Canis Major and Minor are the dogs of Orion, and are pursuing the Hare.
The Twins, Castor and Pollux, the sons of Jupiter and Leda, are the theme of many a fable. They were especially worshipped as the protectors of those who sailed the seas, for Neptune had rewarded their brotherly love by giving them power over winds and waves, that they might assist the shipwrecked.
Leo, according to the Greek story, was the famous Nemean lion slain by Hercules. Jupiter placed it in the heavens in honor of the exploit.
The Hydra also commemorates one of the twelve labors of Hercules—the destruction of the hundred-headed monster of the Lernæan lake.
Virgo represents Astræa, the goddess of innocence and purity, or, as some say, of justice. She was the last of the gods to withdraw from earth at the close of “the golden age.”
Libra, or the Balance, is the emblem of justice, and is usually associated with the fable of Astræa.
Argo Navis is the famous ship in which Jason and his companions sailed to find the Golden Fleece.
This slight sketch of the leading fables connected with the constellations will serve to show how completely the Greeks “nationalized the heavens.”
SCIENTIFIC TERMS USED IN ASTRONOMY
Astronomy (as-tron´om-i). The science which treats of the heavenly bodies, explaining the motions, times and causes of the motions, distances, magnitudes, gravities, light, etc., of the sun, moon, and stars, the nature and causes of the eclipses of the sun and moon, the conjunction and apposition of the planets, and any other of their mutual aspects, with the times when they did or will happen.