There were several heroes of the name of Hercules, but the most famous was Hercules the Theban, son of Jupiter and Alcmene wife of Amphitryon, King of Thebes, who is said to have lived some years before the siege of Troy, and went on the voyage of the Argonauts about 1300 B.C. According to some ancient writers, another Hercules lived about 2400 B.C., and was a contemporary of Atlas and Theseus. But according to Pétau, Atlas lived about 1638 B.C., and Lalande thought that this chronology is the more probable.
The small constellation Lyra, which contains the bright star Vega, is called by Al-Sufi the Lyre, the Goose, the Persian harp, and the Tortoise. In his translation of Al-Sufi’s work, Schjellerup suggests that the name “Goose” may perhaps mean a plucked goose, which somewhat resembles a Greek lyre, and also a tortoise. The name of the bright star Vega is a corruption of the Arabic vâki. Ptolemy and Al-Sufi included all the very brightest stars in the “first magnitude,” making no distinction between them, but it is evident at a glance that several of them, such as Arcturus and Vega, are brighter than an average star of the first magnitude, like Aldebaran.
The constellation Perseus, which lies south-east of “Cassiopeia’s Chair,” may be recognized by the festoon formed by some of its stars, the bright star α Persei being among them. It is called by Al-Sufi “barschânsch, Περσεύς, Perseus, who is hamil râs al-gul, the Bearer of the head of al-gul.” According to Kazimirski, “Gul was a kind of demon or ogre who bewilders travellers and devours them, beginning at the feet. In general any mischievous demon capable of taking all sorts of forms.” In the Greek mythology Perseus was supposed to be the son of Jupiter and Danæ. He is said to have been cast into the sea with his mother and saved by King Polydectus. He afterwards cut off the head of Medusa, one of the Gorgons, while she slept, and armed with this he delivered Andromeda from the sea-monster.
The constellation Auriga lies east of Perseus and contains the bright star Capella, one of the three brightest stars in the northern hemisphere (the others being Arcturus and Vega). Theon, in his commentary on Aratus, says that Bellerophon invented the chariot, and that it is represented in the heavens by Auriga, the celestial coachman. According to Dupuis, Auriga represents Phæton, who tried to drive the chariot of the sun, and losing his head fell into the river Eridanus. The setting of Eridanus precedes by a few minutes that of Auriga, which was called by some of the ancient writers Amnis Phaï-tontis.[399] Auriga is called by Al-Sufi numsick al-ainna—He who holds the reins, the Coachman; also al-inâz, the She-goat. M. Dorn found in Ptolemy’s work, the Greek name ‘Ηνίοχοι, Auriga, written in Arabic characters. Al-Sufi says, “This constellation is represented by the figure of a standing man behind ‘He who holds the head of al-gûl’ [Perseus], and between the Pleiades and the Great Bear.”
Capella is, Al-Sufi says, “the bright and great star of the first magnitude which is on the left shoulder [of the ancient figure] on the eastern edge of the Milky Way. It is that which is marked on the astrolabe as al-aijûk.” The real meaning of this name is unknown. Schjellerup thought, contrary to what Ideler says, that the name is identical with the Greek word Αϊξ (a goat). Capella was observed at Babylon about 2000 B.C., and was then known as Dilgan. The Assyrian name was Icu, and the Persian name colca. It was also called Capra Hircus, Cabrilla, Amalthea, and Olenia. In ancient times the rising of Capella was supposed to presage the approach of storms. Ovid says, “Olenia sidus pluviale Capellæ.”
The constellation Aquila is called by Al-Sufi al-ukab, the Eagle, or al-nasr al-tâïr, the flying vulture. According to the ancient poets the eagle carried nectar to Jupiter when he was hidden in a cave in Crete. This eagle also assisted Jupiter in his victory over the Giants and contributed to his other pleasures. For these reasons the eagle was consecrated to Jupiter, and was placed in the sky. Al-Sufi says, “There are in this figure three famous stars [γ, α, and β Aquilæ], which are called al-nasr al-tâïr.” Hence is derived the modern name Altair for the bright star α Aquilæ. Al-Sufi says that the “common people” call “the three famous stars” al-mîzân, the Balance, on account of the equality of the stars.” This probably refers to the approximately equal distances between γ and α, and α and β, and not to their relative brightness. He says “Between the bright one of the tail [ξ Aquilæ] and the star in the beak of the Hen [β Cygni] in the thinnest part of the Milky Way, we see the figure of a little earthen jar, of which the stars begin at the bright one in the tail, and extend towards the north-west. [This seems to refer to ε Aquilæ and the small stars near it.] They then turn towards the east in the base of the jar, and then towards the south-east to a little cloud [4, 5, etc. Vulpeculæ, a well-known group of small stars] which is found to the north of the two stars in the shaft of the Arrow [α and β Sagittæ]. The cloud is on the eastern edge of the jar, and the bright one on the tail on the western edge; the orifice is turned towards the flying Vulture [Aquila], and the base towards the north. Among these are distinguished some of the fourth, fifth, and sixth magnitudes [including, probably, 110, 111, 112, 113 Hercules, and 1 Vulpeculæ] and Ptolemy says nothing of this figure, except the bright star in the tail of the Eagle” (see figure). The above is a good example of the minute accuracy of detail in Al-Sufi’s description.
AL-SUFI’S “EARTHEN JAR.”
The southern portion of Aquila was formerly called Antinous, who was said to have been a young man of great beauty born at Claudiopolis in Bithynia, and drowned in the Nile. Others say that he sacrificed his life to save that of the Emperor Hadrian, who afterwards raised altars in his honour and placed his image on coins.[400]
The constellation Pegasus, Al-Sufi says, “is represented by the figure of a horse, which has the head, legs, and forepart of the body to the end of the back, but it has neither hind quarters nor hind legs.” According to Brown, Pegasus was the horse of Poseidon, the sea god. Half of it was supposed to be hidden in the sea, into which the river Eridanus flowed.[401] In the Greek mythology it was supposed to represent the winged horse produced by the blood which fell from the head of Medusa when she was killed by Perseus! Some think that it represents Bellerophon’s horse, and others the horse of Nimrod. It was also called Sagmaria and Ephippiatus, and was sometimes represented with a saddle instead of wings.