Draco
One of the 88 IAU constellations.
Etymology and History
The Greek constellation ...
Origin of Constellation
Babylonian
Greco-Roman
Aratos
[45] Between the two Bears, in the likeness of a river, winds a great wonder, the Dragon, writhing around and about at enormous length; on either side of its coil the Bears move, keeping clear of the dark-blue ocean. It reaches over one of them with the tip of its tail, [50] and intercepts the other with its coil. The tip of its tail ends level with the head of the Bear Helice, and Cynosura keeps her head within its coil. The coil winds past her very head, goes as far as her foot, then turns back again and runs upwards. In the Dragon’s head there is not just a single star shining by itself, [56] but two on the temples and two on the eyes, while one below them occupies the jaw-point of the awesome monster. Its head is slanted and looks altogether as if it is inclined towards the tip of Helice’s tail: the mouth and the right temple are in a very straight line with the tip of the tail. [61] The head of the Dragon passes through the point where the end of settings and the start of risings blend with each other. (Kidd 1997)
Eratosthenes
Var. 1 (Ὄφεως): This is the Great Serpent, the one that lies between the two Bears. It is said that this is the one who guarded the golden apples and was killed by Heracles. Hera had charged him with protecting the apples from the Hesperides, and it was she who gave him a place among the constellations. Indeed, Phecydes says that when Zeus married Hera, during the presentation of gifts given to him by the gods, Gaia, The Earth, came to offer her the golden apples. At the sight of them, Hera was dazzled and asked for them to be planted in the orchard of the gods next to Atlas. And as the daughters of Atlas were constantly stealing the apples, she appointed this gigantic snake as guardian. It is easy to see; above it is the figure of Heracles, for Zeus wanted to use this arrangement to flagrantly the memory of the struggle. He has three bright stars on his head and twelve stars on his body, which follow each other at close intervals to the tail and separate the two Bears48. <All in all, fifteen.>
Var. 2 (Ὄφεως): This is the Great Serpent, the one that stretches between the two Bears. It is said that this is the one who guarded the golden apples and who died at the hands of Heracles. Hera had charged him with protecting the orchards and the golden apples against the Hesperides, and it was she who gave him a place among the constellations. In fact, Phecydes that on the occasion of the wedding of Zeus and Hera, during the gifts given by the gods, Gaia, The Earth, came to offer golden apples on their branches. At the sight of them, Hera was dazzled and asked for them to be planted in the orchard of the gods next to Atlas. And as the daughters of Atlas were constantly stealing apples, she appointed this gigantic snake as guardian. It has three bright stars at the tip of its head and twelve stars on the body, which follow each other at close to the tail, separating the two bears. (Pamias and Zucker 2013)
Hyginus, Astronomica
This huge serpent is pointed out as lying between the two Bears. He is said to have guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides, and after Hercules killed him, to have been put by Juno among the stars, because at her instigation Hercules set out for him. He is considered the usual watchman of the Gardens of Juno. Pherecydes says that when Jupiter wed Juno, Terra came, bearing branches with golden applies, and Juno, in admiration, asked Terra to plant them in her gardens near distant Mount Atlas. When Atlas' daughters kept picking the apples from the trees, Juno is said to have placed this guardian there. Proof of this will be the form of Hercules above the dragon, as Eratosthenes shows, so that anyone may know that for this reason in particular it is called the dragon. Some also say this dragon was thrown at Minerva by the Giants, when she fought them. Minerva, however, snatched its twisted form and threw it to the stars, and fixed it at the very pole of heaven. And so to this day it appears with twisted body, as if recently transported to the stars. (Mary Ward 1960)
Hipparchus
Geminos
Almagest Δράκων.
| id | Greek (Heiberg 1898) | English (Toomer 1984) | ident. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Δράκουτος ἀστερισμός. | Constellation of Draco | ||
| 1 | ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς γλώσσης. | The star on the tongue | mu Dra |
| 2 | ὁ ἐεν τῷ στόματι. | The star in the mouth | nu Dra |
| 3 | ὁ ἐπάνω τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ. | The· star above the eve | bet Dra |
| 4 | ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς χένυος. | The star on the jaw | xi Dra |
| 5 | ὁ ἐπάνω τῆς κεφαλῆς. | The star above the head | gam Dra |
| 6 | τῶν ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ καμπῇ τοῦ τραχήλου ἐπ’ εὐθείας γ’ ὁ βόΘε0ς | The northernmost of the 3 stars in a straight line in the first bend of the neck | 39 Dra |
| ὁ ψότιος αὐτῶν | The southernmost of these | 46 Dra | |
| ὁ μέσος αὐτῶν. | The middle one | 45 Dra | |
| ὁ τούτῳ ἑπόμενος ἀπ’ ἀνατολῆς, | The star to the rear and due east of the latter | omi Dra | |
| τοῦ ἐν τῇ ἐξῆς ἐπιστροφῇ τετραπλεύρου τῆς προηγουμένης πλευρᾶς ὁ νότιος | The southern star of the [two] forming the advance side of the quadrilateral in the next bend | pi Dra | |
| ὁ βορειότερος τῆς ἠγουμένης πλευρᾶς. | The more northerly star of the advance side | del Dra | |
| τῆς ἐπομένης πλευρᾶς ὁ βόρειος. | The northern star of the re!lr side [of the quadrilateral] | eps Dra | |
| ὁ φότιος τῆς ἐπομένης πλευρᾶς. | The southern star of the rear side | rho Dra | |
| τοῦ ἐν τῇ ἐφεξῆς καμπῇ τριγώνου ὁ νότιος. | The southern star of [those forming] the triangle in the next bend | sig Dra | |
| τῶν λοιπῶν τοῦ τριγώνου β ὁ προηγούμενος. | The more advanced of the other two stars of the triangle | ups Dra | |
| ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν. | The one to the rear | tau Dra | |
| τῶν ἐν τῷ ἐξῆς καὶ προηγουμένῳ τριγώνῳ ἡ ὁ ἑπόμενος, | The most advanced of the three stars in the next triangle, which is in advance [ of the last] | psi Dra | |
| τῶν λοιπῶν τοῦ τριγώνου β’ ὁ νότιος. | The southernmost of the other two forming the triangle | chi Dra | |
| ὁ βορειότερος τῶν λοιπῶν δύο | The northernmost of the other two | phi Dra | |
| τῶν πρὸς δύσιο τοῦ τριγώνου β μικρῶν ὁ ἐπόμευος. | The rearmost of the two small stars to the west of the triangle | 27 Dra | |
| ὁ ἠγούμενος αὐτῶν | The one in advance | omega Dra | |
| τῶν ἐξῆς ἐπ’ εὐθείας γ’ ὁ νοτιώτερος | The southernmost of the riext 3 stars in a straight line | 18 Dra | |
| ὁ μέσος τῶν τριῶν. | The middle one of the three | 19 Dra | |
| ὁ βορειότερος αὐτῶν. | The northernmost of them | zet Dra | |
| τῶν ἐξῆς πρὸς δυσμὰς β’ ὁ βορειότερος. | The riorthernmost of the next 2 to the west | eta Dra | |
| ὁ νοτιώτερος αὐτῶν. | The southernmost of these | tet Dra | |
| ὁ τούτωυ πρὸς δυσμὰς ἐν τῇ παρούρῳ ἐπιστροφῇ | The star to the west· of these, in the bend by the tail | iot Dra | |
| τῶν τούτου ἱκανὸν διεστώτων β’ ὁ προηγούμενος | The advance star of the 2 quite some distance from the latter | 10 Dra | |
| ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν. | The rear star.of these (two) | alf Dra | |
| ὁ τούτων ἐχόμενος παρὰ τὴν οὐράν | The star close by these, by the tail | kap Dra | |
| ὁ λοιπὸς καὶ ἐπ’ ἄκρας τῆς οὐρᾶς | The remaining star, on the tip of the tail | lam Dra | |
| ἀστέρες λα, ὥν ν μεγέθους ἢ, δ’ ἰς, εε, ς’ β, ὁμοῦ λα | 31 stars, 8 of the third magnitude, 16 of the fourth, 5 of the fifth,2 of the sixth |
Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation
Mythology
Weblinks
References
