Star-crossed love stories in Greek mythology

At dusk, Southern California trades in its bright and sunny skies for gleaming constellations.

As of 1922, the International Astronomical Union recognizes a total of 88 constellations in the night sky, over 30 of which can be seen from the Northern hemisphere. 

Many ancient civilizations used these same constellations in vital aspects of their lives such as navigation and calendaring. For Ancient Greeks in particular, the stars’ significance grew to become intertwined with their culture. Eventually, mythological narratives that would be used to explain the natural world from both a religious and scientific perspective were born.

Love is one of the many phenomenons described by the Ancient Greeks through their mythology, creating tales of gods, mortals, and their demigod children to depict this powerful emotion. While the Ancient Greek civilization has faded, their star-crossed lovers remain mythologized in the stars — five of these constellations exceptionally visible in dark skies this February. 

There are many different iterations of the various Ancient Greek constellation origin stories, but here are a few:

Orion

The Greek god Zeus, ruler of the sky and other gods, famously had twin children: Artemis, goddess of childbirth, the moon, and the hunt, and Apollo, god of music, prophecy, and truth. Both had a role as gods, the Greeks believing that Artemis helped transition the sky from day to night by guiding a fleet of pegasus to raise the moon each evening, while Apollo drove his chariot to beckon in the sun at dawn.

On an island called Crete, a hunter named Orion spent his days in solitude. . However, during Artemis’s nightly ventures, she would look down and admire him from above, secretly. Eventually, her impulses grew too strong and she defied the godly order, descending to Crete to meet him. While Artemis had observed Orion for several nights, slowly growing enamored with the young hunter, for Orion, it was love at first sight.

But, because of the hierarchy separating gods from mortals, their love was forbidden.

Throughout the next few weeks, Artemis would sneak down from the sky to visit her lover until one day, Apollo discovered the truth. He told their father Zeus about Artemis’s betrayal. Zeus ordered Apollo to put an end to his daughter’s affair. Apollo brought a poisonous scorpion to Crete which ultimately brought about his death.

By the time Artemis recovered Orion’s body, she was so distraught that she threw the scorpion into the sky, creating the constellation Scorpius. As a final act of love for her beloved, Orion, she brought his spirit to the other edge of the sky — forming the constellation Orion — as far away from the harm of the scorpion as possible. The two really are divided, as when Orion is seen rising in the east during winter, Scorpius goes back into hiding in the west.

Positioned right next to Orion, mirroring his hunter nature, are Canis Major and Canis Minor. Their story as predator and prey, respectively, is a never-ending pursuit, similar to undying love.

Orion’s belt is strung together by three stars: Alnilam, Mintaka and Alnitak. The constellation is roughly 6 trillion miles (1,350 light-years) away from Earth.. This trifecta of stars is of the most distinguishable features in the night sky, a trick for spotting this large constellation.

If you’re still having trouble, try to pinpoint the brightest star in the sky: Sirius. Orion’s belt points diagonally south to Sirius. Sirius is a part of the Canis Major constellation, mythologically connected to Orion. Canis Minor resides close by as well.

One day, a hunting dog with a 100% success rate named Laelaps encountered a Teusmassian fox who, inversely, could never be caught. As god of the sky, Zeus recognized the everlasting nature of their hunting-hunted relationship. He turned them stone and memorialized their savage love in the sky as two constellations, chasing each other for eternity. Canis Minor rises around an hour before Canis Major in winter; even in the sky, the “chase” is highly coveted.

Another gorgeous gem within the galaxy is the Rosette Nebula. Commonly referred to as the “cosmic rose,” the Rosette Nebula gently rests between Orion and Canis Minor. Although it doesn’t formally own a mythological story, its floral shape acts as a symbol of love and resonates with Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, for many.

Cassiopeia

Queen Cassiopeia of Aethiopia was distinguished by her conceited self-affirmations and poise. While her vanity is plainly negative, the fate of her and her family is unfathomable in this mythological story.

Cassiopeia’s narcissism often led her to make shallow, offensive comments. Her downfall was incited by a particular comment disrespecting sea nymphs, known as Nereids. One fateful day, Cassiopeia boasted that her and her daughter Andromeda’s beauty was far beyond the Nereids. This comment angered Poseidon, god of the sea.

In retaliation, Poseidon sent destruction onto Aethiopia. In desperation, Casseopia and her dutiful husband Cepheus agreed to sacrifice their darling daughter as recompense. They tied her to a rock, soon to be crushed by the ocean. However, in the knick of time, her future beloved, Perseus rescued her. 

Still enraged by Cassiopeia’s arrogance and further triggered by Cepheus’s disobedience, Poisodean curated another punishment. Poseidon banished Cassiopeia to the sky, tying her to her throne upside down, where she will hang in shame for her vanity forever. Cassiopeia’s form lying on her throne forms the recognizable Cassiopeia constellation.

Cassiopeia, the constellation, contains a stellar nursery. The radiation from young stars within the stellar nursery instigates the surrounding hydrogen gas, stellar winds and dust clouds, creating the illusion of a glowing red heart. This is known as the heart nebula, an ironic symbol of love inside of Cassiopeia’s heavenly prison.

Once you’ve found the Cassiopeia constellation, glance just six degrees southeast to discover the Heart Nebula in all of its glory. We recommend using a telescope with a large diameter because it may appear quite faint since it is approximately 44 quadrillion miles (7,500 light years) away.

Perseus and Andromeda

Perseus and Andromeda’s love story was a direct consequence of the aforementioned actions of Cassiopeia and Cepheus.

When Poseidon sent a sea monster to ravage the coast of the Kingdom of Aethiopia, Cassiopeia and Cepheus turned to Zeus, to save the kingdom and those inside it. Zeus decreed that they must sacrifice Andromeda to the monster to save their kingdom. Consequently, she was chained to a rock in the sea. 

Simultaneous to the drama unfolding in Aethopia, as detailed in Ovid’s Metamorphosis, the Greek hero Perseus was on a nonsense quest made up by the conniving King Polydectes to kill Medusa. Polydectes was courting Perseus’s mother, Danaë, and wanted to do away with Perseus’s overprotective nature. Polydectes thought the quest impossible, but   Perseus was ultimately successful in beheading Medusa  with help from Athena and Hermes. The mythology explains that anyone who looks into Medusa’s eyes will still turn into stone. 

On his way back from this quest, Perseus flew over Aethiopia with his winged shoes, saw Andromeda chained to the rock and was immediately taken by her. 

Ovid writes, “he would have thought she was a marble statue, except that a light breeze stirred her hair, and warm tears ran from her eyes. He took fire without knowing it and was stunned, and seized by the vision of the form he saw, he almost forgot to flicker his wings in the air” (Ovid, Metamorphosis Book IV). 

The pinnacle of true love at first sight, Perseus flew down and decided to marry Andromeda right then and there, receiving blessings from his father Zeus. He killed Poseidon’s sea monster and married Andromeda in Aethiopia, before returning to save his mother from King Polydectes, employing Medusa’s detached head and turning the king into stone. 

Perseus initially returned to his home of Argos with both his mother and new wife, Andromeda, but went on to rule the Kingdom of Tiryns. The couple had seven children, and were also the great grandparents of the famed Greek hero, Heracles. 

As a symbol of their love, Zeus put Perseus and Andromeda into the sky as nearby constellations, immortalizing their story in the heavens.

Both the Perseus and Andromeda constellations are visible in the Northern Hemisphere in February, just below the highly-recognizable Cassiopeia constellation (for its distinct w shape). Perseus is one of the largest constellations in the entire night sky containing The Double Cluster, two groups of more than 300 supergiant stars. Andromeda, located to the right of Perseus, is most known for the Andromeda Galaxy, visible in exceptionally clear skies right at the center of the constellation. 

Gemini

While Gemini season is still around four months away, the Gemini constellation is currently visible in the Northern hemisphere, found high in the sky when facing south. The story of Gemini — meaning twins in Latin — is one of sacrifice and brotherhood, a different take on the love tradition this Valentine’s Day. 

Princess Leda was simultaneously pregnant with the sons of both King Tyndareus and Zeus. Her son Castor was sired from Tyndareus and was mortal, while the other, Pollux, was immortal due to the divine blood he inherited from Zeus.

The two were inseparable as Castor became an unrivaled horseman and Pollux, a fantastic boxer. In some myths, Castor and Pollux saved their sister Helen after she was kidnapped by Theseus, but also stole the daughters of Leucippus, Phoebe and Hileira, on their way back.

As retribution, Leucippus’ nephews, Idas and Lynceus, confronted Castor and Pollux. The battle ended with Idas killing Castor. Pollux, taken by the sadness of losing his brother, begged his father Zeus to bring Castor back to life or to strike him down as well. Zeus gave Pollux a choice, to either become a mortal and die with Castor, or share his immortality so Castor and Pollux could alternate between the realms. 

Pollux chose the latter, and as a result, the brothers remained together in the heavens as constellations. 

This story of brotherly love is spotlighted from November to April in the northern hemisphere. Locating Gemini is easy after locating one of the most notable constellations in the night sky, Orion. Once you have found Orion’s belt, make a line between the stars Rigel (Orion’s right foot) and Betelgeuse (Orion’s left shoulder). Keep following that line to two bright parallel stars, which are Castor and Pollux. 

Pisces

As we rapidly approach Pisces season, February stargazers can be met with the final wisps of Pisces in the low western sky right after sunset. The story of Pisces is not one of romantic love, but instead that of mother and son, and an eternal acknowledgement of a favor. 

In the great battle between the gods and the titans, Mother Earth (called Gaea in Greek mythology) created the monster Typhon. Typhon attacked Mount Olympus, sending the gods scrambling for safety. In some forms of the myth, Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and Eros, her son and the god of desire, turned into fishes. In other stories, Aphrodite and Eros jumped into a nearby river and were saved by two fishes swimming by. 

However, to make sure they did not lose each other in the water, Aphrodite and Eros tied a ribbon between the two fishes. 

As an acknowledgement for the fishes’ help, the gods turned them into constellations. The ribbon still connects the two, represented in the constellation by the binary star system Alpha Piscium, or Al Risha, the latter meaning knot in Arabic. 

The constellation can be found by looking first for the constellation Pegasus, marked by its large, four-star square body. Pisces’ circlet of stars, which represents the bottom of the two fishes, is just below Pegasus’ Great Square, with the rest of the constellation flowing back towards the left, and then to the upper right once reaching the Alpha Piscium. 

Got Valentine’s Day Plans?

As demonstrated by the stories above, love is figuratively and literally in the air, with themes of ancient heroes, familial betrayal and tragic love all eternalized in the constellations. Stargazing is a perfect way to spend Valentine’s Day — and the rest of this February — so make sure to spend some quality time with your loved ones. Head out to dark, clear skies, look up, and be amazed by the cosmic love stories unfolding before you.