top of page
Scorpio
This portal was curated by:
​

SCORPIO

SKORPIOS (Scorpius) was a giant scorpion sent by Gaia the Earth to slay the giant Orion when he threatened to slay all the beasts of the world. Orion and the Scorpion were afterwards placed amongst the stars as the constellations of the same name. The two opponents are never seen in the sky at the same time--for as one constellation rises, the other sets. The ancient Greek Skorpios originally encompassed two constellations--Scorpio formed its body and Libra its claws.
DATABASES
SKORPIOS (Scorpius) was a giant scorpion sent by Gaia the Earth to slay the giant Orion when he threatened to slay all the beasts of the world. Orion and the Scorpion were afterwards placed amongst the stars as the constellations of the same name. The two opponents are never seen in the sky at the same time--for as one constellation rises, the other sets. The ancient Greek Skorpios originally encompassed two constellations--Scorpio formed its body and Libra its claws.
Scorpius, (Latin: “Scorpion”) in astronomy, zodiacal constellation lying in the southern sky between Libra and Sagittarius, at about 16 hours 30 minutes right ascension and 30° south declination. Its brightest star, Antares (Alpha Scorpii), the 15th brightest star in the sky, has a magnitude of 1.1. Its name comes from the Greek for “rival of Ares” (i.e., rival of the planet Mars) and was probably given because of the star’s red colour and brightness. The brightest X-ray source in the sky, Scorpius X-1, is found in this constellation. In astrology, Scorpius (or Scorpio) is the eighth sign of the zodiac, considered as governing the period from about October 24 to about November 21. Its representation as a scorpion is related to the Greek legend of the scorpion that stung Orion to death (said to be why Orion sets as Scorpius rises in the sky). Another Greek myth relates that a scorpion caused the horses of the Sun to bolt when they were being driven for a day by the inexperienced youth Phaeton.
Orion was a mighty and fearless hunter, so great in fact that he vowed to kill every animal on the Earth. Gaia, the goddess of the Earth and protector of the animals, was angered by Orion and asked Scorpio, a giant scorpion, to kill Orion before he could harm the animals. Scorpio attacked Orion and stung him with his stinger. As a reward for his bravery and for saving the lives of all of the animals, Gaia placed Scorpio in the night sky. He is seen chasing Orion across the sky during the year. Orion is allowed to hunt peacefully in the winter, but as spring comes, Scorpio rises chasing Orion out of the sky.
Orion was a giant hunter, some say the son of the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon. He was considered a great hero, but he had a way of pissing off the gods that both became his undoing, and created the constellation Scorpio. The primary story goes that Orion was the lover of Eos (Greek mythology), the goddess of the dawn, and bragged about his conquests with her. This of course, made her angry. Then Orion bragged about how he was such a great hunter that we was going to kill every creature on earth. Normally in Greek myths this is the point where Artemis, the Greek hunting goddess, would take offense to anyone claiming superiority in hunting skills, and cut them down to size. The only thing was that Artemis had a big time crush on Orion and actually found him charming. Her brother, Apollo, the sun god, did not find this claim quite so amusing, as he was also the god of the animal herds. Neither did Gaia, Greek mythology's great earth goddess, for obvious reasons. So Apollo and Gaia talked and decided that it was time for Orion to go, so Gaia created a giant scorpion to hunt the hunter. This is where Scorpio mythology essentially begins and ends. Orion pretty much knew he was screwed, so he ran, and Scorpio chased him. Depending on which myth you want to go with, either Scorpio killed Orion, or Artemis accidentally shot Orion in the head thinking she was shooting Scorpio. Either way, Orion died. The leader of the gods Zeus, once again inserting himself at the tail end of a myth, had been watching the whole thing and put both Orion and Scorpio in the sky as constellations, but placing them 180 degrees apart so that they wouldn't keep fighting in the heavens.
Scorpius and Orion are often intertwined in Greek mythology. According to one myth, Orion boasted that he would kill every animal on the earth. The goddess-hunter Artemis and her mother, Leto, dispatched a scorpion to kill Orion. Zeus put the scorpion in the heavens after it won the battle. In another myth, the god Apollo, Artemis's twin brother, grew angry and sent a scorpion to attack Orion because he claimed to be a better hunter than Artemis. Zeus put Orion and Scorpius in the sky, but they are visible at different times of the year. In astrology, which is not a science, the constellation is called Scorpio. It is the eighth sign in the Zodiac and represents those born between Oct. 24 and Nov. 22. The traits of those born under the sign are said to include determination and loyalty.
Visit our special guest curator
"Open Database..."
Related Portals:
 
Related Portals:
 
bottom of page