Shines eminent amid the depth of night,
Whom men the dog star of Orion call.
Homer regarded Sirius as a star of ill omen, as it was supposed to produce fevers. Pope's translation of Homer's lines indicates the baleful influence ascribed to Sirius:
Taints the red air with fevers, plagues, and death.
The description of the rising of this star is the only indication in the Homeric poems of the use of a stellar calendar.
Manilius seems to have had two views respecting Sirius. In one place he writes:
Ascends the skies, none sits so clear and bright.
In another we find:
The most afflicting powers that rule below.
The Arab name for Sirius was "Al-Shira-al-jamânija," meaning "the bright star of Yemen." Gore thinks that the word "Shira" might have been corrupted in the course of time into Sirius. Al-Shira was also interpreted "the Doorkeeper," Sirius being regarded as the star which opens or shuts. The Arabs also called this star "the Dog Star." In modern Arabia it is "Suhail," the general designation for bright stars.
The so-called "Dog Days" got their name from the fact that in the hottest days of summer Sirius, the Dog Star, blends his piercing rays with those of the god of day. This is of course metaphorical, as the heat we receive from Sirius is inappreciable.
According to Max Müller, the special Indian astronomical name of the Dog Star signified a hunter and deer-slayer.
