XXV. UIRGO.
Hanc Hesiodus Iouis et Themidis filiam dicit; Aratus autem Astraei et Aurorae filiam existimari, quae eodem tempore fuerit cum aurea saecula hominum, et eorum principem fuisse demonstrat. quam propter diligentiam et aequitatem Iustitiam appellatam; neque illo tempore ab hominibus exteras nationes bello lacessitas esse, neque nauigio quemquam usum, sed agris colendis uitam agere consuesse. sed post eorum obitum qui sint nati, eos minus officiosos, magis auaros coepisse fieri; quare minus Iustitiam inter homines fuisse conuersatam. denique causam peruenisse usque eo, dum diceretur aeneum genus hominum natum. itaque iam non potuisse pati amplius et ad sidera euolasse. sed hanc alii Fortunam, alii Cererem dixerunt, et hoc magis non conuenit inter eos, quod caput eius nimium obscurum uidetur. nonnulli eam Erigonen Icari filiam dixerunt, de qua supra diximus. alii autem Apollinis filiam ex Chrysothemi natam, et infantem Parthenon nomine appellatam; eamque, quod parua interierit, ab Apolline inter sidera collocatam.
XXV. The Virgin
Hesiod says that she is the daughter of Zeus and Themis; Aratus, however, that she is thought to be the daughter of Astraeus and Aurora (Eos), who lived at the same time as the golden generations of men, and he shows that she was their leader. Because of her diligence and fairness she was called Justice (Iustitia); and in that time foreign nations were not provoked to war by men, nor did anyone use a ship, but they were accustomed to pass their lives tilling the fields. But after the death of those who had been born, those born afterwards began to become less dutiful and more greedy; so Justice was less at home among men. At last the cause reached the point at which it was said that a bronze race of men had been born. And so she could no longer endure it and flew away to the stars. But some have called her Fortune, others Demeter, and they disagree about this all the more because her head looks very dim. Some have called her Erigone, Icarus's daughter, of whom we spoke above. Others, however, say that she was Apollo's daughter, born of Chrysothemis, and as an infant was named Parthenos (Maiden); and that, because she died young, she was set among the stars by Apollo.
XXVI. SCORPIUS.
Hic propter magnitudinem membrorum in duo signa diuiditur, quorum unius effigiem nostri Libram dixerunt. sed omnino totum signum hac de causa statutum existimatur: quod Orion cum uenaretur, et in eo exercitatissimum se esse confideret, dixisse etiam Dianae et Latonae se omnia, quae ex terra oriantur, interficere ualere. quare Terram permotam, Scorpionem misisse, qui eum interficere monstratur. Iouem autem utriusque animum admiratum, Scorpionem inter astra conlocasse, ut species eius hominibus documento esset, ne quis eorum aliqua re sibi confideret. Dianam autem propter studium Orionis petisse ab loue, ut idem illi beneficium daret petenti, quod Terrae ultro tribuisset. itaque eum ita constitutum, ut, cum Scorpius exoriatur, occidat Orion.
XXVI. The Scorpion
On account of the size of its limbs this is divided into two signs, one of whose figure our people called the Balance (Libra). But the whole sign is thought to have been established for this reason: that Orion, when hunting, and confident that he was most skilled in it, said also to Artemis and Leto that he was able to kill all things that arise from the earth. So Earth, provoked, sent the Scorpion, which is shown to have killed him. Zeus, admiring the minds of both, set the Scorpion among the stars, so that its shape might be a warning to men that none of them should be confident in anything of his own. Artemis, however, because of her fondness for Orion, asked Zeus to grant him the same favour, which he had freely granted to Earth. And so it was arranged that when the Scorpion rises, Orion sets.
XXVII. SAGITTARIUS.
Hunc complures Centaurum esse dixerunt; alii autem hac de causa negauerunt, quod nemo Centaurus sagittis sit usus. hic autem quaeritur, cur equinis cruribus hunc esse Crotum nomine, Euphemes Musarum nutricis filium. ut ait Sositheus tragoediarum scriptor, eum domicilium in monte Helicone habuisse et cum Musis solitum delectari, non numquam etiam studio uenationis exerceri. itaque pro merita diligentia magnam laudem assecutum; nam et celerrimum in siluis et acutissimum in musis factum esse. pro quo studio illius petisse Musas ab Ioue, ut in aliquo astrorum numero eum deformaret. itaque Iouem fecisse; et cum omnia illius artificia uno corpore uellet significare, crura eius equina fecisse, quod equo multum sit usus; et sagittas adiunxisse, ut ex his et acumen et celeritas eius uideretur. caudam satyricam in corpore fixisse, quod iam non minus hoc Croto Musae, quam Liber Satyris sit delectatus. ante huius pedes stellae sunt paucae et in rotundo deformatae, quas coronam eius ut ludentis abiectam nonnulli dixerunt.
XXVII. The Archer
Very many have said that this is a Centaur; others have denied it for this reason, that no Centaur used arrows. Here, moreover, it is asked why he has horse's legs [?]; [some say] that this is Crotus by name, son of Euphemê, the nurse of the Muses [?]. As Sositheus the writer of tragedies says, he had his dwelling on Mount Helicon and was accustomed to take delight with the Muses, and sometimes also to practise the hunt. And so, by his due diligence, he won great praise; for he became the swiftest in the woods and the keenest in the Muses' arts. For this zeal of his the Muses asked Zeus that he give him form in some number of the stars. And so Zeus did; and, wishing to signify all his skills in one body, he gave him horse's legs, because he had made much use of the horse; and added arrows, so that from them both his keenness and his swiftness might be seen; he fixed a satyr's tail on the body, because the Muses were by now no less delighted in this Crotus than Dionysus in the Satyrs. Before his feet there are a few stars formed in a circle, which some have said is his crown, thrown down like that of one at play.
XXVIII. CAPRICORNUS.
Huius effigies similis est Aegipani. quem Iuppiter, quod cum eo erat nutritus, in sideribus esse uoluit, ut capram nutricem, de qua ante diximus. hic etiam dicitur, cum Iuppiter Titanas obpugnaret, primus obiecisse hostibus timorem, qui πανικόν appellatur, ut ait Eratosthenes. hac etiam de causa eius inferiorem partem piscis esse formationem, et quod muricibus hostes sit iaculatus pro lapidum iactatione. Aegyptii autem sacerdotes et nonnulli poetae dicunt, cum complures dii in Aegyptum conuenissent, repente peruenisse eodem Typhona, acerrimum giganta et maxime deorum hostem. quo timore permotos in alias figuras se conuertisse; Mercurium factum esse ibim, Apollinem autem, quae Threicia auis uocatur, Dianam aeluro similatam. quibus de causis Aegyptios ea genera uiolari non sinere demonstrant, quod deorum imagines dicantur. eodem tempore Pana dicunt in flumen se deiecisse et posteriorem partem corporis effigiem piscis, alteram autem hirci fecisse et ita a Typhone profugisse. cuius cogitatum Iouem admiratum, inter sidera effigiem eius fixisse.
XXVIII. Capricorn
His figure is like Aegipan, whom Zeus, because he had been nursed with him, wished to be among the stars, like the she-goat, the nurse, of whom we spoke before. He is also said, when Zeus was attacking the Titans, to have been the first to cast on the enemy the fear that is called πανικόν (panic), as Eratosthenes says. For this reason too his lower part is the shape of a fish, and because he hurled murex shells at the enemy in place of stones. The Egyptian priests, however, and some poets say that when very many gods had assembled in Egypt, Typhon, a most fierce giant and the chief enemy of the gods, suddenly arrived at the same place. Moved by fear of him, they changed themselves into other shapes: Hermes became an ibis, Apollo [a bird] — the one that is called the Thracian bird [?] —, Artemis was made like a cat. For which reasons they show that the Egyptians do not allow those kinds to be harmed, because they are said to be images of gods. At the same time, they say, Pan threw himself into the river and made the hind part of his body the shape of a fish and the other part that of a goat, and so fled from Typhon. Zeus, admiring his device, fixed his figure among the stars.
XXIX. AQUARIUS.
Hunc conplures Ganymedem esse dixerunt, quem Iuppiter propter pulchritudinem corporis ereptum parentibus, deorum ministrum fecisse existimatur. itaque ostenditur ut aquam aquali infundens. Hegesianax autem Deucaliona dicit esse, quod eo regnante tanta uis aquae se e caelo profuderit, ut cataclysmus factus esse diceretur. Eubulus autem Cecropem demonstrat esse, antiquitatem generis commemorans et ostendens, antequam uinum traditum sit hominibus, aqua in sacrificiis; deorum usos esse, et ante Cecropem regnasse quam uinum sit inuentum.
XXIX. Aquarius (the Water-bearer)
Very many have said that this is Ganymede, whom Zeus, snatching him from his parents on account of the beauty of his body, is thought to have made servant of the gods. And so he is shown as pouring water in from a water-jar. Hegesianax, however, says that he is Deucalion, because in his reign such a force of water poured from the sky that a flood was said to have occurred. Eubulus shows that he is Cecrops, recalling the antiquity of the rite and showing that before wine was given to men the gods used water in sacrifices, and that Cecrops reigned before wine was discovered.
XXX. PISCES.
Diognetus Erythraeus ait quodam tempore Uenerem cum Cupidine filio in Syriam ad flumen Euphraten uenisse. eodem loco repente Typhona, de quo supra diximus, apparuisse; Uenerem autem cum filio in flumen se proiecisse et ibi figuram piscium forma mutasse: quo facto, periculo esse liberatos. itaque postea Syros, qui in his locis sunt proximi, destitisse pisces edere, quod uereantur eos capere, ne simili causa aut deorum praesidia inpugnare uideantur, aut eos ipsos captare. Eratosthenes autem ex eo pisce natos hos dicit, de quo posterius dicemus.
XXX. The Fishes
Diognetus of Erythrae says that at a certain time Aphrodite with her son Eros came to Syria, to the river Euphrates. At the same place Typhon, of whom we spoke above, suddenly appeared; Aphrodite with her son threw themselves into the river, and there changed their form into the shape of fishes: by this they were freed from the danger. And so the Syrians who live nearest those places afterwards stopped eating fish, because they fear to catch them, lest on like grounds they should seem either to attack the protection of the gods or to snare the gods themselves. Eratosthenes, however, says that these were born from that fish, of which we shall speak later.
XXXI. CETUS.
De hoc dicitur quod a Neptuno sit missus, ut Andromedam interficeret, de qua ante diximus; sed quod a Perseo sit interfectus, propter inmanitatem corporis et illius uirtutem inter sidera conlocatum.
XXXI. The Whale
Of this it is said that it was sent by Poseidon to kill Andromeda, of whom we spoke before; but because it was killed by Perseus, on account of the monstrous size of its body and his valour it was set among the stars.
XXXII. ERIDANUS.
Hunc alii Nilum, complures etiam Oceanum esse dixerunt. qui autem Nilum uolunt uocari, propter magnitudinem eius et utilitatem aequissimum esse demonstrant, praeterea quod infra hunc quaedam stella sit, clarius ceteris lucens, nomine Canopos appellata. Canopos autem insula flumine adluitur Nilo.
XXXII. Eridanus
Some have said that this is the Nile, very many that it is Ocean. Those who want it called the Nile show that this is most fitting on account of its size and usefulness, and moreover because beneath it there is a certain star, shining brighter than the rest, named Canopus. The island of Canopus, moreover, is washed by the river Nile.
XXXIII. LEPUS.
Hic dicitur Orionis canem fugere uenantis. nam cum, ut oportebat, eum uenatorem finxissent, uoluerunt etiam significare aliqua de causa; itaque leporem ad pedes eius fugientem finxerunt. quem nonnulli a Mercurio constitutum dixerunt, eique datum esse praeter cetera genera quadrupedum, ut alios pareret, alios haberet in uentre. qui autem ab hac causa dissentiunt, negant tam nobilem et tam magnam uenatorem, de quo et ante in Scorpionis signo diximus, oportere fingi leporem uenari. Callimachum quoque accusari, quod cum Dianae scriberet laudes, eam leporum sanguine gaudere et eos uenari dixisset. itaque Oriona cum Tauro decertantem fecerunt
XXXIII. The Hare
This is said to be fleeing from Orion's dog as he hunts. For when they had shaped him, as was fitting, as a hunter, they wished also to signify something with a reason; and so they shaped a hare fleeing at his feet. Some have said that it was set there by Hermes, and that it was given, beyond the other kinds of four-footed creatures, to bear some young while it carries others in the womb. Those who dissent from this reason deny that so noble and so great a hunter, of whom we also spoke before at the sign of the Scorpion, ought to be shown hunting a hare; and that Callimachus too is blamed because, when writing the praises of Artemis, he said that she delighted in the blood of hares and hunted them. And so they made Orion as contending with the Bull.
Leporis autem hanc historiam memoriae prodiderunt. apud antiquos in insula Lero nullum leporem fuisse, sed ex eorum ciuitate adolescentium quendam, studio generis inductum, ab exteris finibus leporem feminam praegnantem attulisse et eius partum diligentissime ministrasse. itaque cum peperisset, compluribus eius ciuitatis studium incidisse et partim pretio, partim beneficio mercatos omnes lepores alere coepisse. ita non longo interuallo tantam multitudinem leporum procreatam, ut tota insula ab his occupata diceretur. quibus cum ab hominibus nihil daretur, in semina eorum impetu facto omnia comederunt. quo facto incolae calamitate adfecti, cum fame forent oppressi, communi consilio totius ciuitatis uix denique eos ex insula abegisse dicuntur. itaque postea leporis figuram in astris constituisse, ut homines meminissent nil esse tam exoptandum in uita, quin ex eo plus doloris quam laetitiae capere posterius cogerentur.
Of the Hare, however, they have handed down this story. Among the ancients on the island of Leros there was no hare, but a certain young man of their city, led on by a liking for the breed, brought a pregnant female hare from foreign parts and tended her delivery most carefully. And so, when she had given birth, a zeal took hold of very many in that city, and, buying them, partly at a price, partly by favour, they all began to rear hares. So, within no long interval, so great a multitude of hares was produced that the whole island was said to be overrun by them. When nothing was given to them by men, they attacked the seed-corn and ate everything. Because of this the inhabitants, afflicted by the calamity, since they were oppressed by famine, are said at last, with difficulty, by common counsel of the whole city, to have driven them from the island. And so afterwards they set the figure of a hare among the stars, so that men might remember that nothing in life is so much to be desired that they would not afterwards be forced to take more sorrow than joy from it.
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