THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
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Founded January 1970
            "Phil didn't see his shadow.    Then again, he never
leaves the dome."


THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
A Mythological Paradox


Had I yielded to temptation and entitled today's article "Dionysius
and the Vixen," I would have horrified the delicate and inflamed the
licentious, the latter of whom would have been profoundly disappointed
to learn that the vixen was merely a fox.  Known both as the
Teumessian fox or Cadmean vixen, this gigantic animal was both
ferocious predator and elusive prey.   In fact, the Teumessian fox was
impossible to kill or capture.   Little is known of its origin.  Some
say that it was sired by Zephyrus, god of the west wind, and a
beautiful young woman, who, as a divine punishment for her liaison
with Zephyrus,  became monstrous and in time bore a litter of equally
gruesome progeny.    They all resembled gigantic and disfigured
animals.   Horrified at the appearance of her ghastly children, the
unnamed woman promptly attempted to smother them all.  Only one, the
fox-like creature who inherited his father's swiftness, managed to
survive. It escaped its mother's grasp fled into the wild.    His
unfortunate mother, distraught at both her own monstrous aspect and
sudden remorse for the slaughter of her children,  dissolved in a
paroxysm of grief and became a willow tree.  Such a tree's branches
are said to bear a grief burden so heavy that even the wind's cheerful
whispers cannot move them.


The fox, itself, figured very little in mythology.   It was said to
have been a formidable hunter and sought prey wherever it lurked.
Many people heard of this creature and a few even caught sight of it.
However, any hunter who attempted to ensnare or kill it, failed.   The
fox ran from every one of its pursuers with a wind-like swiftness.
At some point, Dionysius, the god of wine, spirits, and revelry, set
it upon the people of Thebes to punish them for not having
acknowledged that the mortal woman, Semele, conceived him with Zeus.
 Affronted by the citizens' refusal to acknowledge Semele's maternity
and accord her the sacrifices and reverence due to her,  Dionysius
commanded the Teumessian fox to prey upon Thebes' children.    He also
endowed it the magical ability to remain free of all constraint.  Not
only was it endowed with swiftness, but it was impossible to capture.
 The fox often snatched and ate unsuspecting children for it could
appear out of nowhere and then vanish just as quickly.    All of
Thebes' feared this fox.  Parents refused to permit their children to
leave the house lest the monster would devour their child as soon as
it set foot outside.

Creon,  who was serving as Thebe's regent following Oedipus'
abdication,* set the task of capturing the fox to his general
Amphitryon, husband of Alcmene, the woman who would eventually become
Hercules' mother.**   Knowing that the fox evaded all hunters and, in
fact, could not be caught, the crafty Amphitryon somehow managed to
enlist the services of the hound Laelaps, who was capable of capturing
everything it pursued.    Laelaps was said to have been given to
Europa by Zeus, who gifted her with the hound after he abducted her in
the guise of a beautiful white bull.  Just as Dionysius made it
impossible for anything to catch the Teumessian vixen, Zeus made it
impossible for anything to elude Laelaps.

So, suddenly, the fox that couldn't be caught was pursued by the hound
that caught everything it chased.    It was left to Zeus to reconcile
this mythological paradox, which he did by first transforming both the
fox and the hound into stones.  He then, for whatever reason, cast
them both in the sky as Canis Major (the fox) and Canis Minor (the
hound).   This time of year we can see them throughout the night
trailing behind Orion the Hunter.    And, if you ask us, that is a lot
of drama, intrigue, sweat, blood, toil, tumult and torment just to
explain two small constellations.

See a couple images of Canis Major and Minor on the Daily Astronomer Web-page:
http://usm.maine.edu/planet/da-7-december-2015





*Yes, we remember that Oedipus ruled Thebes after having defeated the
Sphinx.  He then proceeded to marry this mother who was widowed when
Oedipus unknowingly slew him on the road as he traveled to Thebes.
(Well, Oedipus knowingly killed the man he regarded as a stranger, but
didn't know it was his dad.)   Of course, the gods knew that Oedipus
has slain his father and married his mother.    Consequently, the gods
sets a plague onto Thebes that only lifted once Oedipus realized that
he was married to his mother and had killed his father.   He gouged
out his eyes and Jocasta, his mother/wife, killed herself.   Oedipus
relinquished the crown and eventually went into exile accompanied by
his dutiful daughter/sister Antigone.

**But, Amphitryon was not Hercules' father!    Zeus sired Hercules on
Alcemene after he disguised himself as Amphitryon.      That's another
long story that can wait for another day.