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 Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 8:56 pm
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 9:04 pm
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 9:05 pm
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All Lessons have been made from Dome of the Sky
Note to all Astronomy Levels:
Please use your Previous Lessons to answer these questions.
Astronomy One Final Final
(Questions: Worth One Point Each)
1. How many constellations are there in the North Polar Constellations?
2. What is another name for the constellation which is know as “The Giraffe”?
3. Cassiopeia is also known as___?
4. Queen Cassiopeia was married to who?
5. What was Cassiopeia’s daughters name?
6. Who were Nereus’s daughters?
7. Who saved Andromeda?
8. King Cepheus was the King of what land?
9. Who was Zeus’s mother?
10. What did King Cepheus do to appease the anger of the god, Poseidon?
11. Who was Andromeda already promised for marriage to who before she was rescued?
12. The cosmic war was won by whom?
13. As a wedding present, what did Hera receive from marring Zeus?
14. At first, who did Hera let protect her present?
15. What happened in the Eleventh Labor?
16. Who was Callisto’s father?
17. Artemis is the Goddess of what?
18. What was Hera’s ultimate revenge on Callisto?
19. In one of the two stories of how Ursa Major ( Also know as The Big Dipper or The Great
Bear ) and Ursa Minor ( Also known as The Little Dipper or The Little Bear) came to be, who
was nymph that became Ursa Major?
20. Now write on a scroll two lines (two sentences) about if you like this class or things you do
not like about it, or comment on something you feel should change.
( Be Honest!)
Astronomy Two Final Finals
Questions: Worth One Point Each
1. Who are the Nereids?
2. What did the Nereidsthink the queen was?
3. Andromeda was chained to a rock on the Mediterranean shore at where?
4. Ganymede is usually protrayed as pouring water from his jaw into the mouth of who?
5. Who is King Tros’s son?
6-7. Who are the two Gods or Goddess who took Ganymede?
8. What animal is the Royal Bird?
9. After King Athamas’s wife died who did he take as his second wife?
10. What did she developed a complex for?
11. Nephele bade the gods to send down a what to help her children?
12. What was the name of the golden ram?
13. Phrixus held on and was carried into land of ?
14. Where did King Aeetes hang the golden fleece?
15. What was the fleece was guarded by? (Name Both)
16. Grus was created by the Dutch navigators ___ & ___.
17. Hermes was the God of what?
18. After drinking from The Horse’s Fountain, Hippocrene said that drinking its water conferred
on one the gift of what?
19. Ever since the figure of the Flying Horse has become a symbol of the poetry and what?
20. In the end, who claimed the Flying Horse?
Astronomy Three Final Finals
Questions:
(Each Q&A is Worth One Point)
1. Who were Perseus’ parents?
2. Why did the King lock up Danae?
3. Who desired Danae?
4. How did he appear to her?
5. Who adopted Perseus ?
6. Who was King Polydectes to marry?
7. Who saved Andromeda?
8. The Phoenix represents what?
9. The Southern Fish is sometimes seen as the parent of ?
10. To the Greeks who did the two fish in Pisces represent?
11. Where does the Story of Pisces derive from?
12. Deltoton, represents what letter of the Greek alphabet?
13. Who is the Chief God to the Romans?
14. What was Erichthonius know for?
15. Who raised Erichthonius?
16. Who saved King Minos' daughter Ariadne?
17. Myrtilus, is the son of who?
18. What is the Chariot Driver shown holding?
19. Is there any explanation as to how a goat became associated with the Chariot Driver?
20. Why did Zeus intervene between Laelaps and the fox? |
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 9:07 pm
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Astronomy One Lesson One
There are six Constellations in the North Polar Constellation. Those Constellations are as follows: Camelopardus, Cassiopeia, Cepheus, Draco, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor. This lesson will teach you of two.
Camelopardus
The Giraffe
Origin of the Constellation
Camelopardus is a modern constellation. According to Ian Ridpath, it was invented by the Dutch theologian and astronomer Petrus Plancius. Both Ridpath and Julius D. W. Staal state that the German astronomer Jakob Bartsch included the constellation on a star map in 1614 (Ridpath) or 1624 (Staal).
The constellation contains no stars brighter than fourth magnitude. There is no classical mythology associated with it.
Cassiopeia
The Queen or The Lady in the Chair
The Brighter Stars of Cassiopeia are Caph and Schedar.
The Story
The Vanity of Cassiopeia
Queen Cassiopeia is the lovely, but vain queen and wife to King Cepheus of Ethiopia. Cassiopeia had the presumption to claim that she was even more lovely than the exquisite Nereids, the fifty sea nymphs who were the daughters of the gentle god Nereus, known as the Old Man of the Sea.
The Nereids' Revenge
Now the Nereid Amphitrite was the wife of Poseidon the God of the Sea. The Nereids begged Poseidon to punish the pride of Cassiopeia. This he did by sending the monster Cetus to ravage Ethiopia. To appease the god, King Cepheus had to offer his daughter Andromeda as a sacrifice to the monster, but the hero Perseus was able to slay the monster before it attacked Andromeda.
The Upside-down Queen
As an added punishment Cassiopeia was placed in the sky to revolve around the celestial pole forever, sometimes hanging upside down in undignified positions.
Astronomy Two Lesson One
Andromeda
The Chained Lady or The Princess
The Brighter Stars of Andromeda
The Brighter Stars of Andromeda are Almach, Alpheratz, and Mirach.
The Story
The Hubris of Cassiopeia
Andromeda was the daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia of Ethiopia. Her mother Queen Cassiopeia was an exceedingly vain lady who dared to boast that she was more beautiful than even the Nereids, a group of fifty sea nymphs of exquisite beauty. The Nereids were so affronted at the presumption of the vain queen that they begged Poseidon to punish her.
The Punishment by Poseidon
In response to the pleas of the Nereids, Poseidon sent the sea monster Cetus to ravage Ethiopia. When King Cepheus asked the Oracle at Ammon what he must do to appease the anger of the god, he was told that he must sacrifice his beautiful virgin daughter to the sea monster. So he chained Andromeda to a rock on the Mediterranean shore at Jaffa (the present-day city of Tel Aviv) to await the approach of the monster.
How Her Life Was Saved
The story has a happy ending though, because the life of Andromeda was saved by the heroPerseus who slew the monster and claimed the hand of Andromeda in marriage.
Aquarius
The Water Carrier
The Brighter Stars of Aquarius
The Brighter star of Aquarius is Sadalmelik.
The Story
The Waiter on Olympus
The Water Carrier is the cup bearer to the gods living atop Mount Olympus. His name is Ganymede. He is usually protrayed as pouring water from his jar into the mouth of the Southern Fish, Piscis Austrinis.
Abduction of a Child
Ganymede was the son of King Tros, after whom the city of Troy was named. The story of Ganymede is rather horrifying if you bother to think about it; what it concerns is the abduction of a child from his parents.
Ganymede was abducted one day while he was keeping watch over a herd of his father's sheep. In one story it was Eos, the Goddess of the Dawn, who abducted the boy. She had a passion for young men. Then Zeus noted the beauty of the boy and stole him away from Eos.
The Eagle Steals the Boy
In the more common version of the story it was Zeus himself that was taken with the beauty of the shepherd boy and sent his eagle down to steal away the boy in its claws. Some say that the eagle was Zeus himself, who had transformed into the shape of the royal bird. The boy was carried off to the top of Mount Olympus to become the serving boy to the gods, pouring out from his jar the mixture of water and nectar quaffed by the gods in their revels.
Out of Egypt?
Ridpath cites Robert Graves to suggest that the figure of Aquarius originated in Egypt, with the figure representing the God of the Nile. Probably then the stream of water pouring forth from the jar would represent the Nile River itself.
Astronomy Three Lesson One
Perseus
The Hero
The Story
The Brighter Stars of Perseus are Algol and Mirfak.
The King Wants No Grandkids!
Pereus was a son of Zeus by Danae, the daughter of King Acrisius of Argos. The king locked poor Danae away in a dungeon where no man could see her, because an oracle had foretold that King Acrisius would die by the hand of his grandson. What better way to forestall the prophecy than by ensuring that his daughter had no children at all? But the king's precautions were defeated by the actions of the gods.
The Shower of Gold
Zeus looked down from Olympus and saw Danae languishing in her dungeon and desired her. He approached her in the form of a shower of golden rain that fell through the bars of the dungeon into Danae's lap. She became pregnant and bore Zeus' son Perseus.
A Fisherman Receives a Gift from the Sea
Acrisius was furious and locked both the boy and the mother into a chest which he had tossed into the sea. After a few days the chest washed ashore in a different land, where it was discovered by a fisherman named Dictys, who broke open the chest to discover the mother and child. Dictys adopted the boy and raised him as his own child.
Perseus Gets in the Way
As it happened, Dictys was the brother of the king of that land, King Polydectes. After many years, Polydectes met Danae and desired her, but Perseus, now grown, stood in the way of the king. The frustrated king invented a plot to get rid of Perseus.
An Impossible Task
It was announced that the king was to marry Hippodameia, the daughter of King Oenomaus of Elis. The subjects of King Polydectes were asked to contribute to the collection of a herd of horses, to be presented as a wedding present. Polydectes knew that Perseus had neither horse nor money to give. That was the point. The King insisted that Perseus make another contribution; he was sent to fetch the head of the Gorgon Medusa. Polydectes was certain that the young Perseus would never return and the way would be open to have the mother Danae.
Introducing the Gorgons
The Gorgons were three sisters of such unbelievable ugliness that anyone who dared to look directly at one of them, was immediately turned into stone. Two of the sisters, Euryale and Stheno, were immortal, but the third, Medusa, could be slain. She had been in fact at one time a mortal woman of great beauty. She had been particularly vain of her hair. Poiseidon seduced her inside a Temple of Athena, outraging the goddess Athena. So Athena caused Medusa to be changed into the ugly form of the other Gorgons, and Medusa's hair was changed into a mass of squirming snakes.
Turning Enemies to Stone
Polydectes the king could not imagine that Perseus would survive the encounter with Medusa, but if Perseus succeeded, the head of Medusa would be a powerful weapon. Anyone who gazed on the head would be turned to stone.
Help From the Gods
Perseus had powerful allies among the gods. Hades, the God of the Underworld, offered Perseus a magic helmet that made the wearer invisible. Hermes the Messenger God offered winged sandals that allowed the wearer to fly through the air with great speed. Hephaestus the God of Fire and the Forge created a sword made of diamond, and Athena offered a highly polished bronze shield, with the advice that Perseus should look at the Gorgon only in the metal of the shield. The metal of the shield would reduce the power of the Gorgon's visage, so that Perseus could safely view the image of the Gorgon without being turned to stone.
Defeating the Gorgon
Perseus fought the Gorgon and secured her head. From the body of the Gorgon emerged the Flying Horse Pegasus and the warrior Chrysaor bearing a golden sword. After the battle Perseus flew through the air across Africa carrying the Gorgon's head. Where blood from the head fell on the sands of Libya, serpents emerged from the ground. When Perseus halted for a rest in the kingdom of Atlas, the king received him with hostility. So Perseus showed the king the severed head of Medusa. Atlas the king was turned to stone. This is the origin of the Atlas Mountains of North Africa.
Finding a Wife
Perseus in his flight saw Andromeda, the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, chained to her rock on the Mediterranean coast. King Cepheus had been forced to chain her there as a sacrifice to appease the anger of the Sea God Poseidon at the vanity and overweening pride of Queen Cassiopeia. Perseus slew the approaching sea monster that was to devour Andromeda. Then he carried Andromeda back to her home in Ethiopia and claimed her hand in marriage.
The Court of Stone
When Perseus got back to King Polydectes, who had sent him on his mission, the king did not receive him well. Perseus revealed the head of Medusa so that Polydectes and his court were turned to stone.
A Prophecy Fulfilled
After all of Perseus' adventures the prophecy made to King Acrisius ultimately proved true. The king happened to be present at an athletic contest in which Perseus was taking part. A discus hurled by Perseus went astray, soaring into a crowd of spectators. It struck King Acrisius in the head, and he died as a result of the injury
Astronomy One Lesson Two
Cepheus
The King
The Brighter Star of Cepheus is Alderamin.
The Story
The Kingdom of Ethiopia
King Cepheus was the King of Ethiopia, which in Greek myth, according to Ridpath, was conceived to be a country stretching from Palestine down to the shores of the Red Sea and included parts of present-day Israel, Jordan and Egypt.
The Vanity of Cassiopeia
Cepheus was descended from Zeus, and the offspring that resulted from Zeus' liason with Io. Cepheus wife Cassiopeia was very beautiful, but very vain as well. She had the presumption to compare her beauty with that of the Nereid sea nymphs. Poseidon punished her pride by sending the sea monster Cetus to ravage Ethiopia.
Sacrificing the Maiden
Cepheus sent to the Oracle at Ammon to learn what he must do to appease the anger of the god. He was told that he must offer his virgin daughter Andromeda as a human sacrifice. She was to be chained to a rock on the Mediterranean Coast and left for the monster to devour.
Perseus Saves the Day
Cepheus did as he was told, but the hero Perseus showed up. He slew the monster and released Andromeda from her chains. Perseus claimed Andromeda's hand in marriage. King Cepheus was agreeable, but there was a problem. Cepheus had already promised Andromeda to his brother Phineus.
The Bloody Engagement Dinner
Phineus showed up with numerous followers at the engagement banquet for Andromeda and Perseus. So Perseus had to prove his heroism once more by battling for the right to marry his betrothed. The banquet turned into a bloody battle royal, where Perseus slaughtered Phineas and all of his followers.
Astronomy Two Lesson Two
Aries
The Ram
The Brighter Stars of Aries
The Brighter star of Aries is Hamel.
The Story
Jason and the Golden Fleece
Aries is connected with one of the great epics of Greek myth, the story of Jason and the Quest for the Golden Fleece. The story begins with the unhappy children of a broken family.
The Wicked Stepmother
The boy Phrixus and his sister Helle were the children of King Athamas of Boeotia and his wife Nephele. But the unhappy marriage of Athamas and Nephele was dissolved by the death of Nephele and Athamas took as his second wife the daughter of King Cadmus of Thebes, a woman named Ino. And of course, Ino couldn't stand the children. She developed a complex plot to get rid of them.
The Plot to Kill the Children
The first thing that she did was to spread disease among the crops in the land of Boeotia so that the crops would fail and there would be no harvest. When the king sent to the great oracle at Delphi to ask of the gods the reason for the failure, Ino bribed the messengers to bring back the answer that the children should be sacrificed to save the crops. Thanks to Ino's bribery, when the king hesitated to make the sacrifice, the local priests insisted that the children must be sacrificed.
Saved by a Ram
Athamas took the children to the top of a nearby mountain to make the sacrifice, but their mother, Nephele, was watching from heaven. She bade the gods to send down a golden ram from heaven to carry the children to safety. This is the ram of Aries.
Poor Little Girl!
At last moment before the sacrifice, the ram arrived. Phrixus and Helle sprang onto its back, as the ram carried them high into the air and carried them off towards Asia. As the ram flew towards the Black Sea, Helle lost her grip and fell off into the channel connecting the Black and Mediterranean Seas. This channel, known as the Dardanelles was named the Hellespont by the Greeks, in honor of the young Helle.
The Fabulous Fleece
Phrixus held on and was carried into land of Colchis among the Caucausus Mountains, which is an area now occupied by the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. The grateful Phrixus sacrificed the ram to Zeus and presented the golden fleece to the ruler of the land, the much-feared King Aeetes of Colchis, who in return conferred upon Phrixus the hand of his daughter in marriage. King Aeetes hung the golden fleece on an oak tree in the middle of a sacred wood. Thereafter the fleece was guarded by a huge dragon or serpent, which encircled the tree and never slept.
Jason Gets Into the Story
Jason, who led the Argonauts to Asia in the quest for the golden fleece, was the rightful heir to the kingdom of Iolcus in Thessaly. But his throne was usurped by Pelias, the cousin of Phrixus.
Getting Rid of an Inconvenient Jason
Pelias had the throne and the power, but he knew that Jason was the legitimate king. Jason did not have the power to overthrow Pelias, but Pelias could never be safe while Jason was around. Nor did Pelias have a good excuse to kill Jason. So Pelias challenged Jason with an apparently impossible task; he promised Jason that he would yield the throne, if Jason brought back the golden fleece from Colchis in Asia.
The Good Ship Argo
And so began the voyage of Jason and the fifty Argonauts. Not only the Ram itself, but also Jason's ship, the Argo, is in the sky. In ancient times, the ship was seen as a sincle immense constellation in the southern hemisphere known as Argo Navis, the Ship Argo. In modern times, this constellation has been broken up into three separate southern hemisphere constellations, Carina - the Keel, Puppis - the Stern, and Vela - the Sail. In addition, some of the stars in the region of Argo Navis have been collected to form the modern constellation ofColumba, the Dove.
Astronomy Three Lesson Two
Phoenix
The Phoenix
The Story
The Brighter Stars of Phoenix is Ankaa.
Origin of the Constellation
Phoenix was created by the Dutch navigators Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman, who charted the southern skies in 1595 - 1597. There is no classical mythology associated with this particular group of stars, although the concept of the phoenix is part of classical mythology.
The Phoenix represents the mythical bird that expires in fire only to be reborn again from the ashes of its previous existence.
Piscis Austrinus
The Southern Fish
The Story
The Brighter Stars of Piscis Austrinus
is Fomalhaut.
Origin of the Constellation
There is little classical mythology associated with the Southern Fish. According to Ridpath, the fish is associated with the Syrian Fertility Goddess Atagartis, who fell into a lake near the Euphrates River and was saved by a large fish.
The Southern Fish is always shown with its mouth open drinking the water pouring from the jar of Aquarius. According to Staal, the fish is often seen as a sign of salvation in the legends of a great deluge. The fish drinks the waters of the flood to save the world.
The Southern Fish is sometimes seen as the parent of the two fish of Pisces.
Astronomy One Lesson Three
Draco
The Dragon
The Brighter Stars of Draco are Eltanin and Thuban.
The Story
The Monstrous Dragon of the Cosmic War
There are at least two stories about the Dragon. According to one the Dragon was one of the monsters fighting with the Titans, the elder gods, in the cosmic war in which the younger Olympian gods overturned their elders to take command of the universe. Towards the end of that war, the goddess Athena was confronted by the Dragon. She grabbed it by the tail and with a mighty hurled it into the sky. The Dragon was spinning in chaotic flight. It struck the dome of heaven and became twisted up in knots by the rotation of the sky. Because the Dragon struck the sky in the cold regions near the north celestial pole, it froze in place before it untwist the knots in body. And so we see it twisted up in the sky to this day.
The Dragon Ladon
In another story the Dragon is the dragon Ladon which guarded the legendary tree on which grew the beautiful apples of gold. The tree belonged to the goddess Hera, the spouse of Zeus. She had received it as a wedding present on the occasion of her marriage to the chief of all the gods.
Guardian of the Tree
Hera planted the tree on the slopes of Mount Atlas and set the Hesperides to guard it. The Hesperides were the three daughters of the Titan Atlas. They were irresponsible girls who persisted in stealing the apples from the tree for themselves. So Hera set dragon Ladon to guard the tree.
Hercules Kills the Dragon
It was the hero Hercules who killed the Dragon. The Eleventh Labor of Hercules was to steal the apples from the golden tree. Hercules killed the Dragon with arrows poisoned with the blood of the Hydra, and with the aid of Atlas, made off with the apples from the tree. After the loss of the apples, Hera placed the Dragon into the sky as the constellation of Draco.
Lesson Four
Ursa Major
The Big Dipper or The Great Bear
The Brighter Stars of Ursa Major are Alcor, Alioth, Alkaid, Dubhe, Megrez, Merak, Mizar, and Phecda.
The Story
The Bear and Zeus
The Great Bear according to one story is connected with the birth of Zeus along with the Lesser Bear Ursa Minor. According to this story the Great Bear is the tree nymph Adrasteia.
The Princess Callisto
According to another story the Great Bear represents one of the many loves of Zeus, Callisto, the daughter of King Lacaon of Arcadia. Callisto was fond of hunting and joined the retinue of the Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt. Callisto became a favorite of Artemis, to whom she swore a vow of chastity.
A Divine Seduction
On a visit to the earth, Zeus happened upon the lovely Callisto sleeping in a forest grove. Zeus approached her wearing the guise of Artemis. As he embraced her he revealed himself and had his way in spite of the struggles of the girl. As a result of this encounter, Callisto became pregnant. Artemis was furious at this and banished the girl.
Hera's Revenge
Callisto bore a son, who was named Arcas. Poor Callisto became the target of the wrath of the jealous Hera, the spouse of Zeus. Hera changed the poor girl into a bear.
Arcas Chases the Bear
For fifteen years poor Callisto wandered through the woods in the form of a bear. Now the huntress Callisto was herself the prey pursued by the hunters. Eventually she encountered her son, now grown to the point that he himself could pursue game through the woods. Arcas would have speared the bear, but Zeus intervened by sending down a whirlwind that bore Arcas and the bear into the heavens, where Callisto became the constellation of Ursa Major and Arcas the constellation of Boötes.
Forbidding the Waters to the Bear
Hera had the last of her revenge by arranging that the bear in the sky should never bathe in the cool northern waters. So the bear never sets, at least when seen from the latitudes at which the Greek story tellers lived.
Astronomy Two Lesson Three
Grus
The Crane
The Brighter Star of Grus is Alnair.
Origin of the Constellation
Grus was created by the Dutch navigators Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman, who charted the southern skies in 1595 - 1597. There is no classical mythology associated with this constellation. The association with a Crane is a modern invention. Maybe though it is worth mentioning that in classical times, cranes were seen as being sacred to Hermes, the divine messenger of the gods.
Lacerta
The Lizard
Origin of the Constellation
Lacerta is a modern constellation created by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1687. There is no classical mythology associated with the constellation. Its brightest stars are of third magnitude.
Lesson Four
Pegasus
The Winged Horse or The Flying Horse
The Brighter Stars of Pegasus are Algenib, Enif, Markab, and Scheat.
The Story
The Birth of the Horse
The Flying Horse was born when the hero Perseus slew the Gorgon Medusa and cut off her head. Some say that the Horse was born when the blood of Medusa's severed head fell into the foam of the sea. Others say that when Perseus cut off Medusa's head, that the Horse emerged from her body along with a warrior named Chrysaor who was born carrying a golden sword.
The Magical Horse
The Flying Horse Pegasus was a frolicsome and magic beast. After its birth Pegasus flew off to Mount Helicon in Boeotia, where the nine Muses lived. Upon striking the ground one of its hooves opened up a spring of gushing water. The spring became known as the Hippocrene, which in Greek means The Horse's Fountain. It was said of the Hippocrene that drinking its water conferred on one the gift of poetry. Ever since the figure of the Flying Horse has become a symbol of the poetry and the creative arts.
Bellerophon
It was the hero Bellerophon, son of Glaucus, King of Ephyra who claimed the Flying Horse as his steed. Bellerophon rode the horse in his battle against the Chimaera, a monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a snake.
You Can't Ride to Heaven - Even on a Flying Horse!
Bellerophon had many adventures riding the Flying Horse, but presumption brought him to an end. He proposed to ride up through the sky to join the gods on the top of Mount Olympus. Zeus was not amused. Some say that he sent a stinging fly to cause Pegasus to rear and throw Bellerophon off. Others say that Zeus unseated Bellerophon with a thunderbolt. But whatever the cause, Bellerophon got pitched off the back of the Horse and fell to earth.
Zeus Claims the Horse
It is said that the Horse continued on towards Olympus. For a while Zeus used the Horse to carry his thunderbolts. Then he placed the animal among the stars.
Astronomy Three Lesson Three
Pisces
The Fish (plural)
The Story
Aphrodite and Eros
The Fish represent Aphrodite and her son Eros (to the Romans, Venus and Amor, who was also known as Cupid). Aphrodite was the Goddess of Love and Eros was her son with Ares, the God of War, known as Mars to the Romans. Aphrodite represents love and Eros, desire.
Aphrodite and Eros
Like the figure of Capricornus, the figure of Pisces refers to battle with the monstrous Typhon in the ten year war whereby the younger gods overthrew the elder Titans. One day the gods were surprised by the approach of the monster. The goat god Pan shouted a warning and tried to change himself into a fish. Aphrodite took her little boy Eros and attempted to hide among the reeds on the banks of the Euphrates River.
Safety with the Fishes
In one version of the story two fish swam up to carry Aphrodite and her child to safety. In another version of the story, Aphrodite and Eros were changed into fish themselves and swam away to safety.
Fishes on a String
As they appear in the sky, the two fish are tied together by a cord. Some say that Aphrodite tied the little boy to her body so that he would not get lost as they swam away to safety.
A Mesopotamian Origin?
This constellation probably was originally derives from Mesopotamia. According to Ridpath the Babylonians originally had a constellation of two fish joined by a cord in this area of the sky.
Sculptor
The Sculptor
Origin of the Constellation
Sculptor is another one of the constellations invented by Abbe Nicholas Louis de Lacaille who mapped the stars of the southern hemisphere from the Cape of Good Hope in the years from 1751 to 1753.
De La Caille originally named the constellation "Apparatus Sculptoris". Now it is known just at Sculptor.
The constellation is quite dim. It contains a few stars as bright as magnitude 4.5. The rest are magnitude 5 and dimmer.
Lesson Four
Triangulum
The Triangle
The Triangle and the Nile
There is not a lot of mythology associated with The Triangle. The Greeks referred to the constellation as Deltoton, because of its similarity to a Greek capital letter "D", that is, a delta. So the constellation became associated with the Nile Delta and Egypt.
The Triangle and Sicily
Because of its shape, the constellation was also associated with the island of Sicily, which is generally triangular in shape with three well defined promontories on its coastline. The island, according to one story, was portrayed the sky at the wish of the goddess Ceres, who begged this favor from the chief of the Roman gods, Jupiter.
Auriga
The Charioteer
The Brighter Stars of Auriga are Capella & Menkalinan.
The Story
The Lame King
The Charioteer may be the legendary King Erichthonius of Athens. He was the son of Hephaestus, the God of Fire, whom the Romans called Vulcan. Like his father Erichthonius was lame.
Erichthonius was raised by Athene, the patron goddess of Athens, and from her acquired the skill of taming horses. It was he who first harnessed four horses to a chariot, in imitation of the Chariot of the Sun. For this he was honored by Zeus by being placed among the stars as the constellation of Auriga.
The Charioteer - A Bum Rap
Others say that The Charioteer represents Hippolytus, the son of the very same Theseus of Athens who sailed to Crete, ventured the Labyrinth with the help of King Minos' daughter Ariadne and killed the monstrous Minotaur. It is said that Hippolytus stepmother Phaedra lusted after the boy and killed herself in despair after he rejected her, but not before writing a note to her husband Theseus charging Hippolytus with rape.
Reading the note, Theseus banished Hippolytus from the city and prayed to that the god Poseidon should strike him down. As Hippolytus drove off in his chariot, the horses drawing the chariot were thrown into a panic by the vision of a giant bull emerging from the sea. The chariot crashed and Hippolytus was killed.
Chariot Drivers Have No Luck!
Others identify The Charioteer with Myrtilus, a son of Hermes and the chariot driver for King Oenomaus of Elis. The king had a beautiful daughter Hippodamia. There were many suitors who sought her hand. But to marry her, a suitor had first to win a chariot race with the king, who rode in a chariot driven by Myrtilus. Any suitor who could not beat the king's chariot, had his head lopped off.
Hippodamia's chances of marriage did not look very good until Pelops son of Tantalus showed up. She fell in love with him and arranged that Myrtilus would throw the chariot race. He sabotaged the king's chariot so that a wheel came off during the race and the king was thrown to his death.
The ungrateful Pelops threw the chariot driver Myrtilus into the sea, where he drowned. Hermes memorialized his drowned son Myrtilus by putting the image of the Chariot Driver among the stars.
Accounting for the Goat
The Chariot Driver is shown as holding a small goat. The goat is usually identified as the animal that had suckled the baby Zeus on the Island of Crete, where his mother Rhea had hid him from his father Cronus. Cronus was a Titan, one of the elder gods. Because of a prophesy that one of his children would otherthrow him, Cronus swallowed each of his children as they were born. Out of gratitude to the goat that had suckled him, Zeus placed the image of the goat into the stars.
Another story tells us that the goat was so very ugly that it could frighten even the Titans. When Zeus became an adult, he made a cloak from the hide of this ugly goat. This was Zeus "aegis" which protected him and frightened his enemies.
There is no explanation of how the goat became associated with the Chariot Driver.
Astronomy One Lesson Five
Ursa Minor
The Little Dipper or The Little Bear
The Brighter Stars of Ursa Minor are Kochab and Polaris.
The Story
The Birth of Zeus
The Small Bear has to do with the birth of Zeus.
Zeus was an immortal god, but he was born, nevertheless. His mother was Rhea, whom the Romans knew as Ops or Cybele. His father was Cronus, who was Saturn to the Romans. Cronus was the youngest of the elder gods known as the Titans. Because of a prophecy that one of his children would dethrone him, Cronus disposed of his children as they were born. He swallowed them! Cronus had already disposed of several children this way by the time that Zeus was born.
Fooling the Old Man
Rhea fooled Cronus by wrapping a stone in the swaddling clothes of the baby Zeus. So Cronus swallowed the stone, thinking that he had disposed of the baby. Rhea had Zeus smuggled to the island of Crete, where the nymphs Adrasteia and Ida looked after him in the cave known as Dicte. The cave was protected by the Cretan warriors known as Curetes, who stood outside the cave making a racket to prevent the cries of the baby from being heard by Cronus.
Barfing Up the Kids
The baby Zeus remained in the cave for a year. Eventually he overthrew Cronus and forced him to regurgitate the children that he had swallowed. These children became the leaders of the younger gods, who in a ten year war overturned the rule of the Titans to take command of the cosmos.
The Nurses May Be the Bears
The Lesser Bear is identified in classical mythology with the nymph Ida. Some say that the Greater Bear is sometimes identified as Adrasteia. It is not explained how the nymphs got changed into bears.
Callisto, The Greater Bear
The Greater Bear, Ursa Major, is more often identified as Callisto, one of the nymphs who formed the retinue of Artemis (Diana to the Romans). Callisto is one of the many conquests of Zeus.
Astronomy Two Please see Astronomy Two Homework.
Astronomy Three Lesson Five
Caelum
The Burin
Origin of the Constellation
Caelum is another one of the constellations invented by by Abbe Nicholas Louis de La Caille who mapped the stars of the southern hemisphere from the Cape of Good Hope in the years from 1751 to 1753.
The Burin is an engraver's tool.
The stars of Caelum are quite faint.
Canis Major
The Large Dog or The Greater Dog
The Brighter Stars of Canis Major are Adhara, Aludra, Mirzam, Sirius, and Wezen.
The Story
The Two Dogs
Canis Major is usually seen as one of the two hunting dogs of the great hunter Orion. The other dog is of course Canis Minor, the Lesser Dog.
Speedy LaeLaps
Some say that the Dog is the fabulous canine known as Laelaps. Laelaps was known for its speed. It ran so fast that not even the fastest deer could escape it.
Who Owned the Dog?
Many people had owned the dog. The last owner was Procris, the daughter of King Erechtheus of Athens and wife to Cephalus, a son of Hermes. Some say that she received the dog from Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt, but others say that she received the dog from King Minos of Crete. The dog is the same dog that Zeus presented to the maiden Europa after he had carried her off to Crete.
The Unlucky Lady, Procris
Procris also received from the king a magic spear, which always flew directly to its target and never missed. The spear was the end of Procris, because her husband Cephalus accidentally killed her with it in the middle of a hunt. As a result of the tragedy, Cephalus was banished.
The Chase That Could Never End
Cephalus later found himself in the Greek city of Thebes in Boeotia - not to be confused with the city of Thebes on the Nile in Egypt. Thebes was being plagued by a fox at the time. The fox was a very special animal that ran so fast that it could never be caught. Cephalus set the Dog Laelaps on the trail of the fox, the Dog that could catch any prey running after the fox that could never be caught. The two speedy animals were caught in a race that could never end until Zeus intervened by turning the animals into stone. Then he set the Dog into the stars, but without the fox. |
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 9:08 pm
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Astronomy One Homework Lesson One
Questions:
(Each Q&A is Worth One Point)
1. How many Constellations are in the North Polar Constellations? And also name those Constellations.
2. Does the constellation Camelopardus have any classical mythology associated with it?
3. What is Camelopardus also known as?
4. Who was Queen Cassiopeia married to?
5. What was the Queen known for?
6. Who did the Queen presume she was more lovely than?
7. The God Nereus is also know as?
8. How did Poseidon punish Cassiopeia?
9. What did King Cepheus do to appease the god?
10. Who was Andromeda saved by and also able to slay the monster?
Extra Credit: Extra Credit: (Worth 5 Points)
As an added punishment for Cassiopeia what happened to her.
Astronomy Two Homework Lesson One
Questions:
(Each Worth 1 Points, Except Extra Credit which is worth 5 Points.)
1. Andromeda was chained to a rock on the Mediterranean shore at Jaffa. This is now the present day city of ___?
2. The constellation Andromeda is also know as who? (Name Both)
3. Aquarius is also known as who?
4. The Waiter on Mount Olympus name was what?
5. Ganymede was the son of who?
6. What city was named after King Tros?
7. In the first myth, who abductes Ganymede?
8. What was Eos the Goddess of?
9. In the second and more common myth, Zeus himself transforms into a what?
10. Ridpath, cites Robert Graves to suggest that the figure of Aquarius originated in Egypt, with the figure representing the God of what?
Extra Credit: (Worth 5 Points)
Name the five planets that are visable to the naked eye?
Astronomy Three Homework Lesson One
Questions:
(Each Q&A is worth 1 Point except Extra Credit, which is worth up to 5 Points.)
1. Who were Perseus's parents?
2. What was the prophecy that an oracle told to King Acrisius about?
3. In what for did Zeus appear to Danae?
4. What did King Acrisius do when he found out that Danae was pregnant?
5. Who was Dictys brother?
6. King Polydectes announced that he was going to marry who, as part of his plot to get Danae?
7. What did the King insist that Perseus do, because he had no money or horses to give the King as a fake wedding gift?
8. What Gods helped Perseus?
9. What did each God give to Perseus?
10. What happened when Perseus finally returned home?
Extra Credit:
Question: Astrology emerged from the Ancient City of ________?
Astronomy One Homework Lesson Two
Questions:
(All questions are worth 1 point)
1. According to Ridpath, what did King Cepheus have as land (What are the names of those
countries?)
2. King Cepheus is the desendent of who?
3. Who did Cepheus go to, to find out what to do to appease the God?
4. What did the King do to stop the monster?
5. By what coast was Andromeda chained to?
6. Who was Andromeda promised to, for marriage?
7. What happened at Andromeda and Perseus Engagement Dinner?
8. Who won this royal battle?
9. By what God was the King's wife punished by?
10. What is the brightest star in Cepheus?
Astronomy Two Homework Lesson Two
Questions:
(All questions are worth 1 point)
1. Who were Phrixus and Helle’s parents?
2. Who did King Athamas re-marry?
3. Did Ino like or care for children?
4. What was the first thing Ino did to get rid of Phrixus and Helle?
5. After Ino’s plan started, who did the King send messengers to see?
6. Who bade the gods to send down a golden ram from heaven to carry Phrixus and Helle to safety?
7. Helle lost her grip on the ram and fell where?
8. What is this channel Dardanelles was know as what by the Greeks as?
9. Who did Jason Lead?
10. Jason’s ship is in broken into three parts in the sky, what are there names and what do they mean?
Astronomy Three Homework Lesson Two
Questions:
(All questions are worth 1 point)
1. The Constellation Phoenix was created by who?
2. Both men worked as what?
3. When did they chart the southern skies?
4. Is there any classical mythology associated with these stars? If Yes, please explain.
5. Is the concept of the Phoenix a part of classical mythology? If Yes, please explain.
6. What does The Phoenix represent?
7. Is there any classical mythology associated with Piscis Austrinus? If Yes, please explain.
8. How is the Southern Fish always shown?
9. According to Stall, the fish is often seen as a sign of what?
10. According to Ridpath, the fish is associated with what goddess?
Astronomy One Homework Lesson Three
Questions:
(Each Question is worth 1 point)
1. Who did The Dragon fight with in the cosmic wars?
2. Who did The Dragon confront towards the end of the war?
3. What did Athena do?
4. The Dragon struck the sky in the cold regions near the north celestial pole, it froze in place before it could what?
5. What did the Dragon Ladon guard?
6. Which goddess did this tree belong to?
7. Who was this goddess married to?
8. Where did the goddess plant this tree?
9. Who killed Ladon The Dragon?
10. What is one of the brighter in Draco the Dragon?
Lesson Four
Questions:
(Each Question Is Worth 1 Point)
1. According to the second story who was one of Zeus’ many loves?
2. Callisto was fond of what?
3. She joined a retinue with who? What was she the goddess of?
4. Callisto became a favorite of Artemis, what did Callisto swear a vow of?
5. When Callisto became pregnant, what did Artemis do?
6. Callisto had a son, what did she name him?
7. What did Hera do to Callisto?
8. How many years did Callisto wander the woods?
9. Eventually she encountered her son, now grown to the point that he himself could pursue game through the woods. Arcas would have speared the bear, but Zeus intervened by doing what?
10. How many brighter stars does Ursa Major have? And what are there
names?
Astronomy Two Homework Lesson Three
Since both Grus and Lacerta are both modern constellations, I don’t feel that you should answer ten questions about them, since there is not enough information on the subject. So for this lesson, I want you to pick a favorite lesson and pick a god or goddess and write a 3 lines (a paragraph) about them. It will be worth up to 10 points.
Lesson Four
Questions:
(Each question is worth 1 point.)
1-2. There are two myths to how Pegasus was born, list them both.
3. What was the warrior, Chrysaor, born carrying?
4. After Pegasus was born where did it fly to?
5. Pegasus struck the ground with its hooves and it opened up a spring of gushing water. This spring brcame known as what?
6. What does The Hippocrene mean in Greek?
7. Who claimed Pegasus as his steed?
8-9. There are also two myths to how Bellerophon fell back to Earth, list them both.
10. What did Zeus use Pegasus for?
Astronomy Three Homework Lesson Three
Questions:
(Each Q&A is Worth One Point)
1. According to the Greeks, who did the fish represent?
2. According to the Romans, who did the fish represent?
3. Who were Eros’ parents?
4. What did Aphrodite represent?
5. What did Eros represent?
6. What is the name of the God who tried to warm the town of an approaching monster?
7. In a version of this story why were Aphrodite and Eros tied together by a cord?
8. Where does the constellation Pisces probably derive from?
9. The constellation Sculptor, was invented by who?
10. What was the name of the Constellation Sculptor originally?
Lesson Four
Questions:
(Each Q&A is Worth One Point)
1. What did the Greeks refer to the constellation Triangulum as?
2. What did the Greek capital letter “D” stand for?
3. What island is also generally associated with the constellation Triangulum?
4. Which Goddess begged the God Jupiter for Sicily to be portrayed as the sky?
5. In the information given in this Lesson, how many different people could Auriga have been?
6-8. Name them.
9. What is the Chariot Driver shown holding?
10. Is there any explanation as to how a goat became associated with the Chariot Driver?
Astronomy One Homework Lesson Five
Questions:
(Each Correct Answer is Worth 1 Point)
1. Zeus’s mothers name was Rhea but, whom the Romans knew as who?
2. Who was Zeus’s father?
3. To the Romans, Cronus was known as who?
4. Due to a prophecy, what did Cronus do to each of his children?
5. What did the prophecy say?
6. So that Cronus could not swallow Zeus, what did Rhea do?
7. After Cronus swallowed the stone that he thought was Zeus, what did Rhea do?
8. What were the names of the nymphs that looked after Zeus?
9. What were the Cretan warriors known as?
10. According to classical mythology the Lesser Bear is who?
Astronomy Two Homework Lesson Five
For Lesson Five, I want you to pick another God or Goddess or a person you find interesting in all of these tales and give me a 5 line (5 sentences) of why or why not you do or do NOT like them. So, like your last assignment, this is worth 10 Points.
Astronomy Three Homework Lesson Five
Questions:
(Each Q&A is Worth One Point)
1. Who invented the constellation Caelum?
2. He mapped what hemisphere?
3. What city did he map from?
4. What is a Burin?
5. How many Brighter Stars are there in Canis Major?
6. How many dogs could Canis Major be?
7-8. Name them.
9. What was Laelaps known for?
10. Who did Cephalus, accidentally kill? |
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 9:13 pm
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wahmbulance Announcements wahmbulance
Sign Ups will begin shortly.
Jan 19, 2011- Applications are being accepted
Jan 24, 2011- Applications are still being accepted.
Lesson One for Astronomy One, Astronomy Two, and Astronomy Three have been Posted.
All are due on 1-31-11.
Feb. 1, 2011- Applications are still being accepted.
Lesson Two for Astronomy One, Astronomy Two, and Astronomy Three have been posted.
All are due on 2-8-11.
Also, we have a new Extraordinary Student of the Week.
Congratulations Crystal!
Feb. 28, 2011- Applications still being accepted.
Lesson Five for all Classes have been posted.
All are due on 3-5-11.
Also, Extraordinary Student of the Week goes to Chuchube!
March 7, 2011- Finals Are Up!
Due on March 11th.
The new Extraordinary Student of the Week is Lana! |
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 9:14 pm
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Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 11:07 am
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Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 11:12 am
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Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:12 pm
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Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 1:30 pm
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Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 2:35 pm
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