Relevant Rome

  The story of Orion was best told by Hesiod in his lost work Astronomia . Fortunately, excerpts of this lost text can be found in Eratosthenes’ Catasterismi. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to find a free translation of this text online. It is a bit less mainstream than other classical texts, and as such, is more difficult to come by.  The gist of it is that Orion, a son of Neptune, had the ability to walk on water. After many journeys and adventures traversing from island to island, he eventually joins Diana and her mother, Leto, on various hunting trips. He one day vows to hunt and kill every animal in the world. Gaia, upon hearing this vow, is very upset with him and in order to protect the Earth from his indiscriminate slaughter, sends a giant scorpion to kill Orion. The scorpion is successful. Diana and Leto are sad to lose Orion, so they ask Jupiter to place Orion in the heavens as a constellation. Jupiter complies, and the constellation Orion appears in the sky. However,

  The first entry in the Constellation Stories series is about what is perhaps the most popular pair of constellations, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. Ursa Major and Ursa Minor . My personal favorite version of the story of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor can be found in Ovid ’s Metamorphoses Book 2. This is the version I base the video off of. Follow this link for this story in the original Latin , and this link for an English translation .  As is common in the Metamorphoses, this is an extremely tragic story. Callisto’s encounter with Jupiter is a prime example of Roman deities taking advantage of mortals with minimal concern for the consequences. Every account of the story of Callisto follows the same main plot. Jupiter deceives Callisto, Callisto bears a son, and Callisto is then transformed into a bear. Afterwards, she is then transformed into the constellation Ursa Major, and her son Arcas becomes Ursa Minor.  In addition to the main Constellation Story video, there is also the

  Now that we’ve made our way through Virgil’s Aeneid, it’s time to start on a new series. This time, instead of going through a work of literature, the series will focus on the convergence of the classics and science: constellations. For centuries, mortals have gazed in wonder at the night sky. Different people and different cultures noticed that the stars create predictable patterns in the night sky, and began to connect the dots to create depictions of characters and objects that hold significance in their particular belief system. The Graeco-Roman system of constellations is still used today, and the stories are still widely known throughout the world. This series will focus on the stories behind the constellations. It will be accompanied by a video series delivering the stories of the constellations in under two minutes. There will be a regular version which will tell the story as it is in Roman mythology, but there will also be a version made specifically for kids. These age app