The Stories the Sky holds - Part.1

The Sky is a rather mysterious thing, having been there for millions of years, seen millions of lives and their billion stories. Its one thing which is common for everyone around the world , yet not the exact same for all. It can cry , shed it's tears for hours in Italy and yet show a broad sunny smile in India.

Just as the sky has seen million of lives pass under it, it itself also houses thousands of stories, thousand of legends which is told to us through its stars. The mesmerising patterns formed by these brilliant and scintillating object ,which pre-date the earth itself, has been perceived to be heroes with valour and evil monsters in legends and stories which enthralls us to this date.

In this blog, we will discover stories about two very famous constellations. Though they have been resurrected in different stories, legends around the world and through the ages, we will be reading about the most famous and captivating of the stories here, So lets begin!

I) Cassiopeia

The constellation Cassiopeia is usually a consteallation which is very easy to spot in the night sky because of it is formed by 5 bright stars in the shape of a W or M , depending on the time of the year you see it. This constellation can be seen throughout the year, but is best visible during the months of November- December.

Long years ago, There was a vain queen named Cassiopeia. She had a beautiful daughter named Andromeda about whom she took immense pride. She boasted that her daughter was the most beautiful in the world , even more beautiful than the Sea- Nymphs or the Nereids , who were blessed with incredible beauty ( they were basically part mermaids!) . Well, like any parent who was overproud of their kids, she went around bragging that and made the Nereids extremely angry. Nereids complained to Poseidon, as Amphrite one of the sea nymphs was married to him, about the vain queen and Poseidon in his wrath sent the sea - monster Cetus to destroy Cassiopeia's kingdom. Cepheus, the king and the husband of Cassiopeia was startled by the extent of the monsters wrath, as his kingdom went into despair. He was told that the only way of saving his kingdom was to sacrfice his daughter. Hence the girl, who had absolutely nothing to do with all this in the start except have a vain mother and a father who cared too much about his kingdom ( well, what can you say , It's greek mythology!) was tied up against a rock as sacrifice to Cetus. Perseus, the prince of Dana, on his return trip after his legendary slaying of the monster Medusa, whose gaze can turn you into stone, saw this beautiful princess tied to a rock, so he helped slay the monster, continuing his monster-hunting streak and as a bonus married Andromeda.

Poseidon, who was still angry with Cassiopeia, took her and hung her in the heavens still sitting on her throne, doomed to spin through the stars ( and around polaris) for all of eternity as a punishment for her pride. When the constellation is upside - down , Cassiopeia has to hold on tight to her throne so that she doesn't fall off!

II) ORION

Most visible from January to March

Orion was a giant and capable hunter. Once when he was out hunting, He boasted that he would kill all the animals on earth, and we know what happened to the last person who bragged in Greek mythology ( She was made to literally hang in the sky!) Mother Earth was enraged by this and hence sent a scorpion to end Orion. Orion ,when he was pricked by the scorpion, screams in agony. This was heard by Saggitarus, the centaur, who aimed his arrow to the heart of the Scorpion to avenge Orion. Zeus , raised these characters in the sky as a reminder to the human race to curb their excessive pride, Orion, along with his two hunting dogs, canis major and canis minor is seen in the winter and as the earth revolves, the Scorpion contellation shows up in the summer driving Orion away, hunting him forever. Saggitarrus is also seen in the summer , along with Scorpio, having his arrow drawn and aimed at the scorpio's heart.

Later it is told that Ophiucus, the serpent bearer, revived Orion with an antidote, hence his constellation in seen in between Scorpio's and Orion's contellation.

In another myth, Orion is known to fall in love with the 7 Pleiades sisters, and as their father was unable to protect them ( He was cursed to hold onto the weightt of the sky for all of eternity , talk about parents stressed about work) Zeus , being the protective cousin, protects them and scoops them up and places them in the sky, but now only 6 of the sisters are seen as one of them Merope fell in love with a mortal Sisyphus , a notorious trickster who was later condemed to roll a stone up a hill for eternity ( heard about a Sisyphilan task? ) and hence went into hiding. Even to this day Orion is seen to be chasing the Pleiades constellation.

Orion is also seen to be hunting Lepus, the hare or also inferred as the Moon rabbit along with his 2 hunting dogs canis major and minor who are too pursuing it.

Orion was one famous man reintepreted in various ways throughout history and across countries!

Interesting right, how a group of stars persumed to be randomly scattered in the sky can hold so many secrets?

And this is just the start! There are as many stories as there constellations in the sky, so basically a lot! and we will be unearthing each of these stories one-by- one

So keep your eyes peeled for more blogs!