When I stepped outside to Look UP at around 9:45 p.m., to the west, the constellation of Ophiuchus is next to Sagittarius. Depending on how faithful of reader one may be, that name might sound vaguely familiar. It’s only been mentioned a couple of times. Once while we’re exploring Aquila, the eagle, who is part of the Hercules family, as is Ophiuchus. The other time was when we were exploring Corvus, the crow or raven. We were introduced to Ophiuchus when we explored the mythology behind Corvus.
To review, Corvus is Apollo’s sacred bird in Greek mythology. Apollo told the bird to watch over Coronis, one of his lovers, who was pregnant at the time. Coronis gradually lost interest in Apollo and fell in love with a mortal man, Ischys. When Corvus informed Apollo about the affair, the god was so enraged that the bird did nothing to prevent it that he placed a curse on it, scorching the raven’s feathers. Before the bird was white and that’s why all ravens are black, according to the legend.
Apollo then sent his sister Artemis to kill Coronis. Before Coronis’ body was burned, the unborn child, Asclepius, was cut out of her womb and given to the centaur, Chiron, who raised him. Asclepius grew up to be a famous healer and is represented by the constellation Ophiuchus, the serpent bearer. Asclepius is illustrated as having a staff with a serpent entwined around it while Ophiuchus is usually drawn as having a serpent that goes around him. Some say that the snake goes around his hips.
These drawings are the basis of why a caduceus, the image of the staff and two intertwined snakes, is still used to this day represent medical doctors or medical associations.
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As all the other constellations, there are few different versions of how Asclepius became healer. Some say it was because he was raised by the wise centaur, Chiron, who taught him to how to heal. Asclepius became so skilled that he could eventually raise people from the dead.
Hades, the god of the underworld, didn’t like that he wouldn’t be receiving any more souls so he complained to Zeus about it. Zeus agreed with Hades and struck Asclepius down with a lightening bolt. Apollo was enraged. In order to calm Apollo, Zeus placed Asclepius among the stars to honor him as a healer.
In another version, Asclepius watched one snake bring another snake back to life by using a special herb. He decided to try on someone and it worked. There are a few different versions of who he tried it on. The most common is Glaucus, the young son of King Minos, who fell into jar of honey while playing and drowned.
Look Up appears in the weekend edition. If you have any astronomical questions or facts you’d like to share email news@smdailyjournal.com with the subject line “Look Up.”
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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