Ever heard of Myths????? on constellations?????????? well....... this article is for you.........
                       

Cancer

According to an ancient Greek legend, the figure of a gigantic crab was placed in the nighttime sky by the goddess Hera to form the constellation Cancer. Hera swore to kill Heracles, the most famous Greek hero. Hera attempted to kill Heracles in many different ways, but each time his incredible physical strength allowed him to survive. The Romans called him Hercules.

Hera cast a spell of madness on Heracles, causing him to commit a great crime. In order to be forgiven, he had to perform twelve difficult tasks. One of these tasks was destroying the terrible nine-headed water-serpent, Hydra.

During the battle between Heracles and Hydra, the goddess Hera sent a giant crab to aid the serpent. But Heracles, being so strong, killed the crab by smashing its shell with his foot. As a reward for its service, Hera placed the crab's image in the night sky. 

    

Ursa Major (Changing Bear Maiden)

In Navajo myth, Ursa Major, the Great Bear, originated from the story of the Changing Bear Maiden. In the story, a girl accepts a bear as her husband. Her younger sister tells the father, who in turn kills the bear. The older sister changes into a bear to get revenge.

The younger sister and seven brothers tried to flea their sister. The bear turns back into a girl and chases after her siblings. She eventually killed six of the brothers.

The seven brothers flew up into the sky and became Ursa Major. 

   

Constellation of The Hand

According to the Lakota, the Constellation of the Hand, namely the bottom half of the constellation Orion, represents the arm of a great Lakota chief. The gods wanted to punish the Lakota's chief for his selfishness and made the Thunder People rip out his arm. The chief's daughter offered to marry anyone who would recover her father's arm.

Fallen Star, a young warrior whose father was a star and whose mother was human, returned the arm and married the daughter. The return of the arm to the chief symbolizes harmony between the gods and the people with the help of the younger generation. 

   

The seven Rishis

According to the epic Mahabharata, composed in about 500 B.C., the stars of the Big Dipper were the seven sages called Rishis. These seven sages are said to be those who made the Sun rise and shine. They were happily married to seven sisters named Krttika. They originally all lived together in the northern sky.

But one day, the god of fire, Agni, emerged from the flames of an offering performed by the seven Rishis and fell in love with the seven Krttika. Trying to forget his hopeless love for the Krttika, Agni wandered in the forest where he met Svaha. To conquer Agni's love, Svaha disguised herself as six of the seven Krttika. Svaha could mimic only six of the Krttika because the seventh sister Arundhati was too devoted to her husband to be imitated.

After a while, Svaha gave birth to a child that she named Skanda. With his birth, rumors began to spread that six of the Rishis' wives were his mother. Six of the Rishis divorced their wives. Arundhati was the only one that remained with her husband as the star Alcor. The other six Krttika went away to become the Pleiades. 

   

Scorpio

To the ancient Greeks, the constellation Scorpius was the image of a scorpion. The constellation was related to the death of the hunter Orion. There are several different stories about Orion's death. According to one story, Orion wanted to kill all the earth's wild animals.

However, the earth goddess Gaia was not pleased with Orion's intention. So, she sent a giant scorpion to attack Orion. No matter how hard he tried, Orion could not defeat the scorpion. When he tried to escape, the scorpion stung him to death with its poisonous tail.

As a reward for its service, Gaia placed the scorpion's image in the nighttime sky. To this day, it looks as if the scorpion is always chasing after Orion in the nighttime sky. 

   

Draco the Dragon

Draco the dragon is famous throughout mythology. This great beast was especially present in greek myth. One of the more popular stories involves Heracles and the twelve labors. Gaia gave Hera a golden apple tree when she married Zeus. Hera put the tree in the garden to be guarded by the Hesperides and a dragon called Ladon.

Heracles asks Atlas to gather the apples while he and Athena held up the sky. Atlas, thinking he could trick Heracles into holding the sky forever, gladly accepted the mission. When he returned with the apples, Heracles slipped the sky back on Atlas' shoulders.

Yet another story is set during the Titan war with Zeus. Athena was attacked by a dragon. She flung it into the air, wrapping it around the pole. To this day, the dragon remains in the night sky.

The constellation, Draco, can be found revolving around the celestial North Pole. This type of constellation is said to be circumpolar. 

   

Heracles (Hercules)

More than two thousand years ago, Greek people believed that a particular group of stars represented the figure of Heracles, the most famous Greek hero. The ancient Romans called him Hercules. Heracles was a courageous and strong man.

Unfortunately, Heracles had a terrible enemy: the goddess Hera. Hera was so annoyed by Heracles' strength and fame that she cast a spell over him. As a result, he committed a terrible crime. Seeking forgiveness, Heracles was told to perform twelve very difficult tasks for the king, Eurystheus.

Hercules completed the twelve tasks, using his great strength. He has been famous for this ever since. 

  

The Nemean Lion

More than two thousand years ago, Greeks believed the god Zeus placed the figure of a gigantic lion in the sky with the rest of the stars. This lion lived in the city of Nemea. The people who lived in that region were terrorized by the Nemean Lion. Several times they tried to destroy the beast.

Heracles, the most famous Greek hero, was ordered by the king, Euryshtheus, to kill the Nemean lion. Heracles was an incredibly strong man. The Romans called him Hercules.

When Heracles reached the cave where the beast was living, he realized all his weapons were useless against the lion. Heracles killed the lion by strangling it with his bare hands. When the beast was dead, Heracles used its pelt as a coat and the head as a helmet. 

    

The Lernaean Hydra

A long time ago, Greek people believed that a long strip of starswas really an image of a gigantic serpent known as the Hydra. The people of Lerna were terrorized by this serpent--a horrifying beast with many snake-like heads, one of which was immortal. The heads of the Hydra could grow back even if they were cut off. Anyone approaching the Hydra could also be killed by its venomous breath.

The destruction of the Hydra was one of the many difficult tasks that Heracles, had to perform to show that he was sorry for a terrible crime he committed. Heracles was so brave and strong that he succeeded in killing the Hydra, with the help of his nephew, Iolaus. Everytime Heracles would cut off one head of the beast, Iolaus would sear its injured neck, preventing new heads from growing back.

During their fight, an enormous crab emerged from the swamp to aid the Hydra. Heracles killed the crab by crushing its shell with his foot. Heracles buried the Hydra's head under a heavy rock. 

   

Orion

The ancient Greeks saw the figure of the Greek myth Orion in the nighttime sky. There are several different stories about the birth of Orion. According to one version of the myth, Orion was the son of a poor shepherd called Hyrieus. Once, Zeus, Hermes, and Poseidonstopped by Hyrieus'house. Hyrieus was so generous with his guests that he killed the only animal he had-an ox.

Hyrieus was not aware that his guests were gods. The gods wanted to reward Hyrieus'generosity by granting him a wish. Hyrieus' biggest desire was to have a child. The gods told him to bury the hide of the bull he had sacrificed to them and to pee on it. After nine months, a boy was born in that place. The child became a very handsome and strong man.

He was such a good hunter that he was hired by the king Oenopion to kill the ferocious beasts that were terrifying the habitants of the island Chios. Happy for his success, Orion said he would kill all the wild animals on the earth. But. the earth goddess Gaia, who was the mother of all animals, was not pleased with Orion's intention.

Then, Gaia set an enormous scorpion on Orion. Orion soon realized that his strength and sword were useless against that mighty beast. He tried to escape, but the scorpion stung him to death. As a reward, Gaia placed the scorpion in the sky as a constellation which appears to be constantly chasing after Orion whose figure was also placed among the stars.

  

Europa

Europa was the beautiful daughter of the king of Tyre, Agenor. Zeus (Jupiter), the King of the gods according to Greek mythology, saw Europa as she was gathering flowers by the sea a nd immediately fell in love with her.

Zeus transformed himself into the form of a magnificent white bull and appeared in the sea shore where Europa was playing. The great bull walked gently over to where Europa stood and knelt at her feet. The appearance and movements of the bull were so gentle that Europa spread flowers about his neck and dared to climb upon his back. But suddenly, the bull rushed over the sea abducting Europa. Only then the bull revealed its true identity and took Europa to the Mediterranean island of Crete.

There, Zeus cast off the shape of the white bull, and back into his human form, made Europa his lover beneath a simple cypress tree. Europa became the first queen of Crete and had by Zeus three sons. At last, Zeus reproduced the shape of the white bull, used by Zeus to seduce Europa, in the stars. Even today we can recognize its shape in the constellation Taurus. 

    

Ganymede

Ganymede was a son of Tros, first king of the classical land known as Troy. He tended sheep there on the slopes of Mount Ida. One day Jupiter caught a glimpse of the young boy and was overwhelmed with a desire to bring Ganymede to Olympus to serve as the cup bearer of the gods. Jupiter thereby changed his shape into that of an eagle, swooped down and carried the boy off to the home of the gods.

Now it so happens that this position was already filled by Hebe,the daughter of Jupiter and his wife Juno. Once Ganymede arrived at the royal court a competition began between Hebe and Ganymede for the honor of serving the gods. Eventually Ganymede won the post, and stayed on also as the favored companion to Jupiter.

To honor the events surrounding the elevation of Ganymede to "cup bearer and servant of the gods," Jupiter placed the eagle, a shape he assumed when abducting Ganymede to Olympus, into the heavens as the constellation Aquila (eagle), and immortalized Ganymede as the constellation Aquarius (water bearer). One of Jupiter's moons is also named after Ganymede. 

   

Andromeda

In Greek mythology, Andromeda was the daughter of Cassiopeia andCepheus, the king of Ethiopia. Andromeda's mother claimed that they were more beautiful than the sea nymphs, the Nereids.

The Nereids felt insulted by this and complained to the sea god Poseidon. Poseidon threatened to send a flood and a sea monster to destroy the kingdom of Ethiopia. The king was advised by the oracle to sacrifice his daughter. Andromeda was chained to a sea-cliff to be devoured by the sea monster.

Perseus, the nephew of the king of the city of Argos noticed her as he was sailing by and immediately fell in love with her. He promised to rescue Andromeda if her parents would allow him to marry her. Cassiopeia and Cepheus accepted. Perseus killed the monster and freed Andromeda.

Andromeda insisted that their wedding be celebrated. Unfortunately, her parents had forgotten their promise to Perseus. After the marriage, Andromeda left her country to live with Perseus who later became the king of Tiryns and Mycenae. The goddess Athena placed the image of Andromeda among the stars as a reward for keeping her parents'promise. 

    

Cassiopeia

According to a Greek legend, the sea god Poseidon placed the figure of Cassiopeia among the stars. It is said that Cassiopeia has a ridiculous upside-down position to punish her for having been pretentious. Cassiopeia was very proud of her beauty. She claimed that she and her daughter Andromeda were more beautiful than the sea-nymphs, the Nereids.

The nymphs complained to the sea god Poseidon, who threatened to send a sea monster and flood to destroy Cassiopeia's land. In despair, the king Cepheus consulted an oracle to prevent the destruction of his reign. The oracle predicted that only the sacrifice of Andromeda to the monster could appease the wrath of Poseidon.

The king chained Andromeda to a sea cliff. Fortunately, at this same moment, Perseus, the nephew of the king of Argos, was traveling along the coast. Perseus noticed the beautiful woman and fell in love with her. Learning of Andromeda's story, he offered to rescue her if her parents agreed to let him marry their daughter. With the help of some magical sandals that allowed Perseus to fly, and a magical sword given to him by the god Hermes, Perseus killed the monster and married Andromeda. 

   

Cepheus

In the Northern Hemisphere sky is the constellation Cepheus, king of Ethiopia, and that of his wife Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia claimed that she and her daughter Andromeda were more beautiful than the sea nymphs, the Nereids.

Offended, the Nereids complained to the sea godPoseidon, who sent a flood and a marine monster to destroy Cepheus'land. Cepheus was told that only the sacrifice of his daughter Andromeda could save the kingdom.

Andromeda was then chained to a sea cliff to be devoured by the sea monster. At that same moment, Perseus, a famous Greek hero, was traveling along the coast to the north. Perseus noticed the beautiful Andromeda and immediately fell in love with her. He decided at once to rescue the young woman.

Perseus used magical sandals that allowed him to fly and the head of the Gorgon Medusa. Medusa's head had the power to turn anything into stone. Andromeda and Perseus married and one of their children, Perses, became the king of Ethiopia when Cepheus died. 

   

Pegasus

Pegasus was a winged horse that came out of Medusa when she was be-headed by Perseus. The Gorgon Medusa was once a beautiful Lybian princess. Because she was seduced by the sea god Poseidon in the temple consecrated to Athena, Athena transformed her into a monster. She had hair of serpents and anyone who looked at her face was turned into stone.

After his birth, Pegasus lived on the Mount Helicon. One day, an ancient Greek hero whose name was Bellerophon believed that he could fly with Pegasus to Olympus, where the gods lived. To prevent him from doing that, Zeus sent a horsefly to bite Pegasus. Bellerophon lost control of his horse and fell back to Earth.

Pegasus continued to fly alone and reached Olympus, where Zeus received him . Since then, he transports thunderbolts for Zeus, who placed his figure in the night sky in the constellation of the winged horse. 

   

Perseus

Perseus was an ancient Greek hero. His mother was Danae, the daughter of Acrisius, the king of Argos. When a prophecy revealed to Acrisius that his grandson would kill him, Acrisius imprisoned his daughter Danae to keep her chaste. Zeus, however, fooled Acrisius' precautions by entering the prison disguised as a shower of gold. When Acrisius discovered that Danae had given birth to Perseus, he had the mother and the son thrown into the sea in a chest of wood.

Luckily they reached the island of Seriphos where the king Polydectes offered them hospitality and protection. Perseus was secretly raised on the island and became a courageous young man. He was sent to complete a dangerous mission.

Perseus had to fetch the head of the Gorgon Medusa whose head could turn anyone who looked at it into stone. With the help of Hermes, Perseus succeeded. On his voyage back to Seriphos, he met the beautifulAndromeda in Ethiopia and married her. When his triumph became known, he was invited to the city of Larissa to participate in funeral games in honor of the king.

During the games, Perseus threw a discus and accidentally hit his grandfather Acrisius, who was watching the games, unaware of his grandson's presence. Acrisius died fulfilling the prophecy. 

   

Callisto and her son Arcas

Callisto was a river goddess. Callisto was the favorite companion of the moon goddess Diana. One day the god Jupiter saw the beautiful Callisto and fell in love with her. Knowing that Diana had warned Callisto about men and gods, Jupiter pretended he was the goddess Diana.

In this disguise, Jupiter made the beautiful Callisto his girlfriend. She gave birth to a boy child named Arcas. Jupiter's wife Juno was mad and changed Callisto into a bear.

One day, when Arcas was a young man, he decided to go hunting. Callisto saw her son and, forgetting that she was a bear, rushed toward him to give him a hug. In fear of his life, Arcas lifted his bow and shot at the charging bear, who was his mother. A Callisto saw her son and, forgetting that she was a bear, rushed toward him to give him a hug.

In fear of his life, Arcas lifted his bow and shot at the charging bear. At the last moment, just before the arrow struck, Jupiter tossed Callisto and her son Arcas into the heavens as the constellations Ursa Major, the Great Bear and Bootes, the Bear Warden. Arcas is always found standing next to his mother. 

  

Leda and the Constellation Cygnus

For the ancient Greeks, the constellation Cygnus, which means "swan", was related to the myth of Zeus and the goddess Nemesis. In order to escape from Zeus, Nemesis changed herself into many different animals. When she changed into a goose, Zeus immediately transformed himself into a wonderful swan and won the love of Nemesis.

The goddess became pregnant, delivered an egg and then abandoned it. Fortunately, a shepherd found the egg and gave it to Leda, the wife of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta. From that egg came Helen of Troy. Helen was so beautiful that Leda claimed her as her own child.

The constellation Cygnus was formed to celebrate the lovely swan. According to another version of the myth, Zeus transformed himself into a swan to court Leda, the queen of Sparta. and from that relationship, Leda had two children: Polydeuces and Helen.