Orion is perhaps the most recognizable of all constellations and contains two of the night sky’s brightest stars, Rigel and Betelgeuse. The Orion constellation also straddles the celestial equator, meaning that it can be seen throughout most of the world, except near the planet’s polar extremities.
It is no wonder, then, that this picturesque constellation has been revered since ancient times and has various colorful myths associated with it. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at some famous Orion constellation myths connected with this beautiful heavenly object.
Orion Constellation Facts
The constellation of Orion is named after the legendary hunter from Greek mythology and can be seen in the sky from November to early May by observers situated between latitudes of +85° and -75°. It is the 26th largest of the 88 constellations, with its celestial neighbors including such recognizable constellations as Taurus, Canis Major, Canis Minor and Gemini, as well as Lepus and Eridanus.
Orion lies along the plane of the Milky Way, and in addition to containing two of the top 10 brightest stars, namely Rigel (6th) and Betelgeuse (8th), it is famous for its alignment of three bright stars (Mintaka, Alnilam, and Alnitak) which form the asterism known as Orion’s Belt. Hanging from the giant’s belt is another asterism called Orion’s Sword, which includes the bright Orion Nebula (M42).
Sumerian Myth of Orion
The earliest stories sometimes associated with Orion come from ancient Mesopotamia. One of the civilization’s greatest heroes was Gilgamesh, whose exploits were immortalized in the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the world’s earliest surviving works of literature.
While Gilgamesh may have been based on a historical king who ruled the Sumerian city of Uruk sometime during the third millennium BC, the mythology describes him as a hero of extraordinary strength whose adventures eventually gave him legendary status.
Among Gilgamesh’s best-known exploits was his friendship with the wild man Enkidu. After initially fighting one another, the pair became companions and shared a series of adventures. These included the episode in which Gilgamesh and Enkidu killed the Bull of Heaven, sent against Gilgamesh after he rejected the advances of the goddess Inanna (Akkadian: Ishtar).
The story has often encouraged comparisons between Gilgamesh fighting the Bull of Heaven and the later celestial image of Orion beside Taurus. However, the identification of Gilgamesh himself with Orion is not certain. Later Mesopotamian astronomical tradition more securely associated the stars of Orion with a divine shepherd figure.
Babylonian Myth of Orion
In the centuries following the Sumerian city-states, Mesopotamia was ruled by a succession of kingdoms and empires, including the Akkadians and Babylonians. Their astronomical traditions preserved and developed many much older ideas about the night sky.
Babylonian astronomers eventually compiled the MUL.APIN, an important collection of astronomical observations and star lists. In this tradition, Orion was known as MULSIPA.ZI.AN.NA, the “True Shepherd of Anu,” a celestial figure associated with the messenger god Papsukkal.
Papsukkal developed from earlier Mesopotamian messenger-deity traditions and served as a herald of the gods. The constellation therefore had a very different identity from the Greek hunter Orion familiar to us today, despite being formed from essentially the same prominent group of stars.
The changing identity of Orion provides a good example of how different civilizations could look at the same part of the night sky and create very different stories around it.
Egyptian Myth of Orion
The ancient Egyptians associated Orion with Sah (Sahu), a celestial deity who became closely linked with Osiris, the god of death, rebirth and the afterlife. The nearby star Sirius in Canis Major was identified with the goddess Sopdet (Sothis), who in later Egyptian tradition became associated with Isis.
The heliacal rising of Sirius — its first appearance in the dawn sky after a period of invisibility — occurred around the beginning of the annual Nile inundation and became associated with the Egyptian New Year. This connection made Sopdet one of the most important stellar figures in Egyptian astronomy. Sah and Sopdet were eventually closely associated with Osiris and Isis, linking Orion and Sirius with ideas of fertility, rebirth and the afterlife.
Egyptian funerary beliefs also connected the dead king with the stars and his ascent into the heavens. This has made the narrow shafts inside the Great Pyramid of Giza particularly interesting to archaeoastronomers. One interpretation proposes that the southern shaft from the King’s Chamber was symbolically directed toward the region of Orion associated with Osiris, while the northern shaft was directed toward the circumpolar stars.
These northern stars never disappeared below the horizon when viewed from Egypt and were known as the “imperishable” stars. Their perpetual presence in the sky made them a powerful symbol of immortality and an appropriate celestial destination for the soul of a king.