Orion and Scorpius in myth and astrology

What the story carries

In the Greek tellings the scorpion is the hunter's punishment; the two can never share the sky.

Aratus tells how Orion laid hands upon the robe of Artemis (opens in a new tab) and was killed by a scorpion she sent; in other tellings, Ridpath sets out (opens in a new tab), Orion boasted he could kill any beast. Ridpath calls the story retribution for his hubris.

The symbol is built into the sky: in Aratus's words, the rising of the Scorpion (opens in a new tab) puts Orion to flight. Historical beliefs compares the ancient versions and their authors.

Sources for this section Aratus, Phaenomena 634–646, tr. G. R. Mair (Loeb, 1921), Theoi Classical Texts Library (opens in a new tab) · ; Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Scorpius (opens in a new tab)

What Ptolemy assigned

Ptolemy compared Orion's shoulders to Mars and Mercury, and Antares to Mars and Jupiter.

In Tetrabiblos I.9 (opens in a new tab), Ptolemy says the stars on Orion's shoulders are like Mars and Mercury, and Orion's other bright stars like Jupiter and Saturn. Betelgeuse is on the right shoulder.

For the scorpion, he likens the bright stars on its forehead to Mars and in some degree Saturn; Antares (opens in a new tab), “tawny and rather bright”, to Mars and in some degree Jupiter; and the stars of the sting to Mercury and Mars.

Keep in mind These are one ancient astrologer's analogies, reported as history. They are not measured properties of the stars and predict nothing. Ptolemy's fixed stars has the full table.

Sources for this section Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos I.9, Of the Power of the Fixed Stars, tr. F. E. Robbins (Loeb, 1940), LacusCurtius (opens in a new tab)

In the sky

The two figures are the IAU constellations Orion and Scorpius, and they really are opposite.

Orion and Scorpius lie on opposite sides of the sky (opens in a new tab), so as one rises the other sets. Astrologers call the sign Scorpio; Scorpius is the astronomers' name for the constellation, and the two are not the same thing. Scorpio, the sign has its own page.

The story explains nothing about what the stars are: Antares (opens in a new tab) is a red supergiant late in its life, and Orion's belt stars are hundreds of light-years apart (opens in a new tab).

Sources for this section Ian Ridpath, Star Tales: Scorpius (opens in a new tab) · ; ESO, Best Ever Image of a Star's Surface and Atmosphere (eso1726, 2017) (opens in a new tab) · ; NASA Science, Discovering the Universe Through the Constellation Orion (opens in a new tab)