Myths Told in the Northern Sky

The entry records Cepheus as king of Aethiopia, husband of Cassiopeia and father of Andromeda, placed near the pole beside his queen. It counts him as part of the royal cycle of Perseus, Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Cepheus and Cetus, which is why the path opens with him.

In the tradition summarized here, Cassiopeia boasted that her beauty surpassed the sea-nymphs, which brought the monster Cetus upon her land. As the story goes she was set in the sky to turn around the pole, at times hanging head downward. The entry notes the W or M shape of her stars.

The entry tells that Andromeda, daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to Cetus and rescued by Perseus, who took her as his bride. It also records that she shares the star Alpheratz with Pegasus.

The sea monster of the same story. The entry says Poseidon sent Cetus to devour Andromeda and that Perseus slew it in the royal family cycle. It also records the variable star Mira within the figure.

According to the myth recorded here, Pegasus sprang from the blood of the slain Medusa and, tamed by Bellerophon, struck the spring of the Muses from Mount Helicon with his hoof. The entry places the Great Square of Pegasus in the autumn sky.

The entry identifies the Great Bear with Callisto, a nymph loved by Zeus and turned into a bear by jealous Hera, then set among the stars. Its seven bright stars form the Plow or Big Dipper, whose Pointers Dubhe and Merak lead the eye to the Pole Star.

The Little Bear is often identified as Arcas, son of Callisto, set in the sky beside his mother, or as the nymph Cynosura who nursed the infant Zeus. The entry records Polaris at the tip of its tail, by which sailors have steered.

The entry records two identifications of the Charioteer in the tradition: Erichthonius of Athens, the lame son of Hephaestus said to have invented the four-horse chariot, or the wagoner Myrtilus. Its leading star is Capella, the little she-goat.

In the myth recorded here, Lyra is the lyre of Orpheus, whose playing charmed all nature and who descended to the underworld to reclaim Eurydice; after his death the instrument was set in the heavens. Its star Vega is a corner of the Summer Triangle.

The entry gives two stories for the Swan: Zeus in the guise of a swan, or the loyal Cycnus who mourned Phaethon and was transformed. Its tail star Deneb is a corner of the Summer Triangle and the figure forms the Northern Cross.

The entry identifies the Eagle as the eagle of Zeus that bore his thunderbolts and carried off the youth Ganymede to be cupbearer of the gods. Its star Altair is the third corner of the Summer Triangle.

The path ends with a small figure and two stories the entry records: the dolphin sent by Poseidon to win the sea-nymph Amphitrite, or the dolphin that rescued the poet Arion from drowning and carried him safe to shore.