THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM 207-780-4249 www.usm.maine.edu/planet 70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103 43.6667° N, 70.2667° W 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.