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
Julian date: 2457652.16
"Jerry, you tyrant, Angelina Jolie is divorcing Brad Pitt and I am still expected to write an article today!?!"
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
The Winged Horse
ascends the eastern evening sky as it has done since time out of mind. Like all the star patterns adorning our celestial tapestry, those comprising Pegasus assembled long before humans developed the inclination to fashion chimerical characters out of the strange, randomly arranged luminescent points. Four distinctive points comprise the main part of Pegasus. Known as the "Great Square," these four stars form the horse's body. Two legs, one straight, the other crooked, protrude out of the northwestern star, Scheat. The curling neck and oblong head jut out from the southwestern star, Markab. The constrained princess Andromeda is attached to the square by its northeastern star, Alpheratz. Only the southeastern star, Algenib, is free of attachments.
The Babylonians might have been the first to have crafted a beast from this distinctive shape. This grand square seemed perfect for the construction of a magnificent creature. Though the square, itself, was obvious, the faint accessory stars could allow for the inclusion of many different peripheral features. One could perceive a dragon here as readily as a horse. We've retained the horse in our sky because it was one of the 48 constellations Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy included in his catalog in the second century.
Pegasus literally arose out of blood and seawater. You see, the ocean god Poseidon had once had a clandestine affair with the young maid Medusa, who loved Poseidon devotedly. He did not reciprocate this love, but instead regarded their many liaisons as amusements. Their last encounter occurred in the temple of Athena. Poseidon deviously chose this location, himself, for he knew Athena would regard their actions as a desecration. He intended it as a calculated insult. Unfortunately,Athena's retribution was directed only toward Medusa, with devastating results. Athena disfigured Medusa into the shape of a gorgon: a creature so appalling of appearance that she could petrify humans and other creatures alike with a single glance. Horrified by her monstrous form, Medusa threw herself in the ocean and eventually arrived at the barren rock island inhabited by the two other gorgons, Stheno and Euryale. Later, Perseus traveled to the island and slew Medusa by following her reflection in his highly polished shield. He enclosed the head in a satchel and flew over the sea toward the African ocean. During the flight, some of Medusa's blood dripped out of the satchel into the ocean. In a strange -and belated- act of contrition, Poseidon mixed the blood with sea foam to create Pegasus. He would claim that in so doing he would embody Medusa's tortured soul in the beautiful form it rightly deserved.
Although modern re-tellings of this legend often show Pegasus allied with Perseus, in the original mythology, they had nothing to do with one another. In fact, Perseus was oblivious to Pegasus's birth, as it had occurred well after Perseus had flown over the region of the sea where the blood first spilled. As it was sired without parents, Pegasus was free of the world from the first moment of its emergence. Some say that Pegasus was adopted by the nine Muses, who cared for it in its infancy, but never attempted to tame or restrain it. Through the Muses' influence, Pegasus grew to be in equal measure fiercely strong and exquisitely beautiful. Many men sought to capture and bring Pegasus to heel, but to no avail. She proved too elusive for most people to catch and on the rare occasion when she was captured, she raged against the apprehension so violently that the captors hastily relented and freed her.
Only the bold youth Bellerophon managed to capture and tame Pegasus through the assistance of Athena, who, according to some stories, subdued Pegasus with a sleeping spell. As she slept, Bellerophon saddled the winged horse and secured himself on the saddle. Pegasus, feeling the strange weight on her back, awoke with a start and furiously attempted to buck the youth away. Bellerophon maintained his grip, albeit with great difficulty. After a protracted struggle, Pegasus yielded to the young man and became his horse. Eager for adventure, Bellerophon flew on Pegasus to the lair of the Chimera, a grotesque beast with the features of a dog, dragon and bird. Though it proved a formidable foe, the Chimera could not harm his antagonist who eluded its many attacks while soaring on the winged horse. Bellerophon slew the Chimera with repeated arrow strikes and became a celebrated hero as a result.
Unfortunately, like many young and bold men, Bellerophon fell victim to his own hubris. He one day decided that he wanted to travel to Olympus and cavort with the gods. He flew Pegasus up to heights approaching even that of Hyperion's chariot. Sensing their peril, Pegasus rapidly turned herself upside down and dislodged Bellerophon, who was said to have plummeted to Earth after a five day descent. Zeus awarded Pegasus by summoning her up to Olympus, where she was charged with fetching his thunderbolts. She was also placed in the night sky: an honor the gods conferred on only a few. One can find her there tonight turned upside down, as she was when she spent her reckless master to his death.
Now that autumn is precariously close, Pegasus will rise into greater prominence, only to be soon followed by Taurus, Orion and the retinue of winter stars. In September and October, one can behold Pegasus soaring across the night sky from dusk to dawn.