Star Lore Of All Ages/Introduction

by William Tyler Olcott

Introduction

There are many persons who are familiar with the bright stars and constellations of these northern latitudes who are unaware of the beautiful myths and legends that time and fancy have woven about them.

As even a meagre knowledge of star lore has added greatly to the writer's pleasure in the study of the stars, and has served to render their appearance full of suggestion, he has been interested in collecting for this volume a portion of that varied history of the heavens that has been presented in terms imaginative by the peoples of all ages. Those who admire the beauty of the stars may learn to love them by reason of the literary and legendary associations recalled by their appearance.

Much that appears in these pages has been published from time to time in books on popular astronomy of comparatively recent date, but to the writer's knowledge no comprehensive story has as yet been presented of the constellations, and of the stars they contain.

In the compilation of this volume, the purpose has been to include all matter pertinent to the subject, in order that the history of the constellations, as known and as written by all nations in every age, might be arranged in convenient form for the benefit of those who only know the stars by sight.

A further aim has been to revive an interest in the mythology that twines about the stars. It has seemed but right that this wealth of star lore, buried deep in the treasury of the past, should once more see the light, and add its increased charm and interest to those who scan the skies.

Such a history must ever serve to keep bright the memory of the earliest times, and fanciful though the constellation figures seem, our stars bear the same names that were given to them in the very dawn of civilisation.

In conclusion, it is hoped that the history of the heavens here set forth will awaken fresh interest in the stars, and will secure for them the attention that is their just due on the part of all lovers of the beautiful.

W. T. O.

Norwich, Conn, January, 1911.

And all the signs through which Night whirls her car,
From belted Orion back to Orion and his dauntless Hound,
And all Poseidon's, all high Zeus's stars,
Bear on their beams true messages to man.
Poste's Translation of Aratoa,

ILLUSTRATIONS

	PAGE
The Creation of the Sun and Moon (Michelangelo).	Frontispiece
Ptolemy National Museum, Naples.	12
Perseus and Andromeda (Berlin).	22
Great Nebula in Andromeda	26
Ganymede and the Eagle Museum of Vatican, Rome.	32
Ganymede Seized by the Eagle Painting by Rubens. Gallery of the Prado, Madrid.	46
Ganymede Painting by George Frederick Watts.	48
Avenue of Ram-headed Sphinxes, Karnak From Piers's "Inscriptions of the Nile Monuments."	56
The Temple of Khonsu, Karnak From Piers's "Inscriptions of the Nile Monuments."	68
Chariot	69
Atlas National Museum, Naples.	74
Spiral Nebula in Canes Venatici	84
The Temple at Luxor	100
God Anubis	102
Actæon Attacked by the Hounds of Diana National Museum, Palermo.	110
Typhon Acropolis Museum, Athens.	116
Theseus Slaying the Minotaur Statue at Villa Albani.	148
The Minotaur Painting by George Frederick Watts.	150
Bacchus and Ariadne National Gallery, London.	152
Ariadne Sleeping Nationa! Museum, Rome.	154
Medea National Museum Naples.	166
Orpheus and Eurydice Painting by George Frederick Watts.	172
Cupid and Dolphin National Museum, Naples.	180
Minerva Vatican Museum, Rome.	186
Temple of Thebes	190
Phaeton Driving the Chariot of Apollo Painting by Max Klepper.	196
Temple of Castor and Pollux at Rome	202
Temple of Castor and Pollux at Girgenti	204
Farnese Hercules National Museum, Naples.	210
The Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents at Pompeii	214
Dejanira and Nessus Painting by Lagrénée. Museum of the Louvre, Paris.	216
Hercules and Hesperides Villa Albani, Rome.	220
Star Cluster in the Centauri	222
Hercules and the Hydra Uffizi Gallery at Florence.	224
Orpheus and Eurydice Villa Albani, Rome.	258
Mercury, by Rubens Gallery of the Prado, Madrid.	260
Ring Nebula in Lyra	264
Laocoön Museum of Vatican, Rome.	270
The Forge of Vulcan In the Ducal Palace, Venice.	278
Diana Capitoline Museum, Rome.	280
The Zodiac of Denderah	282
Great Nebula in Orion Harvard College Observatory.	286
Bellerophon and Pegasus at Rome	292
Perseus and Andromeda Painting by Rubens.	302
Perseus and Medusa Bronze by Cellini at Florence.	304
Venus and Cupid	310
The Rape of Europa Painting by Veronese. In the Ducal Palace, Venice.	338
Juno and Jove National Museum, Palermo.	352
The Temple of Hathor at Denderah	362
Ceres In the Vatican, Rome.	384
The Sphinx	388
Juno Suckling the Infant Jove Painting by Rubens. Gallery of the Prado, Madrid.	394
The Milky Way in Sagittarius	396
The Dance of the Pleiades Painting by Elihu Vedder.	408
The Lost Pleiad By Randolph Rogers.	420
The Pleiades, Showing Nebula (Bruce 24-inch Telescope.) Courtesy of Prof. E. C. Pickering.	424
Temple of Edfu	432
Berenice Bronze Bust in National Museum, Naples.	434

BIBLIOGRAPHY

In the compilation of this volume the author hereby acknowledges his indebtedness to the following publications for much valuable information.

Star-Names and their Meanings	Richard H. Allen
Starland	Sir Robert S. Ball
Influence of the Stars	Rosa Baughan
A History of Astronomy	Arthur Berry
Astronomical Myths	J. F. Blake
Stellar Theology	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$Robert Brown, Jun.
Primitive Constellations
Geography of the Heavens	Elijah H. Burritt
The Story of the Stars	George F. Chambers
The System of the Stars	Agnes M. Clerke
The Sidereal Heavens	Thomas Dick
Star Lore	J. A. Farrer
Metrical Pieces	N. L. Frothingham
Astronomical Essays	James E. Gore
How to Know the Heavens	Eward Irving
Astronomy of the Ancients	Sir George C. Lewis
Dawn of Astronomy	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer
Star-Gazing
The Friendly Stars	Martha Evans Martin
The Astronomy of the Bible	E. W. Maunder
The Children's Book of Stars	Geraldine E. Mitton
The Stars	Simon Newcomb
Astronomy of Paradise Lost	T. N. Orchard
Familiar Talks on Astronomy	W. H. Parker
History of the Heavens	The Abbé Pluche
Ancient Calendars and Constellations	E. M. Plunket
The Stars in Song and Legend	J. G. Porter
The Storyland of Stars	Mara L. Pratt
Stories of Starland	Mary Proctor
Myths and Marvels of Astronomy	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$Richard A. Proctor
The Flowers of the Sky
The Expanse of Heaven
Handbook of the Stars	N. J. Rolfe
Astronomy of the Old Testament	Giovanni Schiaparelli
Curiosities of the Sky	$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$Garret P. Serviss
Pleasures of the Telescope
Astronomy with the Naked Eye
Astronomy with an Opera-Glass
New Astronomy	David P. Todd
Celestial Objects for Common Telescopes	Rev. T. W. Webb
History of the Inductive Sciences	William Whewell
Oriental and Linguistic Studies	William D. Whitney
Journal of American Folk-Lore
American Oriental Society's Journal
Memoirs of the London Anthropological Society
Popular Astronomy
The Works of John Playfair