person
Orion
also: Orionis
The giant hunter of myth, set among the stars as the constellation Orion. The Aratea tells how, after laying violent hands on Diana while hunting on Chios, he was killed by the Scorpion she sent, so that he flees below the horizon whenever Scorpio rises.
Reading notes
- Aratea (Translation of Aratus' Phaenomena) §Orion Then Orion, straining with his slanting body
Orion, the great hunter and the brightest, most conspicuous constellation; whoever cannot recognize it, Cicero says, can hardly hope to know the other signs. Its full myth (the Scorpion) is told in the section on the risings and settings.
- Aratea (Translation of Aratus' Phaenomena) §The Risings and Settings of the Signs once Orion is said to have laid violent hands on Diana
The myth of Orion's death: hunting on Chios for Oenopion, he assaulted Diana (Artemis), who split the island with her foot and sent up the Scorpion to sting him to death. Hence Orion always flees below the horizon when the Scorpion rises.