PLATE XXIV.
It will be seen that by consulting the precessional globe it has been possible to suggest dates at which the various simple and composite human figures, represented on the (Grecian) sphere could have been originally imagined in an upright position, either on the northern or southern meridian at some well-marked time of the year—that is of either a cosmical or a calendrical year.
That many other of the remaining ancient constellations—Canis Major and Canis Minor, Aquila, Cygnus, &c., were depicted and named at very remote dates, there can, I think, be little doubt. The wide-spread traditions connected with these figures demand an early origin for them. It is probable that the heliacal rising of certain bright stars in these constellations at some special season of the year, rather than their culmination at noon or at midnight, may have been the occasion for the interest taken in them.
A further study of the precessional globe with this thought present would probably suggest approximate dates for the imagining of some of these constellations, small in extent but marked by bright stars.
I will now only allude to the two remaining ancient constellations of wide extent—namely, to Argo and Pegasus.
Glancing at [Plate X.] (Astronomy in the Rig Veda) the almost upright and symmetrical position of Argo 3000 B.C. may suggest the likelihood that at that date or perhaps a few hundred years later, and in a latitude about 12° higher than that given in the diagram, this constellation was imagined. It will be observed that all the stars of Argo, even the bright and southern Canopus at 35° N. would have been above the horizon and visible at midnight of the winter solstice. At noon of the summer solstice they would have been above the horizon, but invisible in conjunction with the sun.
But now turning our thoughts to the constellation Pegasus, a difficulty confronts us at every date from 6000 B.C. downwards even to this present A.D. 1903: Pegasus as depicted on the globe has held and still holds a reversed position in the heavens. The very fact that for all the other ancient constellations which represent living beings, it has been possible to find some season and some date at which they could have been observed upright in the sky, makes it a more imperative need to seek for some explanation of the anomalous treatment meted out by astronomers of old to the winged steed.
In this stress of difficulty, I venture to make a suggestion which will, I fear, at first sight, appear far-fetched and fanciful, and quite out of line with other suppositions put forward in this book.
My suggestion is that an error concerning the right depicting of this constellation was fallen into by some astronomers of old, and that this error was handed down to us through the Grecian school.
If on some clear autumnal or winter night we search for the constellation Pegasus, not on a globe or map but in the southern quarter of the actual sky, we may quickly recognise it by four very bright stars which mark the corners of an almost exact and very extensive square on the vault of heaven. Then stretching away from the lower and western corner of this square still farther towards the horizon and to the west, we may trace the faint stars which mark the neck, and the somewhat brighter star which marks the head of the Demi-Horse: while starting from the upper western corner of the square and stretching still higher towards the zenith, and to the west we detect the lines of fainter stars which mark the fore legs and the hoofs of Pegasus. If we allow the four stars of the “square of Pegasus” still to mark the body of the horse, and think of the upper lines of faint stars as marking its neck and head and of the lower ones as marking its fore legs and hoofs, the figure exactly reversed will still fit within the limiting lines of the constellation, with the satisfactory result that the winged steed, not miserably floundering on its back but upright and alert, will be seen in our mental vision night after night pursuing its course from east to west across the heavens.
AQUARIUS
But even to arrive at so satisfactory a result, we might scarcely dare to propose without some other plea than its mere desirability, so arbitrary a method of dealing with the reversed position of Pegasus, as that of thus correcting a supposed error on the part of early astronomers.
There is, however, I think, in Grecian and in Vedic legend some support to be found for the opinion that the original position of Pegasus was upright and not reversed.
Though on the Grecian astronomic sphere Pegasus appears reversed, on no artistic monument, vase, or coin is he thus represented, and in Grecian legend he is ever a glorious and highly-prized friend and helper of gods and heroes. Amongst other achievements, we read of him that he produced with a blow of his hoof the inspiring fountain Hippocrene.
In the Rig Veda we read of a swift horse, belonging to the Aswins, who from his hoof filled a hundred vases of sweet liquor.
Max Müller has pointed out that the Aswins possessed a horse called Pagas. The stars α and β Arietis are in Hindu astronomy called the “Aswins,” and at [p. 137] I have contended that these stars in Vedic times symbolised the twin heroes, the Aswins, the possessors, according to Max Müller, of the horse Pagas. If we look at Pegasus in the sky, and observe how closely following that constellation the bright stars that mark the head of Aries appear, we shall easily understand how these Aswins might have by Vedic bards been imagined as possessing and driving in front of them the swift steed Pegasus.
In two hymns addressed to the Aswins we read as follows:[125]—
Maṇḍala I.—Súkta cxvi. and verse 7.
“You filled from the hoof of your vigorous steed, as if from a cask, a hundred jars of wine.”
And again in the next hymn, cxvii. verse 6—
“You filled for the (expectant) man a hundred vases of sweet (liquors) from the hoof of your fleet horse.”
[125] Wilson’s translation of the Rig Veda.
As Pegasus is now represented his hoofs touch no well or fountain, cask or vase. But if we depict him as suggested above (see [Plate XXIV.]), his hoof would indeed appear as almost in the act of striking the vase in the constellation Aquarius, from which the abundant waters gush forth.
I have already alluded to the Aswamedha hymns in the Rig Veda as probably referring not merely to the sacrifice of an actual horse, but rather to a symbolic sacrifice of the winged horse of the constellation Pegasus. In support of this opinion I will quote from the hymns in question:—
Maṇḍala I.—Súkta clxii.
“1. Let neither MITRA nor VARUN̂A, ARYAMAN, ÁYU, INDRA, RIBHUKSHIN, nor the Maruts censure us: when we proclaim in the sacrifice the virtues of the swift horse sprung from the gods.
“2. When they, (the priests), bring the prepared offering to the presence (of the horse), who has been bathed and decorated with rich (trappings), the various-coloured goat going before him, bleating, becomes an acceptable offering to INDRA and PÚSHAN.
“3. This goat, the portion of PÚSHAN, fit for all the gods, is brought first with the fleet courser, so that TWASHT́ṚI may prepare him along with the horse, as an acceptable preliminary offering for the (sacrificial) food.”
Looking at [Plate XXIV., Figs. 1], [2], we may observe how the constellation Capricornus “goes before” that of Pegasus, and we may understand the aspiration that Twasht́ṛi may prepare him along with the horse as an acceptable preliminary offering.
After many verses entering into minute and rather horrible details of the “immolation” and even of the cooking of the sacrificial horse the 19th verse adds—
“There is one immolator of the radiant horse, which is Time”; and these words seem to carry us back from thoughts of an actual to a, in some way, symbolical sacrifice, especially when at verse 21 we read:
“Verily at this moment thou dost not die; nor art thou harmed; for thou goest by auspicious paths to the gods. The horses of INDRA, the steeds of the Maruts shall be yoked (to their cars), and a courser shall be placed in the shaft of the ass of the AŚWINS (to bear thee to heaven).”
The following hymn (lxiii.) I give in extenso:—
Maṇḍala I.—Súkta clxiii.
1. Thy great birth, O Horse, is to be glorified; whether first springing from the firmament or from the water, inasmuch as thou hast neighed (auspiciously), for thou hast the wings of the falcon and the limbs of the deer.
2. TRITA harnessed the horse which was given by YAMA: INDRA first mounted him, and GANDHARBA seized his reins. Vasus, you fabricated the horse from the sun.
3. Thou, horse, art YAMA: thou art A’DITYA: thou art TRITA by a mysterious act: thou art associated with SOMA. The sages have said there are three bindings of thee in heaven.
4. They have said that three are thy bindings in heaven; three upon earth; and three in the firmament. Thou declarest to me, Horse, who art (one with) VARUN̂A, that which they have called thy most excellent birth.
5. I have beheld, Horse, these thy purifying (regions); these impressions of the feet of thee, who sharest in the sacrifice; and here thy auspicious reins, which are the protectors of the rite that preserve it.
6. I recognise in my mind thy form afar off, going from (the earth) below, by way of heaven, to the sun. I behold thy head soaring aloft, and mounting quickly by unobstructed paths, unsullied by dust.
7. I behold thy most excellent form coming eagerly to (receive) thy food in thy (holy) place of earth; when thy attendant brings thee nigh to the enjoyment (of the provender), therefore greedy, thou devourest the fodder.
8. The car follows thee, O Horse: men attend thee; cattle follow thee; the loveliness of maidens (waits) upon thee; troops of demi-gods following thee have sought thy friendship; the gods themselves have been admirers of thy vigour.
9. His mane is of gold; his feet are of iron; and fleet as thought, INDRA is his inferior (in speed). The gods have come to partake of his (being offered as) oblation; the first who mounted the horse was INDRA.
10. The full-haunched, slender-waisted, high-spirited, and celestial coursers (of the sun), gallop along like swans in rows, when the horses spread along the heavenly path.
11. Thy body, horse, is made for motion; thy mind is rapid (in intention) as the wind; the hairs (of thy mane) are tossed in manifold directions; and spread beautiful in the forests.
12. The swift horse approaches the place of immolation, meditating with mind intent upon the gods; the goat bound to him is led before him; after him follow the priests and the singers.
13. The horse proceeds to that assembly which is most excellent: to the presence of his father and his mother (heaven and earth). Go, (Horse), to-day rejoicing to the gods, that (the sacrifice) may yield blessings to the donor.
Many passages in this hymn, such as those in [verse 3] referring to Trita and Soma, may suggest corroborative astronomic observations,[126] but I would here especially refer to the description, [verse 1], of the horse possessing “the wings of the falcon,” and in [verse 6] to the words, “I behold thy head soaring aloft, and mounting quickly by unobstructed paths, unsullied by dust.”
As I read these hymns I cannot think merely of an actual horse led to sacrifice, but of the winged celestial Pegasus; nor is it easy to think of that celestial horse as it is at present depicted, reversed in the sky.
The Vedic poet beheld his head soaring aloft, but in the previous verse he has said, “I have beheld Horse, ... those impressions of the feet of thee”; and if these “impressions” were the stars which, on the Grecian sphere, marked the horse’s head, but, as I have contended, originally marked his hoof, then we shall understand how, associated with Soma, and identical with Trita by a mysterious act—i.e., at the season of the summer solstice, and when the moon was at its full in the constellation Aquarius, ancient astronomers imagined to themselves the horse Pegasus producing with his hoof the sweet exhilarating waters of the fountain Hippocrene.
The date of this particular legend concerning the hoof of Pegasus I should be inclined to place at about 3000 B.C., when the solstitial colure was so closely marked by “those impressions of the feet” of the “swift horse sprung from the gods.” For the first imagining of the constellation I think that of 4000 B.C. is more probable (see [Plate XXIV., Figs. 1], [2]).
PLATE XV.
FIG. 2.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Winter Solstice.
Visible—Midnight, Summer Solstice.
5,744 B.C. Lat. 45° N.
5,744 B.C. Lat. 45° N.
Constellations above Northern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Winter Solstice.
Visible—Midnight, Summer Solstice.
FIG. 1.
PLATE XVI.
FIG. 2.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Spring Equinox.
Visible—Midnight, Autumn Equinox.
5,744 B.C. Lat. 45° N.
5,744 B.C. Lat. 45° N.
Constellations above Northern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Spring Equinox.
Visible—Midnight, Autumn Equinox.
FIG. 1.
PLATE XVII.
FIG. 2.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Summer Solstice.
Visible—Midnight, Winter Solstice.
5,744 B.C. Lat. 45° N.
5,744 B.C. Lat. 45° N.
Constellations above Northern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Summer Solstice.
Visible—Midnight, Winter Solstice.
FIG. 1.
PLATE XVIII.
FIG. 2.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Autumn Equinox.
Visible—Midnight, Spring Equinox.
5,744 B.C. Lat. 45° N.
5,744 B.C. Lat. 45° N.
Constellations above Northern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Autumn Equinox.
Visible—Midnight, Spring Equinox.
FIG. 1.
PLATE XIX.
FIG. 2.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Autumn Equinox.
Visible—Midnight, Spring Equinox.
4,667 B.C. Lat. 40° N.
4,667 B.C. Lat. 40° N.
Constellations above Northern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Autumn Equinox.
Visible—Midnight, Spring Equinox,
FIG. 1.
PLATE XX.
FIG. 2.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Spring Equinox.
Visible—Midnight, Autumn Equinox.
4,667 B.C. Lat. 40° N.
4,667 B.C. Lat. 40° N.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Summer Solstice.
Visible—Midnight, Winter Solstice.
FIG. 1.
PLATE XXI.
FIG. 4.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Autumn Equinox.
Visible—Midnight, Spring Equinox.
4,128 B.C. Lat. 40° N.
FIG. 3.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Summer Solstice.
Visible—Midnight, Winter Solstice.
4,128 B.C. Lat. 40° N.
4,128 B.C. Lat 40° N.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Winter Solstice.
Visible—Midnight, Summer Solstice.
FIG. 1.
4,128 B.C. Lat 40° N.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Spring Solstice.
Visible—Midnight, Autumn Solstice.
FIG. 2.
PLATE XXII.
FIG. 2.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Winter Solstice.
Visible—Midnight, Summer Solstice.
5,744 B.C. Lat. 18° N.
FIG. 4.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, beginning Calendrical Year.
Visible—Midnight, 7th Month, Calendrical Year.
3,589 B.C. Lat. 23° N.
5,744 B.C. Lat. 18° N.
Constellations above Northern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Winter Solstice.
Visible-Midnight, Summer Solstice.
FIG. 1.
3,589 B.C. Lat. 23° N.
Constellations above Northern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon beginning Calendrical Year.
Visible—Midnight, 7th Month, Calendrical Year.
FIG. 3.
PLATE XXIII.
FIG. 4.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Spring Equinox.
Visible—Midnight, Autumn Equinox.
1,433 B.C. Lat. 40° N.
FIG. 3.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Spring Equinox.
Visible—Midnight, Autumn Equinox.
3,050 B.C. Lat. 35° N.
3,589 B.C. Lat. 35° N.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, 7th Month, Calendrical Year.
Visible—Midnight, beginning Calendrical Year.
FIG. 1.
3,589 B.C. Lat. 35° N.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Autumn Equinox.
Visible—Midnight, Spring Equinox.
FIG. 2.
PLATE XXIV.
FIG. 2.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Winter Solstice.
Visible—Midnight, Summer Solstice.
3,050 B.C. Lat. 23° N.
4,128 B.C. Lat. 40° N.
Constellations above Southern Horizon.
Invisible—Noon, Winter Solstice.
Visible—Midnight, Summer Solstice.
FIG. 1.