The Role Of Swan Constellations In Greek Mythology

The constellation that rises from the East is Hercules. The constellation that is high in the south

In spite of this, most of the women he had slept with had been raped, including his own wife. Hera had been purposely avoiding her brother, wanting nothing to do with him. He was well aware of this, and while pursuing her had come up with a plan. Zeus transformed himself into a "sad and bedraggled looking cuckoo bird, soaked from a strong downpour"(Pontikis). Hera, pitying the bird, held him up to her heart for warmth and desired to heal him. In this moment, Zeus transformed back into his regular form and raped Hera, who could do nothing in the spontaneity. After this incident, they married out of guilt for the rape and conceived multiple children (Pontikis). Among other victims was the kidnapped Prince Ganymede, whom was taken by Zeus in the form of an eagle. Upon being ddelivered to Mount Olympus, he raped the young boy, and made him his cup-bearer (Leadbetter). As an apology, he did not return the prince to his family, but sent a couple of

His affair with a woman named Leto led to the birth of the twins Apollo and Artemis. Hera being the jealous wife she was, forced Leto to roam the earth in search of a place to give birth, for Hera had stopped her from gaining shelter on land or at sea. The only place she could go was to the isle of Delos in the middle of the Aegean Sea, for Delos was a floating island. This would be one of many of Hera’s revenges on her husband’s affairs. Zeus used many different disguises to seduce women. When he seduced the Spartan queen Leda, he transformed himself into a beautiful swan, and from the egg which Leda produced, two sets of twins were born. They were Polydeuces and Castor and Clytemnestra and Helen of Troy. He also visited princess Danae as a shower of gold, and from this, the hero Perseus was born. He kidnapped the Phoenician princess Europa, disguised as a bull, then carried her on his back to the island of Crete where she had three sons. They were Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon. These were just some of his many children. Zeus had many Temples and festivals in his honor, the most famous was Olympia, the magnificent "Temple of Zeus", which held the gold and ivory statue of the enthroned Zeus, which was sculpted by Phidias. It was later to become one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World". Also the Olympic Games and many other numerous festivals throughout Greece were held in

The Greek myth behind Taurus is that Zeus fell in love with a young girl named Europa, and transformed into a kind and gentle white bull in order to trick the girl into climbing on his back. When she did, he whisked her away to Crete by swimming there through the sea, and thereafter she had three of sons with Zeus. Only the front part of the bull is seen in the constellation, and it is said that it is to show the bull half submerged as he would have been in the myth.

I've chosen to speak about the constellation Crux, commonly known as the Southern Cross, since this was the first constellation I learned to recognise in the night sky. Despite being the smallest official constellation, it is one of the easiest to recognize and, on the Southern hemisphere, it's used to locate the South Celestial Pole. The Crux constellation is formed by 4 main stars: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta Crucis.

The signs of the greek Zodiac were identified with twelve groups of stars. They were associated with one of the four elements.. The word Zodiac comes from a greek word that means the circle of animals. Each Zodiac sign started off as a myth of religion. The stories of the sign explain how each group of stars found its way to the heavens.

Leda was a beautiful maid who attracted Zeus; the mighty God transformed himself into the form of a swan with his divine powers and raped Leda. The outcome of this was the birth of Helen of Troy. The four stanzas reflect upon the actual scene of the rape, where Zeus (as a swan) attacks Leda.

Mythologists say that the constellation represents Laelaps, a dog so fast that no prey could outrun it. This dog had a long list of owners. The most likely version says that he was given by Zeus to Europa, whose son Minos, gave him to Procris. The dog was given to her along with a javelin that could never miss.

In this story the swan was the disguise of Zeus who was obsessed by his own passionate love for Leda. The reason of transforming is possibly to hide himself from his jealousy wife, Hera who often obstructed his affairs.

And thus, Zeus placed Hercules’ remains in the sky which is what is now viewed as the Hercules constellation (“Hercules

Like a lot of constellations, there are a lot of possible explanations for the presence of the swan in the heavens. Some myths, for instance, state the swan was once the pet of the a queen. Other versions state that the swan was Cionus, son of Neptune, who was wrestled down to the ground and smothered by Achilles. To save his son, Neptune immortalized Cionus as a swan.

The constellation is named after Cassiopeia - also known as the vain queen in Greek mythology, who was Queen of Aethiopia. Her husband was Cepheus, and her daughter was Princess Andromeda. Cassiopeia was placed in the

My favorite constellation is Crux. I have always been interested in stars, but I have had trouble recognizing constellations. And Crux, or more specifically, the asterism of the Southern Cross, was the first constellation I ever distinguished in the night sky without assistance. I also associate the constellation with the trip that I was on at the time I saw it, since it is not visible from my home. Crux is the smallest constellation, but it is bright and easily seen and recognized with the naked eye. The main asterism, the Southern Cross, is a grouping of five stars in the approximate shape of a cross. The cross is used in navigation similar to the way in which the North Star is used in the northern hemisphere. The longer ‘beam’ of the cross

Zeus, the most powerful Greek God, is attracted to mortal women. Therefore he transforms himself into a swan, so that the mortal Leda does not fear him and even more so, that she would be attracted to the stunning presence of the swan. The rape is more extraordinary because she did not expect from the majestic swan to do such a thing. Due to the mutation of Zeus into a swan, Leda is left not only scared from the traumatic experience but also she has no trust in the world anymore, she does not think that such a majestic creature can do such a horrible act, especially to a mortal women. The swan represents in Greek Mythology various symbols: a symbol of the Muses, goddesses which protected the art and gave inspiration for poetry, literature, arts and science. Also the Greek Goddess of Beauty, Aphrodite had a swan-drawn chariot. Apollo, God of music, poetry, art, oracles, archery, plague, medicine, sun, light and knowledge transformed himself into a swan, which represents the symbol of music.

The mythology surrounding the constellation Gemini is about two twin brothers Castor and Pollux. Their mother was Leda who was the wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta. Leda was impregnated by both Zeus in the form of a swan and her husband the same night. Which caused Pollux to be immortal and his brother Castor to be mortal. Their mother Leda had two other children Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. Pollux was known for his great strength while Castor was famous for his skill with horses. Both of the brothers would search for the Golden Fleece as Argonauts and fight in the Trojan War to bring Helen home to her husband Menelaus. In mythology they are depicted as being armed with spears and riding matching white horses. Castor was killed in the Trojan