As only the goddess of agriculture could do, she froze the ground and declared that no plant would ever grow again until her daughter was returned. So, he devised a plan once Persephone was alone, Hades cracked open the earth, swooped up to the surface and abducted her, spiriting her away to the underworld to make her his bride. But Hades knew that Demeter would never agree to the marriage. He went to go see his brother, Zeus, who (no surprise to those who know Greek mythology) happened to be Persephone’s father, and asked for her hand in marriage. Hades, living alone in the dark underworld, happened to glimpse up one summer day to see Persephone frolicking in the fields with her friends and fell instantly in love. We’ll talk about other culture’s constellation mythologies in the future.īut this month it’s the Greeks, and according to Greek mythology spring came about each year because of the unconventional marriage of Hades, god of the underworld, to Persephone, daughter of Demeter, goddess of agriculture. And so, quite often we find ourselves talking about the Greek myths when we talk about the constellations. Of those 88, 48 were plucked directly from noted Greek astronomer Ptolemy’s 150 CE compendium of the stars, the Almagest. But in 1922, the International Astronomical Union officially recognized 88 constellations, which became the accepted scientific basis for naming visible star groups. Why the Greeks?Īnd why should we care about the ancient Greeks? Every culture on Earth has a rich mythology associated with the stars and their patterns. But I have to say that even if a third of us don’t quite get why the seasons change, we’re still doing better than the ancient Greeks. I know that this just isn’t the kind of thing you need to know to make it through life, but it sure is satisfying to know how the world works. Why am I sharing these details about plants and seasons? Well, according to the latest report from the Pew Research Center, just 63% of American adults know that Earth’s seasons are a result of our planet’s tilt.
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