Messier 45

I’ve spent the morning doing some research on the mythologies surrounding Messier 45. Some interesting things I’ve found so far, from various sources:

From Greek myth:

The Pleiad(e)s were the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione. Plein means `to sail', making Pleione `sailing queen' and her daughters `sailing ones.' The cluster's conjunction with the sun in spring and opposition in fall marked the start and end of the summer sailing season in ancient Greece. Pleos means `full', of which the plural is `many.'

‘Astromorphosis: One day the great hunter Orion saw the Pleiads as they walked through the Boeotian countryside, and fancied them. He pursued them for seven years, until Zeus answered their prayers for delivery and transformed them into birds (doves or pidgeons), placing them among the stars. Later on, when Orion was killed (many conflicting stories as to how), he was placed in the heavens behind the Pleiades, immortalizing the chase.’

‘Lost Pleiad: The `lost Pleiad' legend came about to explain why only six are easily visible to the unaided eye. This sister is variously said to be Electra, who veiled her face at the burning of Troy, appearing to mortals afterwards only as a comet; or Merope, who was shamed for marrying a mortal; or Celæno, who was struck by a thunderbolt. Missing Pleiad myths also appear in other cultures … Celæno is the faintest at present.’ Celæno means `swarthy' – she had sons Lycus (``wolf'') and Chimærus (``he-goat'') by Prometheus. No other data on Celaeno.

From another source: The mythology states that only six of the stars shine brightly in the Pleiades star cluster becuase the seventh, Merope, shines dully because she is shamed for eternity for having an affair with a mortal.

Atlas – The father of the seven sisters, it is said that Atlas worked out the science of astrology and discovered the spherical nature of the stars.


Mythology of the Pirt-Kopan-noot tribe of Australia:

‘A lost Pleiad is the the queen of the remaining six. She is revered by the heavenly Crow (Canopus) and never returns to her home after she is carried away by him.’

‘As the Pleiades cluster is close to the ecliptic (within 4°) in the constellation of Taurus it is a spring and autumnal 'seasonal' object in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Being close to the ecliptic, there are frequent occultations of the cluster with the Moon and planets. To our superstitious ancestors these were, no doubt, portentious events.’

‘The heliacal (near dawn) rising of the Pleiades in spring in the northern hemisphere has from ancient times augured the opening of the seafaring and farming season: while its dawn autumnal setting marked the season's end.’


North American legends:

‘Coincidentally, a similar legend to that of the ancient Greeks is retold by the Kiowa tribe of North America. Seven maidens were transported in to the sky by the Great Spirit to save them from giant bears. The Spirit created the Mateo Tepe (the Devil's Tower National Monument, Wyoming) to place them beyond the bears. Yet the hunt continued, with the bears climbing the sheer cliffs – the vertical striations on the side of the rock formation were ascribed to be the bears' claw marks, gouged as they climbed after their prey. Seeing the bears close in on the maidens, the Spirit then placed them securely in the sky.’

‘To the Blackfoot tribe of south Alberta and north Montana the stars were known as the Orphan Boys. The fatherless boys were rejected by the tribe, but were befriended by a pack of wolves, who became their only companions. Saddened by their lives on earth they asked the Great Spirit to let them play together in the sky, and so he set them there as a group of small stars. As a reminder of their cruelty in contrast to the kindness of animals, every night the tribe were afflicted by the howling of the wolves, who pined after their lost friends.’


Other mythologies:

‘The Pleiades are among the first stars mentioned in literature, appearing in Chinese annals of about 2350 BC. The earliest European references are somewhat later, in a poem by Hesiod in about 1000 BC and in Homer's Odyssey.’

‘The Bible contains three direct references to the Pleiades in Job 9:9 and 38:31, and Amos 5:8, and a single indirect reference in the New Testament. This latter passage (Revelation 1:16) describes a vision of the coming of the Messiah – who holds, in his right hand, seven stars…’


Other names:

‘Mao (昴), the hairy head of the white tiger of the West - alternatively, the Blossom Stars and Flower Stars. (Chinese).’

‘Subaru: 'gathered together'. This was adopted as the trading name of a car manufacturer. (Japanese)’

Hoki Boshi: 'dabs of paint on the sky', literally, the brush stars. (Japanese)

The 'lost' star(s) in Kimah: The Talmud Rosh Hashanah relates that God, angered by mankind's degeneracy, reformed the work of his creation by removing two stars from Kimah and caused the cluster to rise at daybreak, out of season. The biblical flood of Noah was the direct result.