The Circle of the Dragon: History: Dragons among the Stars

Separator

There are constellations that bear the names of dragons; hence, dragons are among the stars.

Cetus
Draco
Footnotes

Separator

Cetus

The dragon Cetus was slain by Perseus in the stories of the Greeks and Romans. This story was immortalized in the stars. There, you can find Cetus, his slayer, Andromeda, King Cepheus, and Queen Cassiopeia. ¹

Cetus, as a constellation, is sometimes also refered to as "the whale" or "the sea monster".² It's abbreviation is "Cet".

Draco

The Constellation Draco has been associated to many dragons, mainly from Greek or Roman heritage. The Greek god Zues led the other gods against the titans. Athena, goddess of wisdom, was said to have seized the tail of the Titanic dragon and thrown him into the void; thus, Draco was created.⁴

Interestingly enough, the head of Draco lies under the foot of Heracles, who was not unknown to slay dragons.⁵

Another association comes from the Babylonian myth of Tiamat. Marduk, having been given the job of dealing with the vengeful Tiamat, slew the dragon and cut her into two halves. The bottom half became the earth, and the top half became the sky.⁶

Draco was also related to the serpent in the Garden of Eden. When the Christian God created the world, it was a paradise; however, the two humans were warned that, while they could eat from any tree in the garden, they could not each from the Tree of Forbidden Knowledge. A serpent arrived, tempted them to eat it, and they did. Later, this same serpent was said to be the constallation Draco.⁷

Back to the Top

Footnotes

Wonder Beasts by Joe Nigg
<http://einstein.stcloudstate.edu/Dome/constellns/cet.html> - Cetus - link defunct
Wonder Beasts by Joe Nigg
Wonder Beasts by Joe Nigg
Wonder Beasts by Joe Nigg
Wonder Beasts by Joe Nigg
Wonder Beasts by Joe Nigg

For more information, see the bibliography.

Back to the Top

Separator