The Lion
Empty of grain the arid fields appear
When first the sun into the Lion enters.
Aratos.
The figure of Leo, very much as we now have it, appears in all the Indian and Egyptian zodiacs, and of all the zodiacal constellations it is probably the most famous. As many authorities claim, its prominence is beyond question due to the fact that the place of the sun at the summer solstice was in this constellation at the time when the star groups were designed. There was thus a visible connection between the constellation Leo and the return of the sun to the place of power and glory at the apex of the heavenly arch. This obvious relationship is the principal reason why Leo was held in such high esteem and reverence by the ancients.
Owing to the change wrought by the Precession of the Equinoxes, the sun in ancient times entered this constellation about a month earlier than it does now, at a time when the heat of summer was at its maximum. "The sun glows in the Lion," says Seneca, meaning that when the sun enters the sign of Leo at the summer solstice, the highest temperature of the year is experienced. The placing of the fiery and ferocious Lion, the king of beasts, in this part of the sky, symbolised the fact that the sun reigned supreme when it arrived in this constellation.
To escape this season of heat, the lions of the desert sought the valley of the Nile, that river attaining its highest level in the latter part of July, when the sun was in Leo,
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