A-dictionary-of-greek-and-roman-antiquities-william-smith

152 ASTROXOMIA.
ASTRONOMIA.
Great Fish), sometimes Derceto, sometimes Derce. I Among the Romans Jugula or Jugulae seems to
This power they confounded with another Syrian have been the indigenous appellation ; the former
goddess Astarte, whom again they identified with is noticed by Varro and Festus, the latter occur*
their own Aphrodite. The story ran that when in Plautus (Ampk. I 1. 119)—
fleeing in terror from the violence of Typhon, she
plunged into the Euphrates, and was transformed
** Nec Jugula?, nequc Vespcrugo, neque Vcrgiliae
into a fish. (Manil. ii. 33, iv. 580.) Avienus
occidunt
terms these fishes Bombycii, for which Grotius has but no satisfactory explanation has been proposed.
rightly proposed to substitute Bambycii, for Atargatis
was specially worshipped at Bambyce or called Humeri, (Var. L. L. vi. 3.)
The two bright stars (a, 7) under the head were
Hierapolis in Cvrrhestica. (Strab. xvi. p. 517; 3. Tub Eridanus, Tlorap6s (Ant. 358), .f tu
Plin. //. N. v. 23 ; Selden, de Diis Syriis, ii. 3.) rns (Cic German.). Aratus remarks that it was
The bright star (a) which is supposed to form considered as a remnant of the Eridanus,
the knot of the two bands which connects the
fishes by their tails, is by Aratus (245) named Attyavov 'HptSavoTo ToAvfcAat/arov woTa/uno,
"XvvStfffios {nrovpeuos, by his scholiast o«o>tiy oupcdoSy
by Qeminus and Oermanicus simply ZvkSco-- Strab.) stream which proved a fruitful source of
that mythical non-existent (tof pn&apov yrjs Akto,
pot, terms variously translated Nodus (Cic), speculation in ancient as it has done in modern
Nodus IJiscium (Vitruv.), Nodus coelestis (Avien.), times. The Romans identified the Eridanus with
Commissura pisrium (Plin. xviii. 31). The bands
themselves are called in one passage of Aratus
(362 > Attrpal oifpcuoi^ more commonly Alvot or
Aiwa, the Vinda of Cicero and Germanicus, the
Alligamentum linteum of the scholiast on the latter.
From Vitruvius (ix. 4) it appears that the
sprinkling of indistinct stars between the Fishes
and the Whale, was called by the Greeks 'Epptj-
Wnj, a word explained by iiesychius to mean ray
apvb"pwv ktrripwv x"0''?*
Southern Signs,
1. Thk Whale, Krjros (Arat. 353), 'Optp6s
(Jul. Firm. Astron. viii. 17), Cetus (Vitruv. ix. 4 ;
Manil. i. 440), Pristis (German, 644 ; Manil. i.
363), Nereia Pistris (German. 714), Neptunia
Pistrix (Cic, comp, German. 709). The last three
designations are different forms of the Greek
nprjaTis, which Suidas interprets to signify tlSos
Kirovs baKaaalov. This was the sea-monster, ac
cording to Aratus, sent to devour Andromeda.
2. Orion, Vlpiaiy (Arat 322), 'Oaplssv (Pind.
Callim.), Orion (Cic German, Vitruv. Manil. i.
399), Oarion (Catull. lxv. sub fin.), Proles Hyriea
(Ov. Fast vi. 719, comp. v. 495). Argion in Julius
Firraicus (viii. 9), is probably a corrupt form of
Oarion.
This is one of the oldest constellations, being
noticed in Homer (xviiL 486) and Hesiod {Erg.
598, 615, 619), both of whom employ the expres
sion (rdivos Vlplwvat. The figure was supposed to
represent an armed warrior {^itptos l