The Legend of Auriga Auriga: the Charioteer is customarily represented as half man, half snake. This constellation was called the Chariot by the Assyrians. The Greeks called it the Holder of the Reins. Capella, the name of its beautiful golden star, means She-Goat and represents the goat that suckled the infant Zeus and whose horn Zeus broke off in his play. This horn became the legendary Horn of Plenty, which was filled with whatever its possessor wished.
Mesopotamia: in Old Babylonian glyptic art, a crook-headed stick is often represented as being held by the gods, often Amurru, a violent god associated with nomadic tribes and represented by the constellation Perseus. The crooked stick is shown in the sky by the constellation Auriga, the charioteer. See the Mesopotamian legends of Perseus.
Greece: accidental son of Hephaestus and Mother Earth, Auriga symbolized the impregnability of the city of Athens. According to legend, the crippled Hephaestus tried to rape Athena after Poseidon told him that the goddess wanted to make wild love to him. In his haste, Hephaestus ejaculated on Athena's leg. Disgusted she wiped herself clean with a piece of wool and threw the cloth on the ground. His seed impregnated Mother Earth with a child she didn't want and wouldn't care for. The child, Erichthonius, was born with his lower body that of a snake. Cared for by Cecrops, another child of Earth's, Erichthonius grew to manhood, shunned by others because of his deformity. Athena pitied the boy and raised him as her own son in the city of Athens. He eventually became king there and developed the four horse chariot. Athena was known as a virgin goddess, a reputation that was necessary if the city of Athens was to remain strong and undefeated. Several legends sprang up around the goddess to protect her virginity. As long as she remained a virgin, the city of Athens was impregnable and safe. Erichthonius, though not her son, protected her and was placed in the sky as a show of gratitude from the goddess.Back to the Constellations
