man, guiding the Wain, as the constellation Ursa Major is sometimes called. Cicero takes this view, and adds that Boötes was sometimes called "Arctophylax" from two Greek words signifying "bear keeper" or "bear driver."
The name Boötes, according to some authorities, is derived from the Greek βονς, meaning ox, and ώθεἵν, to drive. Others claim that the title was derived from βοητής, meaning clamorous, descriptive of the shouts of the driver, or the call of encouragement to the hounds, hence the constellation has been sometimes called "Vociferator" and "Clamator."
The mythology of the constellation is interesting. According to some of the Greeks it represented Icarius the father of Origone, others claim it represented Erichthonius, the inventor of the chariot. It was also said to be Arcas, the son of Zeus and the nymph Callisto.
Plunket claims the date 6000 b.c. and latitude 45 degrees north, for the time and place of the invention of this constellation, as then and there Boötes might be seen at midnight of the summer solstice standing upright on the northern horizon, his head reaching nearly to the Pole. Never since that date has he held so commanding a position in the sky, nor at any more southern latitude could his whole figure have been represented as standing on the horizon.
Boötes has also been called "Atlas" from its nearness to the Pole, and because it appeared to hold up the heavens. In all probability Boötes has been deprived of an arm, the stars formerly representing it now forming the constellation of the Northern Crown. Proctor thinks that this change was made at some time preceding that of Eudoxus, who was bom about 300 b.c.
The risings and settings of Boötes which took place near the equinoxes portended great tempests. Boötes sets in a perpendicular position, and takes eight hours to make his exit, hence allusions to his sluggish and tardy movements
