Perseus
One of the 88 IAU constellations.
Etymology and History
The Greek constellation ...
Origin of Constellation
Babylonian
Greco-Roman
Aratus
The two feet of Andromeda will be pointers to her suitor Perseus, as they move for ever above his shoulders. [250] He runs taller than other figures in the north. His right hand is stretched out towards his bride’s mother’s chairseat, and as if on some immediate pursuit he takes long strides as he runs in the realm of his father Zeus. (Kidd 1997)
Eratosthenes
Hipparchus
Hyginus, Astronomica
He is said to have come to the stars because of his nobility and the unusual nature of his conception. When sent by Polydectes, son of Magnes, to the Gorgons, he received from Mercury, who is thought to have loved him, talaria and petasus, and, in addition, a helmet which kept its wearer from being seen by an enemy. So the Greeks have called it the helmet of Haides [the Unseen One], though Perseus did not, as some ignorant people interpret it, wear the helmet of Orcus himself, for no educated person could believe that. He is said, too, to have received from Vulcan a knife made of adamant, with which he killed Medusa the Gorgon. The deed itself no one has described. But as Aeschylus, the writer of tragedies, says in his Phorcides, the Graeae were guardians of the Gorgons. We wrote about them in the first book of the Genealogiae. They are thought to have had but one eye among them, and thus to have kept guard, watch one taking it in her turn. This eye Perseus snatches, as one was passing it to another, and threw is in Lake Tritonis. So, when the guards were blinded, he easily killed the Gorgon when she was overcome with sleep. Minerva is said to have the head on her breastplate. Euhemerus says the Gorgon was killed by Minerva. We shall speak more of this later on. (Mary Ward 1960)
Geminos
Almagest Περσεύς
| id | Greek (Heiberg 1898) | English (Toomer 1984) | ident. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Περσέως ἀστερισμός | |||
| 1 | ἡ ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ ἀκροχείρου νεφελοειδὴς συστροφή | The nebulous mass on the right hand | NGC 884+869 |
| 2 | ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ ἀγκῶνος. | The star on the right elbow | eta Per |
| 3 | ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ ὅμου | The star on the right shoulder | gam Per |
| 4 | ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ ὤμου. | The star on the left shoulder | tet Per |
| 5 | ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς | The star on the head | tau Per |
| 6 | ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ μεταφρέτου. | The star on the place between the shoulders | iot Per |
| ὁ ἐν τῷ δεξιῷ πλευρῷ λαμπρός. | The bright star in the right side | alf Per | |
| τῶν μετὰ τόν ἐν τῷ πλευρῷ ν ὁ προηγούμενος. | The most advanced of the 3 stars next to the one in the side | sig Per | |
| ὁ μέσος τῶν τριῶν. | The middle one of the three | psi Per | |
| ὁ ἐπόμενος αὐτῶν. | The rearmost of them | del Per | |
| ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ ἀγκῶνος. | The star on the left elbow | kap Per | |
| τῶν ἐν τῷ γοργουίῳ ὁ λαμπρός | Stars in the Gorgon-head: the bright one | bet Per | |
| ὁ τούτῳ ἑπόμενος | Stars in the Gorgon-head: the one to the rear of this | ome Per | |
| ὁ προηγούμενος τοῦ λαμπροῦ | Stars in the Gorgon-head: the one in advance of the bright star | rho Per | |
| ὁ ἔτι τούτου προηγούμενος καὶ λοιπός | Stars in the Gorgon-head: the remaining one, yet again in advance of this | pi Per | |
| ὁ ἐη τῷ δεξιῷ γόνατι. | The star m the nght knee | 72 Per | |
| ὁ προηγούμενος αὐτοῦ καὶ ὑπὲρ τὸ γόνυ | The one in advance of this, over the knee | lam Per | |
| τῶν ἐπάνω τῆς ἀγκύλης β ὁ προηγούμενος. | The more advanced of the 2 stars above the bend in the knee | 48 Per | |
| ὁ ἐπόμενος καὶ κατ’ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀγκύλης. | !he rearmost of them, just over the bend in the knee | mu Per | |
| ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς δεξιᾶς γαστροκυημίας. | fhe star on the right calf | 53 Per | |
| ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ σφυροῦ. | The star on the right ankle | 58 Per | |
| ὁ ἐν τῷ ἀριστερῷ μηρῷ. | The star in the left thigh | nu Per | |
| ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ γόνατος. | The star on the left knee | eps Per | |
| ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀριστερᾶς κυήμης. | The star on the left lower leg | xi Per | |
| ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀριστερᾶς πτέρνης. | The star on the left heel | omi Per | |
| ὁ ἑπόμενος αὐτῷ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ ἀκροποδίου, | The one to the rear of this, on the left foot | zet Per | |
| ἀστέρες πς, ὥν β’ μεγέθους β, γ’ ἓ, δ’ ἴς, ε’ β, νεφελοειδ. | 26 stars, 2 of the second magnitude, 5 of the third, 16 of the fourth, 2 of the fifth, [1] nebulous | ||
| Οἱ περὶ τὸν Περσέα ἀμόρφωτοι. | Stars around Perseus outside the constellation | ||
| ὁ πρὺς ἀνατολὰς τοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀριστεροῦ γόνατος. | The star to the east of the one on the left knee | 52 Per | |
| ὁ ἀπ’ ἄρκτωυ τῶν ἐν τῷ δεξιῷ γόνατι. | The star to the north of the one in the right knee | HR 1314 | |
| ὁ προηγούμενος τῶν ἐν τῷ γοργουίῳ. | The star in advance of those in the Gorgon-head | 16 Per | |
| ἀστέρες ἢ, ὥν ἐ μεγέθους β, ἀμαυρὸς ἀ. | 3 stars, 2 of the fifth magnitude, 1 faint |
Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation
Mythology
Weblinks
References
