Of all of the constellations in the sky, Orion is one that is rarely forgotten. But how did the great hunter Orion end up as a constellation in the first place? The answer is simple: By the grace of the Greek gods.
Orion’s parentage is somewhat in question. The one thing that is known, however, is that he was the son of the great god Neptune. It is the name of his mother that remains in question, depending upon which version of myth or legend you choose to believe.
Orion was a giant of a man; able to transverse the oceans by simply wading them through them like a child would wade through a pool. He was also an amazingly good-looking young man that caught the eye of human women and goddesses alike.
Although he personally loved Merope, the princess of Chios, her father Oenopion denied Orion her hand in marriage. In response, the young hunter promised to perform any task that the king set before him. All he wanted in return was to marry the woman he loved.
The king, being sly, decided to take advantage of Orion’s offer to rid himself of some troublesome beasts that plagued his land. He, therefore, promised the youth that if he managed to get rid of all of his troubles, that he would, in turn, give his daughter to him as his prize.
It took Orion no time at all to get rid of the beasts. Once finished, he hurried back to claim his bride. But Oenopion denied having made the offer and tried to have the youth banished from his kingdom.
In response, Orion decided to take the maiden by violence. But he become drunk before he approached the castle, making himself easy game for the king’s men to capture. And Oenopion had him blinded and thrown into the sea.
The goddess Diana, hunting nearby, stumbled upon Orion on the shore and instantly fell in love with the handsome youth. She gathered him up and took him home where he remained as her sexual slave. Instead of tiring of him, however, Diana fell more deeply in love with him each day until she decided to marry him.
But, the goddess’s brother Apollo did not approve of the match and had no intention of allowing Diana to marry Orion. He knew he must get rid of the giant, but could not find a way to do it without incurring Diana’s wrath.
One day, as he and Diana were hunting near the beach, Apollo spotted Orion walking through the deepest part of the ocean. Before long, all that could be seen of the youth was the top of his head. Suddenly, an idea formed in the god’s mind about how to rid himself of Orion while also ensuring that Diana would never again wish to marry.
“See that rock out there on the horizon?” he asked his sister. “I bet that I can hit that the first time with my arrow,” he pronounced.
“You’re kidding!” laughed Diana. “I’m the only one who could possibly make that shot.”
“Prove it,” the god challenged, and with that he watched as Diana pulled back her arrow and shot it into the air. As he knew it would, the arrow hit its mark dead center.
“You’re right,” he laughed. “I couldn’t have made that shot.”
There was something in her brother’s laughter that made the goddess’s blood turn cold. She turned to look at the rock she had just shot and was appalled to see it had become something else altogether; a body floating on the ocean, coming closer and closer to the shore.
As the goddess watched, her target eventually made its way to within her line of sight. When she realized who it was that she had killed, the goddess threw herself toward the body in hopes that her lover would be found still alive. But, alas, that wasn’t to be.
In other stories, it is said that Orion had betrayed the goddess by making love with one of her priestesses. In anger, she sent a scorpion to sting and kill him. But she immediately felt distraught over her decision.
Whichever story you might believe it ends the same way with Orion being placed in the sky as a constellation, where he would be forever remembered.
