# The Music of the Spheres/Chapter 3

CHAPTER III
THE ROMANCE OF THE STARS
In the vividness of their fancy, intensified by glorious scenery and sunny skies, the ancient Greeks believed that the gods dwelt on the summit of Mount Olympus and that queer and lovely beings roamed about the land. They heard the raging of the Wind-gods, the dancing feet of wood nymphs, the trip, trip, trip of satyrs and the music of Pandean pipes as this merry god went skipping over hill and lea. They knew that naiads peeped from the mist in fountains and dryads lived in the hearts of trees, while down in the sea, Neptune tossed up the billows with his trident and the little sea-maids sat in them and rocked and sang. Heroes, semi-divine, swept the earth of its monsters, while gods in golden chariots attended to the welfare of mankind. So deeply sincere was this mythological faith that great temples and beautiful shrines were built in honor of the gods, and one can scarce find a spot in all of Greece, or in all the sky that hangs over Greece, that is not hallowed by some wonderful legend.
This beloved country was thought to lie on the center of the earth, which was marked by the oracle of Apollo, at Delphi. In those days, the earth was supposed to hang like a disk in the great hollow globe of the world, its land divided into two parts by the Mediterranean Sea and its edges washed by the turbulent river of the ocean. The upper part of this globe was illuminated by the sun, moon and stars and was called Heaven, but the lower part tended below the earth-disk and formed a terrifying pit of utter darkness. The Milky Way was a road which led to the home of the gods, but this pit was a place of dire punishment.
​One of the many duties of the gods was to see that the earth was properly lighted by the sun and the moon, and that the stars were "penned in" at dawn and "unpenned" nightly. The sun, moon and stars rose and sank in the stream of the ocean, but the sun, instead of being submerged, was carried around the stream from west to east in a winged cup or golden boat made by the god The Ancient World Vulcan. It was at first thought that Vulcan, with a mighty heave, threw the hot sun-ball over the Caucasus mountains in the east to the Atlantic ocean in the west, and then hastily paddled around the world stream to catch it as it fell, but later it was believed that Apollo, the Sun-god, drove it across the sky in a chariot, the return journey to the country of the sunrise being accomplished by placing both chariot and sun in Vulcan's remarkable boat. Centuries later (about 336 B. C.) Eudoxus evolved the theory of the concentric crystalline spheres which brought the tracks of ​the heavenly bodies under and above the motionless disk of the earth with the stars rolling round in long-drawn notes of celestial sweetness audible only to the gods.
The ancient people imagined that before the earth was smoothed out flat in its present attractive form, the whole world was tumbled together in great confusion,—land, air, sea, sky, hot, cold, soft, hard, light and heavy all mixed and melting in a desolate mass presided over by the god Chaos. Chaos was dethroned by the God of Darkness, who in turn was dethroned by Light and Day. Light and Day, being orderly, industriously sorted the earth from the sea and extracted the heavens from both. The fiery part was cast into the sky where it splintered into stars, while the earth, "a lifeless lump, unfashion'd and unfram'd," was heaped in a big, broad mound with a deep and terrifying stream of waters flowing around it. Then Uranus, the Heavens, noting his superior position, took the scepter away from Light and Day and became the first ruler of the created world. Love was then born and the Earth, entranced, hemmed in her valleys and extended her plains, made paths for the rivers and beds for the lakes. The seeds, relieved of weight, burst their coverings, and the hills became green with foliage and the meadows brilliant with flowers. The world was now beautiful, and Heaven looked down on the colorful earth, and Earth looked up into the starry eyes of Heaven, and love grew, and the Earth became the Heaven's bride.
In the course of time, Uranus began to seriously consider his numerous and somewhat fearful progeny, for the huge Titans, the one-eyed Cyclops and the hundred-handed giants were here and there and everywhere about the land. Foreseeing that his sovereignty might eventually become imperiled, he picked up the Cyclops and Hecatońcheires and thrust them out of sight into the Pit of Darkness.
Such heartless conduct on the part of her husband aroused the ​wrath of Mother Earth, who urged the Titans to revolt against their father and release their brothers from the Pit. But the Titans looked at the great Sky and were afraid, all except one huge giant named Saturn who picked up a keen-edged scythe and frightened his father into submission. Saturn then appropriated the throne and made Rhea his Queen, although he prudently swallowed all of the children that were born to him lest they in turn might take the throne. By the time Jupiter, her sixth child, was born, Saturn's wife was aroused to such a point of opposition that she concealed a stone in the infant's clothes and hid the 'mighty babe.' Jupiter, however, expressed himself so vigorously and so continuously that Rhea, in desperation, sent him away from Mount Olympus, the home of the gods, to an island named Crete, lying to the south of Greece. Here he was fed on honey, milk and ambrosia while his attendants danced and clattered and kept up a perpetual din. This concealment was quite necessary, for his uncles, the Titans, had now become a powerful race of giants and had decreed that not one of Saturn's heirs, but one of themselves would succeed to the throne. His nurses, by the way, and the goat with which he played, were afterwards placed in the sky as a reward for their kindness, the nurses, according to one legend, being accorded a position on the "V" of stars in the constellation of Taurus, while the goat was placed in the arms of the shepherd in Auriga.
When the Titans discovered that they had been deceived and that a child of Saturn's was among them, they rushed with furious war-cries upon Olympus. Hearing the commotion from the island of Crete, Jupiter rushed to the aid of his father, and so confident and strenuous was this powerful child, that the surprised Titans turned and fled. The young god then displayed an inherited trait and helped himself to his father's kingdom and the golden palace on the top of the mountain.
​After establishing his sovereignty over the world and rescuing his brothers and sisters through the aid of a powerful potion, he called Neptune and Pluto into his presence and made Neptune God of the Sea, and Pluto God of the Underworld. These three deities were then armed with powerful weapons for Jupiter could hurl his thunderbolts and flash his lightnings, Pluto walk about in the security of a hat of darkness, and Neptune stir up the sea, or calm it, by means of a three-pronged spear. The Titans, now thoroughly cowed, were punished in various ways, some being imprisoned in the Pit of Darkness with their brothers, the sons of Uranus, while others were doomed to work without ceasing on servile tasks for the gods. Atlas, the tallest, was commanded to stand on the western extremity of the earth and bear the vault of heaven on his head and shoulders. His station was later said to be in the Atlas mountains in Africa. Aeschylus, an ancient writer, claims that the daughters of Atlas and their mother, the nymph Pleone, fled to the sky in sorrow when Atlas was forced to undergo this terrible punishment. The seven daughters, now styled the Pleiades, represent one of our most beautiful star groups.
Now when Mother Earth heard of the high-handed ways of her grandson, Jupiter, she decided that she would give him a much needed lesson, so gathering together the most terrible of the giants among Uranus' sons, she incited them to start another great war. This war lasted ten years, the giants proving so formidable that Jupiter summoned the one-eyed Cyclops and the hundred-handed sons of grandfather Uranus to come to his aid. The Hecatoncheires gave immediate assistance by flinging rocks with all their three-hundred hands at once while the Cyclops forged thunderbolts as fast as Jupiter could handle them. In the thick of this bombardment, which left debris and bowlders strewn all over Thessaly, the giants balanced Mount Pelion on the summit of Mount Ossa, which lay between Pelion and Olympus, in a ​final effort to storm the home of the Gods, but Jupiter, hurling his thunderbolts, struck Ossa from under Pelion and buried the giants beneath the ponderous mass. The violence of this battle shook the foundations of the world:
Only one giant escaped, a terrible monster named Typhon, who picked up a whole mountain in a paroxysm of supernatural rage and hurled it at his adversaries. He was finally subdued, after a terrible struggle, by a thunderbolt from Olympus, which knocked him into the sea. There the gods lashed him with the Lightnings of Jupiter and heaped the vast three-cornered island of Sicily upon his limbs, two of the corners weighing down his arms and the third one crushing his feet, while his head was entombed beneath Mount Etna which hurled off its crown to let out his fiery breath. The lame god Vulcan took advantage of this situation and henceforth used the location for his workshop where he forged many wonderful works of art within its fires.
This last war left Jupiter reigning in peace. He was the greatest of the deities, the king of gods and men; he watched over the state and family; his hand wielded the lightnings and guided the stars; and, in short, he regulated the whole course of Nature. Since the world soon became far enough advanced to understand natural phenomena, he was also the last of the Olympian rulers. He is probably the best known of any of the gods and one finds many of the stories of his loves and adventures immortalized in the skies. His daughter Urania was the Muse of ​Astronomy, and is represented with a celestial globe, to which she points with a little staff.
During the reign of Jupiter's father, Saturn, the God of Time, there was so much happiness in the world that it was called the "Golden Age." Hesiod mentions five ages-the Golden, simple and patriarchal; the Silver, voluptuous and godless; the Brazen, warlike, wild and violent; the Heroic, an aspiration toward the better; and the Iron, in which justice, piety, and faithfulness had vanished from the earth. Ovid omits the Heroic Age. The Golden Age was said to be governed by Saturn; the Silver, by Jupiter; the Brazen, by Neptune; and the Iron, by Pluto. An "Age" was regarded as a division of the great world year, which would be completed when the stars and planets had performed a revolution around the heavens, after which destiny would repeat itself in the same series of events. Thus mythology was brought into connection with astronomy. It was believed that successive conflagrations and deluges were designed by the gods to purify the earth from guilt, and that after each of these judgments man was again so regenerated as to live for a time in a state of virtue and happiness. During the Golden Age, the year was one continued springtime, and the earth, "as yet unwounded by the plowshare," produced of its own accord. This was followed by the Silver Age where spring was "but a season of the year" and the "wings of wind were clogged with ice and snow" driving shivering mortals into houses. Next came the Brazen Age, a "warlike offspring, prompt to bloody rage," and last of all the Iron Age when again—according to Dryden's translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses—landmarks were set up "limiting to each his right," and not satisfied with the blessings of earth men greedily rummaged beneath the soil for the precious ore the gods had wisely hidden next to Tartarus. This ungrateful race was then destroyed by Jupiter, who sank their country and formed a new people to ​take their place. In the meantime, all the gods and goddesses had left the earth, Astraea, Goddess of Justice and Purity, remaining to the last. When man finally became so inferior that he engaged in strife and discord, this goddess hid her face in sorrow and flew upward to the sky where she took her place among the stars of the constellation of the Virgin.
Ovid describes the Milky Way as being the great road which led to the palaces of the gods which were clustered about the lofty, cloud-hidden summit of Mount Olympus. In these golden homes with their ivory halls and furniture which possessed self-motion, dwelt Jupiter, Supreme Ruler of Heaven and Earth; Juno, his wife; Mars, the God of War; Venus, Minerva, Mercury and all the other gods and goddesses and many lesser deities. They drank nectar, poured by Hebe or Ganymede, and ate ambrosia, which gave immortal life. Their statures were immense, for when Jupiter shook the locks of his hair the stars trembled, but they often disguised themselves as earthly beings and mingled with mankind. At times they issued commands through the voice of an oracle, or displayed anger through some exhibition of nature, such as when Jupiter threw his thunderbolts.
Although Apollo, Neptune and Pluto sometimes met in council at Olympus, these three gods had their principal palaces in quite a different part of the earth, Apollo's being beyond the "Land of the Sunrise," Neptune's under the sea and Pluto's under the ground.
Around Neptune's palace waved his lawns of seaweed and his trees of coral while the currents were the breezes which fanned and cooled his brow. His scepter was a trident with which he raised and stilled storms while his chariot was a shell drawn by brazen-hoofed sea-horses. Dolphins, tritons and sea-monsters made sportive homage about his watery path and sea-nymphs played among his rocks and grottoes or sat on the shore in the moonlight drying their long, bright hair. Neptune married one ​of these, a lovely dark-eyed nymph named Amphitrite and made her Goddess of the Sea. The dolphin which carried him during his courtship was rewarded by being placed on a diamond-shaped group of stars which have ever since been called "Delphinus, the Dolphin."
The kingdom of Pluto, the Ruler of the Shades, was a level, cloudy country under the ground and was inhabited by pale, fleeting shadows, the spirits of those who had died in the country on top of the ground. Across the meadows of this dreary land wandered the river of Sighs and the river of Forgetfulness, but the flaming river of Phlegethon, with its sulphurous smoke and its waves of fire, flowed in an endless circle about the walls of Tartarus where the wicked groaned and clanked their chains. If a soul was not condemned by the three judges, who weighed the good and evil deeds in their scales, it was led to a place of happiness called the Elysian Fields, which was supposed by some writers to be next to Tartarus, but by others, to be above the earth on the Isles of the Blest in the western ocean. The gates to Pluto's regions were guarded by a fiendish dog with three heads but there were supposed to be a number of pathways which led to the upper world for strange vapors drifted out of an unexplored cave in southern Italy and both Hercules and Orpheus went down through caves in Greece to
Hercules went down as one of his Twelve Labors,—some of which have constellations named after them,—while Orpheus descended to find his Eurydice, playing so beautifully on his harp that this little instrument was afterwards placed among the stars and called the constellation Lyra.
Pluto rarely appeared above the ground but when he did he ​made himself invisible by wearing his Hat of Darkness or was drawn in a sooty chariot by fierce black horses whose reins were covered with rust. One day when Typhon was causing trouble around Mount Etna by his incessant grumbling and turning about, Pluto came up to ascertain just how much his roof under the Sicilian land was endangered. This proved a sorry day for the earth, for while the gloomy-faced god was looking about for cracks, Venus saw him from a distant hilltop, and calling Cupid, told him to shoot the dour fellow with a gold-tipped arrow, for this was the only kingdom over which she had no control. The first person whom Pluto saw was Proserpine, the beautiful daughter of Ceres, the tutelary Goddess of Sicily, and falling immediately in love with her, he carried her off to his kingdom under the ground. Although for many days Proserpine wept bitterly, she gradually became reconciled, and once ate six pomegranate seeds from a tree in Pluto's sunless garden. This proved her undoing, for when Ceres discovered that Proserpine was Queen of the Kingdom of Shades, she inquired of the Fates if there was any chance of her daughter's release and they informed her that since Proserpine had tasted of the seeds, the food of death, she must spend six months of every year with Pluto. Thus, through six long months Ceres, the Goddess of the Harvests, sits and weeps and no fresh crops are planted and no fruits appear on trees or vines; in the meantime poor mortals do the best they can throughout the winter and wait eagerly for the springtime when Proserpine again appears above the land and Ceres, in happiness, sows the grain and covers the orchards with masses of blossoms.
Apollo, a son of Jupiter, was dazzling and life-giving—a direct contrast to Pluto, dark-visaged King of the Dead. Apollo's sun-palace, which had been built by Vulcan in the country beyond the east, was crusted thick with gold and embedded with large and wonderful jewels. His sun-chariot was also of gold, but of ​so great a radiance that it blinded the eyes of any one but the gods. Every morning Apollo put the sun in this chariot and drove to the eastern gates where Aurora, Goddess of the Dawn, flung down the bars for her Sun-god, who penned up the stars, collected his Hours about him and drove out along the pathway of the Heaven with the brilliant light of the sun.
Phaethon, an ambitious son of Apollo, watched his father day after day, and wished that he, too, might ride in such radiant splendor above the clouds. At last he made his way to the sun-palace and begged his father that he might show his comrades in Greece that he was truly the child of so glorious a god by being privileged to drive the sun. Apollo was horrified, but Phaethon persisted and at last he gave his reluctant consent. The headstrong youth then jumped into the chariot, grasped the reins of the celestial steeds and started along the zodiac. Ancient poets assert that the Earth looked up and trembled as she watched the snow-white horses of the Sun-god tear wildly up the steep slope in the east. The constellations shook with terror as they swerved from the beaten pathway, the Serpent twined about the icy Pole grew warm and began to writhe, and the Bear's stars fluttered and "wished to dip in the forbidden sea." Half dead with fear, Phaethon saw the shadowy star-decked forms of wild beasts scattered about the heavens and shuddered as the fierce Scorpion moved his claws and brandished his sting. Now beyond all control, the horses veered aside from the "heat vex't creatures" and rushed straight toward the earth, but, just in time, Jupiter hurled a tremendous thunderbolt and knocked Phaethon out of his chariot into a nearby river. The horses now turned toward the horizon which rested beyond the waters in the west, but the burning sunball had been drawn so close to the earth that the Nile had fled in fright and hid its head, which still remains hidden, and over a great area now known as the African desert, the moisture had ​risen like a cloud of steam leaving a drear, unfertile waste of land good for naught. The poor African people fared even worse, for while gazing bewildered at the wild antics of the sun, their faces were scorched and their bodies were scorched and they transmitted forever after to all succeeding generations the scourge of being hopelessly black! As a memorial of this famous adventure, the name of the river Eridanus, into which Phaethon had fallen, was given to one of the star groups in the sky. This was also supposed to be a consolation to Apollo, who grieved so deeply at the death of his son and all the unfortunate consequences of his adventure that he offered to allow any other god on Olympus the privilege of driving the sun on its daily course from east to west, but no other god could do this, nor were any willing to try.
Apollo had a twin sister named Diana who owned a chariot as wonderful as his own, only it was wrought of pure silver and made to carry the earth's night light, called the moon. But Diana did not spend all of her time in the sky, for she loved to hunt and would often leave her chariot at home, take out her bow and arrow and spend whole nights upon the mountains with her nymphs. She was wondrously fair and full of grace but not as faithful as her brother, and at such times as she chooses to enjoy herself, earth-beings must do without a moon.
Besides the gods and the goddesses who dwelt in ancient Greece, there were many heroes who were semi-divine. One recalls Perseus, Hercules, the twins Castor and Pollux and others. Perseus was a son of Jupiter and a very noted hero. One of his adventures was so thrilling that the early people of this little country impressed its story on six constellations!
Hercules, the hero famed for his wonderful strength, patience and endurance, was a grandson of Perseus. He was also rewarded with a constellation. So was Orion, the giant, who has the most conspicuous figure of stars in all the sky. The twins, Castor and ​Pollux, were given twin stars and were much beloved by seamen for it was thought that if both stars were visible, fine weather was sure to follow.
Not only were gods and heroes placed in the sky, but also objects and creatures connected with their adventures.
The Constellation of Cygnus, the SwanThus we find among the constellations Draco, the Dragon; Cygnus, the Swan; Ursa Major, the Great Bear; Ursa Minor, the Little The Constellation of Cygnus, the Swan Bear; Lyra, the Harp; Pegasus, the Flying Horse; Cancer, the Crab; Delphinus, the Dolphin; Pisces, the Fishes; Sagitta, the Arrow; Argo, the Ship; Corona, the Crown; Leo, the Lion; Scorpius, the Scorpion; Hydra, the Watersnake; Aries, the Ram; Taurus, the Bull; Eridanus, the River, and others.
​Mapmakers later drew fanciful pictures of these objects and animals and heroes which had been transposed to the sky and united them up with the positions of the stars. This imaginative tapestry of figures is believed to be an attempt on the part of the ancient people to weave a record of their history in the dusk among the stars. That this most original method was successful is attested by the fact that although several thousand years have elapsed these ancient figures still stand and the names that they gave to the constellations are used by astronomers today.
Many of the Grecian characters which are mentioned in the stories of the gods and heroes are personified in groups of three—the three Fates, daughters of Chaos, appointed to watch over the thread of human life—
the three Furies, daughters of Night, who represent the remorse which torments and pursues the wicked; the three Sirens, who lived on an enchanted Isle in the Mediterranean Sea and lured mariners on the rocks with their bewitching songs; the three Graces, who presided over feast and dance; the nine Muses, daughters of Jupiter, who dwelt on Mount Helicon and presided over arts and sciences—
"Fortunate is he whomsoever the Muses love, and sweet blows his voice from his lips."
Mount Helicon was also the home of the great Flying Horse which is sought by poets and is now represented in the sky by a large square of stars called the Square of Pegasus. In one of the adventures of the hero Perseus he snatched the solitary eye away from the three Grey Sisters and thus forced them to tell where he ​might find the three terrible Gorgons. Transcribed to stars, he still holds the snaky ringlets of the Gorgon Medusa which he had been forced to obtain at the command of the king of the Island of Seriphus. This head now has the added attraction of a mysterious star called Algol, which every few days indulges in a slow, deliberate "wink," a performance most unusual among the wide-eyed stars.
The names of the gods and goddesses were bestowed upon the five planets then known—Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury. This plan was also followed when the two outer planets, Uranus and Neptune, were discovered in modern days. These names are Roman names but the mythology of the Greeks and Romans is so intermingled that the names of their characters are, as a general rule, used interchangeably, although the Roman names seem more popular and are used by astronomers. Many writers of mythology use the Grecian names entirely because much of the material of the Roman legends was brought into their literature by Greek poetry.
The symbols of the gods were used as signs for their planets. These signs are very familiar objects in almanacs. Thus, Uranus (Heaven) and Earth are respectively represented by ⛢ and 🜨; Saturn, their son, has a sign which suggests his ancient scythe ♄; Jupiter has a hieroglyph for the eagle ♃, a bird which carried ​his thunderbolts; his brother Neptune is pictured with a trident ♆, the pronged fork he used when issuing commands; Mercury, son of Jupiter, is represented by his Caduceus, a miraculous staff intertwined with serpents ☿; Mars, God of War and also a son of Jupiter, a conventionalized arrangement of his shield and spear ♂; while Venus, Goddess of Love and born from the foam of the sea, has a sign somewhat like Mercury's ♀, resembling a hand mirror.
A word as to Mars, Mercury and Venus might not be amiss. Mars was worshiped as a warrior in splendid armor, his name being quite appropriate for the red tinged planet which shines as such a brilliant, fiery star. Discord was visioned as running before him in tattered garments while Anger and Clamor follow in his train. Deimos and Phobos, children of Venus and Mars, were given as names to the two satellites of his planet, although these satellites (or moons), were not discovered until modern times. (The ten satellites of Saturn were named after his brothers and sisters, while those of Jupiter, who possessed nine, were named after various favorites.)
Mercury, also a son of Jupiter, was a somewhat mischievous but charming young man with wings fixed to his helmet and sandals, and his hand held a rod which quieted all disputes. He was messenger, herald and ambassador for Jupiter, just as Iris, who flew along the rainbow in her tinted robes, was a messenger for Juno, Jupiter's wife. It was afterwards discovered by astronomers that the tiny orb which had been given the name of Mercury in honor of this god, not only resembled a drop of "quicksilver" but also possessed the "wing-shoe" characteristic of its namesake, for it speeds at the rate of more miles per second than any other planet in the solar system.
Venus, the beautiful Goddess of Love, has been the inspiration for painters, poets and sculptors in every corner of the world.
One of the most famous statues extant is the Venus de' Medici preserved in the Uffizi Gallery at Florence. This statue, which was dug up in several fragments during the the 17th century, is the work of Cleomenes, an Athenian who "flourished" in 150 B.C.
Venus was called Aphrodite by the Greeks, from aphros, meaning foam. Some poets have told how the foam itself suddenly turned iridescent, trembled, and from its center rose the lovely Venus. Others tell how a closed shell tinted like a rose floated to the top of a billow where it opened and disclosed the pearly daintiness of the goddess. The god Zephyrus, the west wind, then wafted her to the shores of Cyprus where she was adorned by the Hours and later carried to the home of the gods on Mount Olympus where the most beautiful star in the sky, the planet Venus, was named after her.
Owing to the slanting motion of the stars when in the east or west, the figures of these star groups show marked changes. The "Great Square," for instance, stands on a corner star when seen in the east and west although it is a perfect square when seen in the south, while the "Twins" appear above the eastern horizon standing on their heads, slowly right themselves as they travel across the sky and sink feet first when they disappear below the horizon in the west.
To illustrate more clearly one might imagine the "Giant Orion" to be a tiny toy fastened by his waist to a wire bent in the shape of an arc. As he slides from east to west it is easy to see how his position changes in relation to an eye directly in front of him. This vary​ing orientation is easily understood and should give the reader but little trouble.
Often a part of a constellation, such as the Big Dipper, is more familiar to the majority of people than the whole constellation, which is called "Ursa Major" or the "Great Bear,"—the handle "Constellations come and climb the heavens and go."—Bryant. of the Dipper is only the tail of the Bear. In all cases these prominent features will be used as index names.
Romance is said to gain when tinctured with realism just as realism gains when tinctured with romance. So, with a heart filled with beauty and a mind filled with facts, let us go forth on starry nights and seek, with eyes that are friendly, our acquaintances among the stars.