Profile / Characteristics
| English translation | Latin declination and pronunciations | Size/ °² | # stars (visible) |
| the Lion | Leo – LEE-oh Leonis – lee-OH-niss | 947 | 127 |
Main Star (brightest one):
| Designation | HIP number | name in IAU-CSN | brightness |
| α Leo | HIP 49669 | Regulus | 1.40 mag (V) |
Our (modern) Explanation
Although there is some Greek mythology on particularly dangerous lions, the constellation is Babylonian and can be traced to the 2nd or even 3rd millennium BCE. In Late Babylonian time it is depicted as a winged lion, but it is unknown whether this image had also been used in earlier millennia. The Lion or Winged Lion is a gate-keeper as seen in Mesopotamian, Persian, and Chinese doors, city gates, procession streets etc.
Ancient Globes
Farnese Globe
Kugel Globe
Mainz Globe
Ancient Lore & Meaning
Aratus
Reference:
English translation by Douglas Kidd (1997).
Aratus: Phaenomena, Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries, Series Number 34
Pseudo-Eratosthenes
he is the king of the animals, Some say, he is a symbol for the deeds of Heracles, Peisandros of Rhodes reports that Heracles carries his skin.
References:
French translation by:
Jordi Pàmias i Massana and Arnaud Zucker (2013). Ératosthènes de Cyrène – Catastérismes, Les Belles Lettres, Paris
English version in:
Robin Hard (2015): Eratosthenes and Hyginus Constellation Myths with Aratus’s Phaenomena, Oxford World’s Classics
Early Modern Interpretation
Contemporary
As one of their first tasks in the 1920s, the newly founded International Astronomical Union (IAU) established constellation standards. The Belgian astronomer Eugène Delporte was assigned to the task to define borders of constellations parallel to lines of declination and right ascension. They were accepted by the General Assembly in 1928. The standardized names and abbreviations had already been accepted in 1922 and 1925.
