The Andromeda constellation is my favourite because there is nothing I do not like about it. I feel an affinity with the mythology behind the constellation and it was first noted down by my personal favourite astronomer Ptolemy. The constellation is sometimes referred to as “The Chained Woman”, “Persea” which means the wife of Perseus, or “Cepheis” meaning the daughter of Cepheus. Andromeda is the 19th biggest star constellation and can be found in the first quadrant in the northern hemisphere.
The Andromeda constellation has a Greek creation myth and is named after the mythological princess Andromeda who was the daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia was so bold as to say that her beauty was greater than that of the sea nymphs. The nymphs were upset and went to Poseidon, god of the seas, who was
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Poseidon sent the sea monster Cetus (a whale like creature) to punish King Cepheus, Queen Cassiopeia and their kingdom by destroying it with floods. The only way Cepheus could save his lands and his own life was to sacrifice his daughter to Cetus so he had his young daughter chained to a rock and left to be eaten by the sea monster. Luckily, the hero Perseus rescued her; they got married and had six children. It is said the goddess Athena placed Andromeda’s image among the stars next to the constellation of Perseus.
For my own version of the story Andromeda is not the damsel in distress who was pushed around by her parents as in the original mythology story. I imagine her as a strong woman who came across bad luck. As Athena is the goddess of courage I believe she immortalised Andromeda in the stars because of the courage she showed in the face of peril. Andromeda was
If there is one great constellation, it is the constellation of Gemini. As a Zodiac Constellation, it is only visible during parts of the year. It's two brightest stars, Castor and Pollux, give it the name of the Twins. Anyone born in the end of May until late June is said to have two faces: one of Pollux's and one of Castor's.
Perseus, the twenty-forth largest constellation, is depicted as a man holding a sword in one hand and the head of Medusa in the other. Ptolemy discovered the constellation during the second century. Measuring 28 degrees in length, it lies in the Northern Hemisphere and can be seen best in December around nine o’clock P.M. It can also be seen in the Southern Hemisphere during the summer from latitudes north of negative thirty-five degrees. (Coder pp. 85 & 87, Fanshawe, Perseus Astronomer, Perseus Champion, Perseus Constellation)
She is always spoken of respectfully and is remembered for her heroic deeds. She is not degraded like many of the other women Odysseus sees in the underworld. Everyone worships her and speaks about her achievements with great admiration; she is truly admired, but because she is a goddess. Athena has control over men that most women in The Odyssey do not. Women 's lives depend on what men think of them, on the other hand, men 's lives depend on Athena 's opinion of them. Athena is "Zeus ' virgin daughter" and no one has used her in that way. She is too important to be used as being an enjoyment for men; they depend on her for their own welfare. Another woman that plays a big role in this epic is Calypso. Calypso a nymph, a child of Zeus, and lives on an island in the middle of the ocean. One day Odysseus is sent to her by the god of the sea, Poseidon, because Poseidon was mad at Odysseus for blinding his son, the Cyclops. It is on this island that another woman is used as a sexual toy and is not thought of for her own achievements, but rather for her beauty, and the fact that she is the daughter of Zeus. Men in The Odyssey only value women who they can use for physical needs and wealth, such as the women in the underworld that Odysseus encounters, and Penelope. Homer shows us how men in The Odyssey consider women less important than men. The readers rarely hear of women throughout the book. When they do, they are shown
Aphrodite is one of the most famous figures of Greek mythology, because Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sexual rapture. She was desired by nearly all of the Greek gods. Aphrodite was one of the twelve main gods on Mt. Olympus, and she was the most powerful goddess when it came to members of the opposite sex. There are many origins to Aphrodite's birth. Some of them are: She arose full-grown out of the foam of the sea, She is the daughter of Zeus and Dionne, She is the daughter of Uranus and Gaia, which would make her a Titaness, or She is the daughter of Titans Oceanus and Tethys, making her an Oceanid. (Dittus 34-35) “The most common origin of her birth is her being foam-born, which is what her name means” (Parin 45). This origin says that Aphrodite arose nude and full-grown out of the foam of the sea and riding into the shore of Cythera on a scallop shell. She found Cythera to be too small of an island, so she went to live in Paphos, in Cyprus, which is still the principal seat of her worship.
I have chosen the 'Big Dipper'. This has been my favorite constellation ever since I was a young child. Probably because it has been the easiest for me to locate each night. It's the easiest to find and once you see it you can follow it to find the 'Little Dipper', in which I can find the North Star.
Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, later rose from the sea where Uranus's body had been thrown. Now Cronus became king of the universe. Cronos married his sister, Rhea, and they had six children. At the time of Cronos's marriage to Rhea, Gaea prophesied that one of his children would overthrow Cronos, as he had overthrown Uranus. To protect himself, Cronos swallowed each of his first five children -- Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon -- immediatly after birth.
One of the most notorious love affairs of Poseidon involves his sister, Demeter. Poseidon pursued Demeter and to avoid him she turned herself into a mare. In his lust for her, Poseidon transformed himself into a stallion and captured her. Their procreation resulted in a horse, Arion. Poseidon is Greek for "Husband" (possibly of wheat), and therefore it is thought that he and Demeter (goddess of wheat) are a good match because they reign as the god and goddess of fertility.
While studying the solar system in our eighth grade science class, we were each assigned a constellation to research. The constellation that was assigned to me was Cepheus. In this paper my goal is to explain the myth behind this constellation and describe its features.
The constellation I have chosen for this essay is Scorpius because I am a Scorpius so I have a connection with this particular constellation. The constellation Scorpius itself lies between the constellations Libra and Sagittarius in the southern hemisphere near the center of the Milky Way. This constellation symbolizes a scorpion and has 18 main stars,the brightest of which is the star Antares. I have chosen this constellation because Scorpius is my zodiac and I have looked upon the Scorpius constellation and I have found it to be quite stunning.
Orion was an unbeatable, tall, armed, giant who was the most handsomest of all. In almost all the stories surrounding Orion and his life they state that his parents were Neptune the god of the sea and Queen Euryale, the daughter of King Minos. He is believed to have inherited his hunting and wilderness skills from his mother who was also the great huntress of the Amazons. (The Hunter) Orion was also supposedly able to walk on water which he got from his father the god of the sea. The other version of
Aphrodite is known as the Greek Goddess (Roman Venus) of love, desire, beauty, fertility, the sea, and vegetation. It is said that when Cronus was castrated by Uranus, and his genitalia were thrown into the sea, Aphrodite was thus born and arose on a large shell, which West Wind then carried to Cyprus where she was clothed by the Season, thus her name being translated "foam-risen." The sea nymphs dressed her and adorned her with flowers and gold. She now represents Erotic Love as a form of Divine influence, which has resulted in many men becoming capable of falling in love with her.
In the 1981 clash of the Titans movie the King Acrisius of Argo imprisons his daughter Danei *Danaë because he is jealous of her beauty. The god Zeus visits her and makes her pregnant. King Acrisius in a fit of rage puts Danae and the baby, Perseus, to sea in a wood coffin. Angry, Zeus kills Acrisius and orders the god Poseidon to release the giant sea monster the Kraken to destroy Argos. Perseus survives, but his mother doesn’t, his journey by floating to the island of Seriphos where he grows up.
Aphrodite was one of the nine that were known as the Great Goddesses, “an awful and lovely goddess,” according to Hesiod (Theogony), born of the foam that ensued when Kronos cut off Uranos’ genitals and they fell into the sea. She first walked ashore in Cyprus, and was welcomed by the Seasons (Hours):
Athena is the goddess everyone wants to have as guardian for his life. She went against her uncle Poseidon to fight for her Odysseus. At one point, we can even think that Athena is also in love to Odysseus because she has never him down. But the real truth is Athena is an amazing goddess who protect Odysseus no matter what because this is the Love she has for him
What makes the depiction between Athena and Aphrodite interesting is the different ways they are portrayed even sharing the similarity of being born strictly from male only. Athena from the all-powerful king of the gods Zeus and Aphrodite from Ouronos. Though they were both born from man alone, the content of these births caused Athena to be expressed in a more dignified, respected, and superior way. Hesiod’s recount of the births of Athena and Aphrodite in his Theogony reveals the source of Athena’s superiority. According to the Theogony, Ouranos’ genitals are thrown into the sea where they mix with the sea foam to result in Aphrodite (Hesiod 180-192). Aphrodite is said to be called, by Hesiod, “Philommedes, fond of a man’s genitals” ( Hesiod, 200-201). In contrast, Hesiod writes that Athena is born from Zeus’ head (Hesiod 924) after Zeus consumes her mother Metis, the goddess whose name means wisdom, for fear of her giving birth to someone who was destined to be his match in wisdom (Hesiod 894-900).