Ancient Stories The Mythology Behind The Sky

Dive into the captivating world of ancient Greek mythology and uncover the timeless stories and beliefs that shaped our understanding of the universe. In this concise yet comprehensive book, you will unravel the most famous theories and myths about the creation of the world that dominated the thinking of the ancient Greeks for centuries. Embark on an enlightening odyssey through the realms of ancient Greek mythology and astronomy, and gain a deeper appreciation for the enduring legacy of these timeless tales and celestial wonders.

Most of the constellations, the patterns of stars found in the night sky, are connected with the ancient myths which people developed to give meaning to what they saw in the sky, based on the experience of their culture. The ideas of modern astronomy play a similar role for us today. They are stories which help us understand the phenomena we discover when we look deeper into the sky than is possible with eyes alone. In this book, the ancient sky stories and those of modern astronomy are woven together in a unique way. Coverage includes twenty-four important constellations as well as the sun and the moon and the sky as a whole. For each of these, one of the old stories is tied together with the astronomical understanding of a key feature in that part of the sky, allowing one story to serve as a reminder for the other.

Comprehensive and cross-referenced, this informative volume is a rich introduction to the world of nature as experienced by ancient peoples around the globe. 51 halftones.

Tales of the Night Sky shines fresh light on the mythological meaning and cultural significance of constellations, and includes a beautiful 18 x 24–inch poster illustrating 33 of the best-known among them. Astronomer and ordained ex-zen monk offers a modern approach to stargazing that reflects growing interest in popular and accessible science through mindfulness. Through a mix of both scientific fact and meditative insight, discover how the mysteries of the twinkly skies can connect us all more deeply to our inner selves. Noticing the bright constellations in the night skies above can foster a sense of curiosity, awe, and deep interconnection like nothing else on Earth. For each of the constellations, discover: Philosophy and lifestyle advice learned from the origin of the constellation Myths and cultural connections of the constellation Celestial events that occur annually The deep sky objects contained in the constellation, including nebulae and star clusters The stars and planets have been a constant source of fascination since the earliest times, and different cultures have tried to explain the existence of these heavenly bodies with a host of myths and legends. This book explains the folklore behind the names and shows how to locate the constellations in the night sky. The quest to discover the secrets in the night skies speaks to something deep in human nature. Become part of the resurgence in the lost art of "reading nature," to connect both with nature and also with the intuition, traditions, and wisdom of ancient cultures.

The Mythology of the Night Sky is intended primarily for amateur astronomers who would like to know the mythology behind the names of constellations and planets. It deals with the 48 constellations identified by the ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy, as well as all the planets of our solar system and their moons, which are named after Roman gods. To assist practical observers the book gives the location and description of each constellation, including named stars and deep-sky objects. Readers are encouraged to observe and image the constellations for themselves, and there is a lot of practical information in this book to help them along the way. In addition to providing a detailed (and mostly Greek) mythology of the constellations and the vast soap opera that was part of the Ancient Greek pantheon, this book also addresses the planets of the Solar System, which are named after the Roman - not Greek - gods.

Why were Prometheus and Loki envisioned as chained to rocks? What was the Golden Calf? Why are mirrors believed to carry bad luck? How could anyone think that mortals like Perseus, Beowulf, and St. George actually fought dragons, since dragons don't exist? Strange though they sound, however, these "myths" did not begin as fiction. This absorbing book shows that myths originally transmitted real information about real events and observations, preserving the information sometimes for millennia within nonliterate societies. Geologists' interpretations of how a volcanic cataclysm long ago created Oregon's Crater Lake, for example, is echoed point for point in the local myth of its origin. The Klamath tribe saw it happen and passed down the story--for nearly 8,000 years. We, however, have been literate so long that we've forgotten how myths encode reality. Recent studies of how our brains work, applied to a wide range of data from the Pacific Northwest to ancient Egypt to modern stories reported in newspapers, have helped the Barbers deduce the characteristic principles by which such tales both develop and degrade through time. Myth is in fact a quite reasonable way to convey important messages orally over many generations--although reasoning back to the original events is possible only under rather specific conditions. Our oldest written records date to 5,200 years ago, but we have been speaking and mythmaking for perhaps 100,000. This groundbreaking book points the way to restoring some of that lost history and teaching us about human storytelling.

The stories behind the 12 star signs (such as the Gemini twins, the Taurus bull), along with more than 25 other characters from mythology who also have a place in the heavens, such as Perseus carrying Medusa’s head of snakes, three-headed dog Cerberus and hero Hercules fighting the dragon Draco.

Did you know that Canis Minor is actually a "fox," and not a "dog"? Did you know that the ship of the Argonauts stretches across the sky? Did you know that Pisces is actually representing the Greek Gods Aphrodite and Eros? Have you ever wanted to know why and how the constellations came to be? Most ancient cultures saw pictures in the stars of he night sky. The earliest known efforts to catalog the stars date to cuneiform texts and artifacts dating back roughly 6,000 years. These remnants, found in the valley of the Euphrates River, suggest that the ancients observing the heavens saw the lion, the bull, and the scorpion in the stars. The constellations as we know them today are undoubtedly very different from those first few--our night sky is a compendium of images from a number of different societies, both ancient and modern. By far, though, we owe the great debt to the mythology of the ancient Greeks and Romans.