Pleiades (Greek mythology)

European culture

The Pleiades were nymphs in Greek mythology or as daughters of Atlas and Pleione Oceanid. Through their descent from Atlas they are also referred to as Atlanteans. Their names are:

They were also referred to as the virgin companions of Artemis, the Orion over the fields of Boeotia pursued, until it turns into doves ( peleiades ) and were treated as a constellation in the sky (see Pleiades ).

According to another story all took from grief over the death of their brother Hyas along with her sisters, the Hyades, life before they were taken up into heaven.

As the Pleiades pigeons were flown out to bring Zeus ambrosia. They had to fly through that rock arch, which also had the Argo happen - the Plegades or Symplegades. One of these pigeons have this fly-through always paid with their lives - and was replaced by Zeus respectively - perhaps to keep entirely to the " Seven Sisters ".

Merope, the only Pleiad, who married a mortal, had a large part in that Sisyphus was once sent back from Hades again, but was ashamed ultimately whether this connection so that it weaker than their sisters lights in the sky.

Non-European culture

The Blackfoot were nomadic hunters and gatherers. They lived in small groups in tepees made ​​of bison skins. For hunting expeditions sometimes joined some groups or even an entire sub-tribe together. For the Blackfoot Indians, the constellation of the Pleiades was crucial. The state of the Pleiades at the beginning of the dry season was the start signal for an elaborate hunt the vast herds of bison. Are then the Pleiades disappeared in the night sky, the bison are gone. In a mythical legend with seven orphans, the experience of the common appearance and disappearance of the Pleiades and the bison reflects. According to the legend, seven orphans, which had once been denied warming bison hides, as a punishment of the people the bison with it. The Sun God rescued the children and gave them a place in the starry sky. Dogs asked by the howl of the night sky for the villagers. Finally, the children returned to the Bisons.