Monday, April 24, 2017

T is for Taurus (and this one ain't a Ford)

We are beginning our last week in April's A-Z challenge as we explore heavenly bodies.  For the letter T, we’re look for Taurus.  If you have a good dark eastern horizon, Taurus can be seen rising in the east an hour or so before Orion.  As Orion’s belt becomes visible, follow them up till you see the “V” in the sky.  The main “V” forms the Bull’s face with the bright star, Aldebaran, serving as the bull’s eye.  Many of the stars in the V make up the Hyades Cluster and although it appears that Aldebaran is one of them, it isn’t as it is much closer to earth than the other stars  The V, called Hyades, takes up but a little of Taurus.  The Pleiades (or the seven sisters) are the Bull’s shoulder.  As fall turns to winter, the bull is seen higher and higher in the sky.  Taurus is a part of the Zodiac, the band of stars around the equator in which the sun and planets move.



There are a couple of mythological stories relating to Taurus and Jupiter (or Zeus) playing a major role in both as he sought to commit yet another extra-marital affair.  One of the stories involved the over-sex god disguising himself as a beautiful and tame bull, that lured Europa (the beautiful daughter of the Phoenicia king) to climb on his back while she was playing by the sea.  Once she mounted the bull, he led her away through the sea.  As land disappeared, Europa held on tighter, till they came to Crete, where Jupiter seduced her.  Jupiter, it seems, never shot any blanks.  Europa conceived and gave birth to Minos, the king of Crete.  Missing children were tragic in antiquities, too. 

In another story, Jupiter fell in love with Io, who happened to be a priestess in the temple of Juno (Jupiter’s wife).  Learning of her husband’s affair, she change Io into a heifer and orders Argus to keep her prisoner.  Wanting to free Io, Jupiter asks Mercury to intervene and to kill Argus (who has 100 eyes so he sees all).  He decapitates Argus and Jupiter takes Io to Egypt and restores her into a woman, where she becomes the mother of Epaphus, ruler of the Nile.

The Greeks believed that Pleiades, the seven sisters, were the children of Atlas and Pleione.  They are also seen as a bunch of grapes and when Taurus and Orion are setting in the west, it appears the hunter is leaning in to fetch the grapes (however, he’d be butted by the bull if he’s not careful).  

16 comments:

  1. Hi Sage - I can see I need to come back and get some more grounding on the stars ... cheers for now - Hilary

    http://positiveletters.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/t-is-for-turkey.html

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  2. I laughed about Jupiter not shooting any blanks. One of the perks of being a god, I suppose. The horns in the Taurus constellation look pretty striking.

    A to Z 2017: Magical and Medicinal Herbs

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  3. Loved this. Zeus was a randy old god that's for sure. Find me here. LINK

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  4. Enjoyed the Greek myths and all the shenanigans Zeus got up to. Would find it tricky to spot Taurus in the sky, I think. Will need a lot of practice and patience.
    T is for Tavaa Toast

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  5. I love the Greek mythology connections of the stars. And the stars too - very pretty! I'm no use at astronomy, alas, having failed maths at school!

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  6. Great post! Enjoy the rest of the challenge. ~ Rhondi

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  7. The myths behind these constellations are so bizarre! Transforming into bulls, creatures with a hundred eyes, and decapitations--what were they drinking?

    T is for the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis

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  8. I visited Crete long ago, but had forgotten how Minos got there. Those ancients really were a randy bunch!

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  9. I think all of those Greeks were over-sexed. Hamilton's Mythology, that I had to read in college, was steamier than most of the romance novels.

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  10. Great post! More and more the Greek Mythology stories behind the stars sounds like a soap opera.

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  11. That was an interesting bit of information. I've always found the Greek mythology fascinating.

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  12. I'd leave those grapes alone if it mention getting gored by the bull.

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  13. Another informative post, Sage. You are really inspiring me to get out and look at the night sky again. It has been too long. I give bulls a wide berth; I've been chased by too many cows and bull in my life. Have a good one!

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  14. I've always been fascinating with the Pleiades, at least ever since I discovered they are a stellar nursery

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  15. These folks were out of control with all of their cavorting.

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  16. Lots going on with Jupiter and his out of control testosterone! Not sure if I could find this constellation. Looks pretty complicated.

    "Female Scientists Before Our Time"
    Shells–Tales–Sails

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