc Berenicen nonnulli cum Callimacho dixerunt equos alere et ad Olympia mittere consuetam fuisse. alii dicunt hoc amplius Ptolomaeum Berenices patrem, multitudine hostiam perterritum, fuga salutem petisse; filiam autem saepe consuetam, insiluisse in equum, et reliquam exercitus copiam constituisse, et conplures hostium interfecisse, reliquos in fugam coniecisse; pro quo etiam Callimachus eam magnanimam dixit. Eratosthenes autem dicit et uirginibus Lesbiis dotem quam cuique relictam a parente nemo soluerit, iussisse reddi, et inter eas constituisse petitionem.
Above its figure, next to the Virgin, there are seven other stars, set in a triangle at the Lion's tail, which Conon of Samos the mathematician and Callimachus say are the hair of Berenice. When Ptolemy had married Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy and Arsinoe, his sister, and a few days later had set out to attack Asia, Berenice vowed, if Ptolemy returned victorious, to cut off her hair; held to her vow, she placed her hair in the temple of Aphrodite Arsinoe Zephyritis, and next day it was not to be found. When the king took this ill, Conon the mathematician, as we said before, wishing to win the king's favour, said that the hair was seen to have been placed among the stars, and pointed out seven stars empty of any figure, which he claimed were the hair. This Berenice, some with Callimachus have said, was accustomed to rear horses and send them to Olympia. Others say this besides: that Ptolemy, Berenice's father, terrified by a multitude of enemies, sought safety in flight; but his daughter, often used to it, leapt onto a horse, and stopped the rest of the army, and killed very many of the enemy, and put the rest to flight; for which Callimachus even called her great-souled. Eratosthenes, however, says that she also ordered the dowry left to the maidens of Lesbos by a parent, which no one had paid, to be restored, and established a petition among them.
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