I think Orion is my favorite constellation in the sky. It’s visible in the south sky for the northern hemisphere winter, but it moves south after that. What’s neat about it is that it can be seen all over the world, not in just one hemisphere. The name Orion comes from Greek mythology, but Egyptians thought this group of stars was related to Orisis, and Sumerians saw a shepard. The Indians thought it was a hunter, and Aboriginal Austalians believed it to be a canoe with two brothers. According to them, the gods punished the two brothers for catching and eating a forbidden fish by throwing them up into the stars. Native Americans had a belief that the three bright stars that make up Orion’s belt were foot prints of the god of the flea people. They said that the wives of the flea god got all itchy and ran away, and the stars were where he jumped into the sky to look for them.
The name Orion comes from the Greek. There was a giant by the name of Orion who lived on the Aegean Islands. He was a hunting companion for Artemis (the goddess of the hunt) and was apparently placed in the stars after he died.
Another version of the story of Orion is that he was the son of the sea god Neptune (or Poseidon, I guess) and he had super human strength. He became the greatest hunter in the world and his ego grew with him. He boasted that he could kill any animal in the world in a fight. Then, along comes this little scorpion which stings him and kills him. That’s why the constellation of the scorpion and Orion are never in the sky at the same time.
